dogs

Gene therapy to prevent pregnancy in dogs and cats

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A Research team led by David Pépin, PhD, Associate Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School has developed a gene therapy as an alternate to spaying and neutering animals. They are hopeful that this method will eventually be available to be able to control outdoor pet populations.

While this discovery is promising, the researchers have yet to develop the infrastructure to treat thousands of unowned feral cats. This will also give pet owners an alternative to traditional spay and neuter programs to prevent pregnancy in their pets.

What is interesting is this gene therapy was first used in people. Typically discoveries in animals help humans, in this case it is the reverse.

Journal Reference:

  1. Vansandt, L.M., Meinsohn, MC., Godin, P. et al. Durable contraception in the female domestic cat using viral-vectored delivery of a feline anti-Müllerian hormone transgene. Nat Commun, 2023 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38721-0

Cite This Page:

Massachusetts General Hospital. “Gene therapy produces long-term contraception in female domestic cats.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 June 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230606111636.htm>.

Those amazing whiskers

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A study at Northwestern University has shown that rats determine the direction of the wind with their whiskers. Since many other animals such as dogs, foxes, coyotes and cats also have whiskers that are similar to those of a rat, is it possible that they also use their whiskers to determine the direction of the wind?

All wild animals also have to be aware of the direction of the wind to either find food or avoid being detected by predators. Therefore, the ability to determine the direction of the wind or even a slight breeze is a life and death skill. It seems reasonable that that they would use their whiskers as well as the movement of their fur to detect the direction of air movement.

Sue’s Note: As a person who has trained many working dogs, I have seen dogs learn how to use the direction of the wind to find scent. It is quite an amazing thing to watch, and another example of how intelligent animals are.

Journal References:

Mitra J. Z. Hartmann et al. Whiskers aid anemotaxis in rats. Science Advances, August 2016 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600716

Yan S. W. Yu, Matthew M. Graff, Mitra J. Z. Hartmann. Mechanical responses of rat vibrissae to airflow. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2016; 219 (7): 937 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.126896

Cite This Page:

Northwestern University. (2016, August 24). Whiskers help animals sense the direction of the wind: First-ever study shows that rats use whiskers to locate source of airflow. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160824160248.htm

Early spay and neutering in dogs

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A study conducted at the University of California – Davis researched the data of 35 breeds of dogs collected over fifteen years from thousands of dogs to determine if neutering, the age of neutering, the differences in the sex of the dog had any relationship to certain cancers and joint disorders such as hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tears, elbow dysplasia, lymphoma, cancer of the blood vessel walls, mast cell tumors and bone cancer.

They found that the occurrence of joint disorders was related to body size. Smaller breeds have less issues while the majority of larger breeds did. The surprising exception to this were Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds which showed no problem regardless of what age they were neutered.

Small dogs had a low rate of cancer regardless of what age they were neutered or not. The exceptions were Boston Terries and Shih Tzu’s who had a significant increase of cancers if neutered.

They also found that the sex of the dog sometimes made a difference in health risks. For example, female Boston Terriers who were neutered at six months had no risk of joint disorders or cancer, yet male Boston Terriers neutered before a year of age had significantly more risks.

Another finding was that neutering or spaying female Golden Retrievers at any age increased the risk of one or more of the cancers from five to fifteen percent.

Sue’s Note: Many working dog people, especially in the herding breeds, claim that neutering a dog before full physical and mental maturity hinders the mental and working ability of the dog.

Journal Reference:

  1. Benjamin L. Hart, Lynette A. Hart, Abigail P. Thigpen, Neil H. Willits. Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2020; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00388

Cite This Page:

University of California – Davis. “When should you neuter your dog to avoid health risks? Comprehensive study lays out guidelines for 35 dog breeds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715160008.htm>.

Can animals predict earthquakes?

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People often claim that they notice animals acting differently before an earthquake. To study this, with the hope of using animals to predict earthquakes, a group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz/Radolfzell and the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, have investigated whether cows, sheep, and dogs can actually detect early signs of earthquakes.

The researchers put sensors on the animals in an earthquake prone area of Northern Italy and studied their movements over several months. They found that the animals were unusually restless hours before an earthquake. They also noted that the closer the animal was to the epicenter the sooner they showed unusual behavior. In some cases, the animals showed unusual behavior up to 20 hours before the quake.

The researchers found that during the months they studied the animals there were, officially reported, 18,000 earthquakes in the region which included small hardly noticeable quakes to 12 with a strength of 4 or higher on the Richter scale.

The data implies that animals can predict earthquakes and the researchers are considering a global study to help develop an early warning system using a chip located on animals.

