Tag: health

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Melody of Memories

In times of tragic loss, several people reach out for their friends and family for comfort, while others keep to themselves. Teejay Raj writes a letter to his most loved Pixie to express his love and share the bereavement.

My heart throb Pixie, It’s been only a month since you left us and crossed over the rainbow bridge. I am writing this letter to try and let you go. For some reason, I am unable to find peace. Sometimes it feels like a dream, but I don’t know what kind, good or bad. Half the time it’s like I’m in the middle of a nightmare, but maybe I’ll wake up and see you on my bed. Or maybe I’ll look over right now and see you lying by my chair where you’d always be when I am home.

Sometimes it’s like you were just my imagination. I want to fall asleep again and hope that I re-start that same dream. Was it really nine years ago that I first saw you? We were supposed to have another two or three or even five years to hang out and go on walks, talk, travel, or play, or was that all just a happy dream?

I wept when you passed away, I still cry everyday although I loved you deeply, I couldn’t make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, Tiny little paws at rest. God broke my heart to only prove he takes the best. You came to my life when I was struggling with a shocking discovery of a lifelong disease with no cure in medical science. This hit me hard. It was difficult for me to come to terms with the unwanted developments. What was more dreadful was the fact that I cannot lead a normal healthy life anymore. My dependency on medicines, constant vigilance on day-to-day simple activities, brought fear and insecurity which gradually led to massive bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies.

During the whole process, I didn’t even realise when I isolated myself from the world. Eventually it led me to attract strong tendencies to hurt myself.

I still remember the feeling when I first saw you as a teenee weenie pup at the adoption centre in Delhi. With you, the conversations were magical – someday I might have to leave this world without getting a chance to tell you goodbye so I just want you to know that all my happiest memories are with you. Promise me, you will never forget all the time we spend together and promise me no one will ever take my place in your heart ever.

The day I adopted you, I found my missing piece – you completed me and made a better person out of me. Thank you for coming into my life and making me happy and content every single day. Maybe I wasn’t the perfect father for you- but I did everything in my power to make you happy.

In a world where everyone is overexposed- you have always taught me to enjoy life in private. If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realise how special you were to me. Time has made me realise, choosing you was one of the best decisions of my life. You made me believe in myself when everyone gave up on me. You taught me compassion, love without condition or boundaries and caring and sharing. Maybe someday, somewhere we will meet again.

But for now, I will keep you safe in my thoughts like a gem well-kept in a treasure. I will always see you as long as my heart beats. When I walk around the house, I feel like something is missing. You aren’t there to greet me, No tail wagging, no tongue lolling. Life will never be the same. It is a quiet empty home- my tiny little girl now sleeps peacefully. And it hits me at random throughout the day. I went over to the terrace of our block last Tuesday to look for something, and my dear girl, I was thinking of you. I had to sit down and gather myself before I could get back to looking. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, thank you for the nine years of being the best girl. It was a joy to grow up with you and it still breaks my heart that I won’t be seeing you anymore.

I want to read you the best quote I have ever heard, “You don’t know what you have, until it’s gone.” Truth, is you know exactly what you have but you just never thought, you would lose it. You have given me all your love and for staying as long as you possibly could. I never thought it was possible to love someone so deeply and so selflessly. You’ve taught us so many things without saying a word. You’ve changed me into a completely different human being. and now that you’re gone, I feel so lost and confused about my very own existence.

As far as I can see, grief will never truly end, it may become less shearing over time. Some days the pain does feel sharp. Grief will last as long as love does forever simply the way your absence pains my heart. A deep longing, along with deeper love…..someday the heavy rains lash and the next day the tide may recede. It will be an ebb and flow, the constant dance of pain, sorrow and sweet love.

