Itchmo: News For Dogs & Cats

Art connoisseurs and animal lovers unite. Ken Bailey, a Seattle artist, is a lover of dogs and cats and they are his muses. His humorous vintage poster style paintings and prints showcase animals with food (because animals love food!). He can even change the breed name of the animal to be your pet’s name, so it can be personalized just for you and your pet. His studio is usually open from 12pm-5pm, Monday-Saturday. Here’s just another way to prove to people that we are clearly obsessed with our pets.

Sometimes an old fashioned home remedy is the best instead of feeding your pets pills that they hate. According to Dr. Jackie Obando, a holistic veterinarian from Mercer Island, if your pet has flatulence (that’s my dog and he has lots of it!), mix some cooked mashed yams into the food, about a tablespoon per cup of food. If your dog or cat has diarrhea or constipation, put same canned pumpkin with their food in the same proportion. Thanks All The Best Pet Care for the tips!

The Homeward Pet Adoption Center, a no kill, non-profit animal shelter, is looking for a few good parents. Being a foster parent means that shelters can free up more space to assist more homeless animals. This Saturday (March 31) from 12-3pm, Homeward Pet Adoption Center will be hosting a Foster Open House for people who want more information and you will get a chance to meet some foster animals, vets and other foster parents. Open your house to another lovable animal!

Here are some pictures from Cristina, an itchmo reader, who went to the Shih Tzu meetup last weekend at Marymoor Park. It looked like they had a lot of fun!

The Northwest Disaster Search Dogs organization is looking for a good few hiders! This non-profit organization trains dog and handlers for search and rescue operations and have helped both locally and nationally. And now they’re looking for volunteers to hide from the search dogs, so they can sniff out new and unique human scents (remember don’t lather yourself in bacon grease that day or the dogs will find you really quickly). Just volunteer a morning or an afternoon, and you can help these dogs be the best that they can be. (Do they need search and rescue dogs for tennis balls? My dog would be great at that.)

PAWS is offering discounted spay and neuter surgeries for dogs and cats of qualified low-income individuals on every Wednesday from March 28-May 23. Fees are $30 for cats and $40 for dogs. Here is also more information on other low-cost options for spay/neuter surgeries.

Pugs are such social and playful creatures, and pug parents love to meet other pug parents. The Bellevue-Seattle Pug Meetup group is having an event this Saturday, March 31 at 1pm at Riverdog in Issaquah. They also will be giving out a door prize to one lucky pug! 11 pugs have already RSVP’d. Join the party!

Puppies are so adorable and cute. And they need lots and lots of training. Seattle Humane Society offers Puppy Kindergarten classes for you and your fluffy puppy. The next session starts on Mondays at 6:30pm from April 2-May 14. There is also a Puppy Kindergarten class for Small Breeds that begins on Saturdays at 1pm from March 31-May 5. Are there training classes for 10 year old puppies? Hopefully you and your little pup graduate with flying colors or you may have to repeat a grade.

Instead of trying to sell your old car on craiglist or at your local used car dealership (because you know that you are totally going to get the best deal. EVER.), why don’t you donate your car to PAWS? What a better way to get rid of something old and help lovable animals at the same time! And of course you get a tax deduction (we all love those tax deductions - reminder: taxes are due on April 17th this year, so you have a couple of extra days to procrastinate) and a great big thank you from all of the animals at PAWS that you have helped. For more information, click here. Thanks for thinking of your furry friends!

It’s still amazing to me that airlines still keep separate and different policies for pet travel. You’d think that over the past 50 years the airlines would have consolidated their policies to help their customers travel with pets. But then again, as a frequent flyer, I’ve learned that airlines are not the most customer-centric companies. We’ve included links to the official policy of the major airlines that fly from Seattle and a nice summary from PetFlight.com.

• Alaska & Horizon Airlines: Official | Summary
• American Airlines: Official | Summary
• ATA: Official (Not very helpful) | Summary
• Continental: Official | Summary
• Delta: Official | Summary
• Frontier Airlines: Official | Summary
• Hawaiian Airlines: Official | Summary
• JetBlue: Official | Summary
• Southwest: Does not allow pet transport of any kind, except for service animals
• Northwest Airlines: Official | Summary
• United Airlines: Official | Summary
• US Airways: Official | Summary

If you fear flying or cats, don’t watch this.

Pasado’s Safe Haven, located in Sultan, WA, is a non profit organization that provides a sanctuary for all types of animals that are in need. No animals are turned away and the haven provides a safe and loving place for them. Pasado’s Safe Haven offers public tours only three times a year, so they can focus on the animals and their needs. There is an upcoming tour on Saturday, April 14 at 1:30pm (the other two dates for 2007 is July 21 and October 13). Visitors will be able to meet some of the animals that have been rescued; see the Spay Station, the only mobile pet sterilization rig in the Northwest; and see the impact that Pasado’s Safe Haven has had on all of the animals’ lives. A reservation form is required to tour the sanctuary.

A Brazilian doctor is performing face lifts and other plastic surgeries on dogs. Many handlers and breeders in the US, Europe and, of course, Brazil, are turning to the knife to enhance the look of their dog. The surgeon actually studies human plastic surgey tactics and applies them to dogs.

“Plastic surgery is good for dogs!” said Brito, 45, a Doberman breeder who has worked as a veterinarian for 20 years.

He can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth.

Simple surgeries usually cost from about $100 to $200.

In Brazil, the United States and Europe, pet plastic surgery is increasingly in demand, despite objections from animal rights activists and some dog breeders.

Perhaps they have never heard of this competition.

People love their Shiba Inus, so of course, there is a Seattle Shiba Inu Enthusiast Club. Their March meetup is tomorrow (Saturday, March 24) at 1pm at Robinswood Park (at the back corral) in Bellevue. 25 people have RSVP’d. Take the love of your life for a romp in the park.

It’s so easy for us people to toss something aside when we tire of it or it’s too hard to take care of. That is exactly what people have been doing with their dogs. Shelters around the Seattle area are overcrowded due to an increase of dogs being brought in. One reason is that people have gotten bored with their dogs that they got as Christmas presents and are now bringing them to shelters. Also, during the cold months, people leave their dogs outside and if dogs escape, some owners don’t bother looking for them, and those dogs are stranded. With springtime here, puppies are plentiful and some new puppy owners are not realizing the hard work to care for a young pup and are giving them up. At some shelters with no more room, euthanization is occurring more often. The cries for a loving home are being heard all around the city.

Tom and Trena Whaley of Ontario, Oregon lost their Siamese cat, Samoya (pictured here), after she ate one of the recalled foods (Iams Tuna and White Fish in Sauce). She had major kidney failure, appetite loss and had trouble walking, so on March 8th, the Whaleys put down Samoya, so she could die peacefully. Tom Whaley contacted a Seattle attorney, Michael Myers, to file a class action lawsuit against Menu Foods for financial and emotional loss. At least 20 more pet owners will be added to the civil suit, as more pet owners that have lost their pets want Menu Foods to pay for all of their medical bills, emotional distress, and the needless deaths of their beloved animals.