Journal Reference:

  1. Martin Wikelski, Uschi Mueller, Paola Scocco, Andrea Catorci, Lev V. Desinov, Mikhail Y. Belyaev, Daniel Keim, Winfried Pohlmeier, Gerhard Fechteler, P. Martin Mai. Potential short‐term earthquake forecasting by farm animal monitoring. Ethology, 2020; DOI: 10.1111/eth.13078

Cite This Page:

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. “The sixth sense of animals: An early warning system for earthquakes?.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706101837.htm>.

War Dogs of World War II

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I am excited to announce that my latest book is now available. You can order it from my website at http://www.sbulanda.com for $24.98 + $4.75 shipping

Please check with me if you want to order the book from out of the U.S.A. the shipping rate above only applies to orders within the U.S.A.

I am very impressed with the publisher’s quality of printing this book. Casemate was a great team to work with.

Summary

Crawling through steaming jungles in the Pacific or hunkering down in frozen trenches, the loyal dogs of World War II stayed by their soldier’s side, no matter what. They saved lives, delivered messages when all forms of communication failed, they brought supplies when no one else could get through. These are the stories of the brave, loyal dogs who served. All armies had them, the Germans, Japanese, British, Russia and the United States. Civil Defense dogs in England searched for the victims of bombings, Coast Guard dogs watched the shores for enemies, some dogs guarded storehouses and equipment, some were taken prisoner and lived in POW camps, some were mascots, but all were loved. Some dogs gave all and some returned home. The War Dogs of WWII is their story. 

Pain sensitivity in dogs

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In an interesting study conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University showed that pain sensitivity is related to the breed and a dog’s temperament.  

The researchers studied both male and female dogs from ten breeds. They picked the breeds based on how veterinarians rated the breed for pain sensitivity or tolerance. The breeds were: Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Maltese, Siberian Husky, Border Collie, Boston Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier, Golden Retriever, Pitbull, and Labrador Retriever. A total of 149 dogs were tested.

Surprisingly the breeds did not respond as the veterinarians expected. They also found that temperament played a role in the dog’s tolerance for pain. The important fact that was learned from the study is that pain tolerance has a biological basis.

Sue’s Note: When anything such as pain tolerance is common in a breed, it means that selective breeding may, in part, correct the sensitivity. This is important because it makes the dog’s life more tolerable. Also, temperament is another genetic aspect that can be improved with selective breeding. It is also important to realize how pain sensitivity can make a dog dislike training. This is why harsh training methods are never a good idea.

Slow walking in older dogs could mean they have dementia

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Because we cannot talk to dogs or give them the same type of cognitive tests that we give people, the latest research that shows how slow a dog walks could mean that he is suffering from dementia is a step in the right direction.

“Walking speed in people is strongly associated with cognitive decline,” says Natasha Olby, Dr. Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology at NC State and corresponding author of the study. “We hypothesized that the same might be true in dogs.”

The researchers tested 46 adult dogs (control group) and 49 senior dogs to determine if the speed that they walked corresponded with dementia. They had the dog’s owners fill out a questionnaire and in addition, the researchers did cognitive testing as well. They considered all factors that could influence the test results such as the size of the dog, possible joint pain, and the difference if the dog walked on leash or off leash.

They came to the conclusion that a senior dogs walking speed does correspond with dementia. 

Sue’s note: Since we cannot accurately give dogs mental tests, any other way to help owners recognize that their dog may be in mental decline is good. However, if you see signs of mental decline in your dog, do not assume that it is due to old age. Have your dog examined by your veterinarian since physical issues may be the culprit, not dementia or old age.

The work appears in Frontiers in Veterinary Science and was supported by the Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology. Alejandra Mondino, postdoctoral researcher at NC State, is lead author of the study.

Journal Reference:

  1. Alejandra Mondino, Michael Khan, Beth Case, Gilad Fefer, Wojciech K. Panek, Margaret E. Gruen, Natasha J. Olby. Winning the race with aging: age-related changes in gait speed and its association with cognitive performance in dogs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2023; 10 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1150590

Cite This Page:

North Carolina State University. (2023, June 27). Slow walking could be sign of dementia in older dogs. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2023 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230627123033.htm

How old is your dog, really?

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The old rule that one dog year equals seven in human years is not true. What the researchers found was that dogs age differently than humans. For example, Trey Ideker of the University of California, San Diego pointed out that a nine-month-old dog can have puppies. If you do the math, it is obvious that the 1 year equals seven does not work out. They studied Labrador Retrievers to see how they age on a molecular level by comparing changes in the methylation pattern. They discovered that dogs age rapidly at first and then slow down later in life.    

According to the article “The comparison revealed a new formula that better matches the canine-human life stages: human age = 16 ln (dog age) + 31. Based on the new function, an 8-week-old dog is approximately the age of a 9-month-old baby, both being in the infant stage where puppies and babies develop teeth. The average 12-year lifespan of Labrador retrievers also corresponds to the worldwide life expectancy of humans, 70 years.”

The researchers noted that they need to do more studies because different breeds age at different rates. Having a more accurate way to measure a dog’s age will help both dog owners and veterinarians better appreciate and care for dogs.

Journal Reference:

  1. Tina Wang, Jianzhu Ma, Andrew N. Hogan, Samson Fong, Katherine Licon, Brian Tsui, Jason F. Kreisberg, Peter D. Adams, Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Danika L. Bannasch, Elaine A. Ostrander, Trey Ideker. Quantitative Translation of Dog-to-Human Aging by Conserved Remodeling of the DNA Methylome. Cell Systems, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.06.006

Cite This Page:

Cell Press. “How old is your dog in human years? New method better than ‘multiply by 7’.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200702113649.htm>.

Do animals have beliefs?

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Based on the research by Dr. Tobias Starzak and Professor Albert Newen from the Institute of Philosophy II at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, yes, they do. Although it is not easy to prove, the research shows that chimpanzees, dogs, and some birds have beliefs. It stands to reason that if these animals do, others do as well.

According to the study for an animal to illustrate that they have beliefs, they must meet certain criteria. They must have information about the world; the animal must be able to use the information in a flexible manner; then that information is then internally structured into a belief with different aspects of that information being processed separately; and they must be able to recombine the components of the information in unique ways.

According to Albert Newen, flexible behavior which can be interpreted as caused by beliefs has been observed in chimpanzees, rats and Border collies.

Journal Reference:

  1. Albert Newen, Tobias Starzak. How to ascribe beliefs to animals. Mind & Language, 2020; DOI: 10.1111/mila.12302

Cite This Page:

Ruhr-University Bochum. “What it means when animals have beliefs: Chimpanzees, some dog species and even scrub jay and crows have beliefs..” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617145957.htm

Help Your Dog Live Longer with These Fitness Techniques

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By guest blogger Cindy Aldridge

Dogs of every age need proper exercise and nutrition in order to maintain good health. With the right balance, you can help your pup live a long and happy life. The key is to keep everything in moderation because even exercise can be detrimental if your dog overdoes it.

Ready to create a new fitness routine for your furry friend? Certified Animal Behavior Consultant Susan Bulanda shares some tips to get you started.

Make Quality Food a Priority

The foundation of any pet’s health is a great diet. The right food can make a big difference for everything from his coat to his joints. Look for high-quality food with natural ingredients that provide the nutrients they need. If you want to take it a step further, consider air-dried beef dog food, which has all the protein-packed benefits of raw food without the mess or hassle of preparing it yourself. Not only that, your dog will love the flavors.

Exercise, But Don’t Overdo It

Dogs need regular exercise for both physical and mental stimulation, but it’s crucial not to overdo it, especially as your pet gets a little older. He may want to run and play the way he did as a puppy, but certain types of exercise are better than others, depending on your dog’s breed and size. To avoid injury and keep his joints healthy, consider taking your dog for a swim, which is gentle enough for most ages.

Keep His Mind Sharp

In addition to getting enough exercise, it’s also important to provide your pup with plenty of mental stimulation throughout the day, even when you’re not around. You can introduce different smells and sounds to keep his senses engaged or provide interactive toys such as tug ropes or treat-dispensing balls that encourage thinking and playing. Training games are also great for mentally stimulating your dog, teaching him new tricks, or honing existing skills. You can also try playing hide-and-seek with his favorite toy.

Keep His Coat Healthy

Brushing and grooming your dog regularly and removing dirt, debris, dead skin cells, and excess fur from their skin helps keep their coat healthy. Invest in a high-quality brush for daily brushing sessions at home or visit a professional groomer for more extensive grooming services such as nail trimming or hair styling. Additionally, make sure you check for fleas or ticks regularly, too, especially during warmer months when these parasites are more active.

Spend Quality Time Together

No matter how old your pup is, spending quality time together is an essential part of keeping him happy and healthy. Take some time out of each day to cuddle up with your pup on the couch or take him on an adventure around town. Go for a drive if your pet enjoys car rides. Giving your dog this time is important for his mental health.

Invest in the Right Gear

As you and your dog spend time together, invest in quality gear like a durable leash and harness to ensure his safety. Look for products made from materials like leather, which are strong enough to withstand wear and tear but still comfortable enough for long periods of use without causing irritation. Lastly, make sure you have a good collar complete with ID tags so you’ll have peace of mind.

Keeping your pet healthy and active will ensure his continued mental and physical fitness, which can, in turn, lengthen his life. By feeding him quality dog food and providing lots of opportunities for exercise and bonding time, you can help your dog make the most of his years. Don’t forget to talk to your vet about any concerns right away.