I don’t often ask for help; I handle my own healing. When I do need someone that’s when you know it’s bad and I am literally struggling emotionally and mentally. You were so little when we got you and I was so young. Your passing symbolizes the end of an era, the end of very sweet memories. I love you Pixie, may you find happiness and lots of time to run and play on the rainbow. I miss you so much already. I am hoping this last letter to you gets rid of my heartache but it’s not working. Hopefully, I will find you in my dreams and thoughts and heal from this loss. You will always be “Daddy’s Little Girl”. I promise to see you on the other side when the time is right.

Unexpected Goodbye Forever in My Heart my baby.

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Yelling at Dog Can Take Toll on its Mental Health, Says Recent Research

Researchers also analysed the dogs’ behaviour during training to look for stress behaviours, such as yawning, lip-licking, paw-raising and yelping

Lisbon, November 13, 2019: Your beloved dog may be no less than your family member to which you are truly dedicated but sometimes he can bring out worst in you. Like kids they can also be irritating and cranky at times and you can end up yelling at them.

As per a report published in Sciencealert However much you want to, however, new research suggests that you should never yell at or otherwise punish a mischievous mutt. According to a new study uploaded to pre-print server bioRxiv, aversive training such as positive punishment and negative reinforcement can have long-term negative effects on your dog’s mental state.

“Our results show that companion dogs trained using aversive-based methods experienced poorer welfare as compared to companion dogs trained using reward-based methods, at both the short- and the long-term level,” the researchers write in their paper.”Specifically, dogs attending schools using aversive-based methods displayed more stress-related behaviours and body postures during training, higher elevations in cortisol levels after training, and were more ‘pessimistic’ in a cognitive bias task.”

This sort of research has been conducted before, and found that aversive training has negative effects, but it’s primarily been on police and laboratory dogs. In addition, the aversive training tends to be shock collar training, which is only one of several tools used. So, led by biologist Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro of the Universidade do Porto in Portugal, the international team of researchers conducted their new study on companion dogs.

The animals were recruited from a number of training schools in Porto – 42 dogs from three schools that use reward-based training like food treats or play, and 50 dogs from four schools that use aversive-based training, such as yelling, physically manipulating the dog, or leash-jerking.

Each dog was filmed during the first 15 minutes of three training sessions, and saliva samples were taken to assess stress levels from training – three from each dog relaxing at home to establish baseline levels of stress hormone cortisol, and three from each dog after training.

The researchers also analysed the dogs’ behaviour during training to look for stress behaviours, such as yawning, lip-licking, paw-raising and yelping. Unsurprisingly, the dogs in the aversive training classes showed elevated stress behaviours, particularly yawning and lip-licking. Their saliva also had significantly increased levels of cortisol compared to when they were relaxing at home.

By contrast, the positive reinforcement dogs were pretty chill – far fewer stress behaviours, and much more normal cortisol levels. The next step was to assess the longer term effects of this stress. A month after the dogs were assessed at training, 79 of them were then trained to associate a bowl on one side of a room with a sausage snack. If the bowl was on that side, it always held a delicious treat; if located on the other side, the bowl never had the treat. (All bowls were rubbed with sausage to ensure the smell didn’t give the game away.)

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The Cough That Won’t Quit

It can be an indicator of a number of different health concerns

New Delhi, November 5, 2019: Most dogs develop a cough at some point in their lives, and it’s often difficult for pet parents to determine the cause of the hacking or whether it’s a serious problem. In dogs, a cough can be an indicator of a number of different health concerns – some more serious than others. Here’s a brief guide to some different types of canine coughs and what you should know about them. Here’s a brief guide to some different types of canine coughs and what you should know about them.

Kennel Cough:
In most cases, when an otherwise healthy dog suddenly starts coughing, it’s usually due to kennel cough or another similar viral or bacterial infection. Kennel cough can involve a deep, dry hacking cough, sneezing, snorting, gagging, or even vomiting. There may also be spasms of coughing brought on by excitement or exercise. If your dog has recently been in a situation where she has had contact with other dogs– for example, in a boarding facility – she may have contracted a kennel cough infection. Symptoms usually appear from 2 to 14 days after exposure. Complete recovery from kennel cough can take up to three weeks in healthy dogs, and twice as long in older patients or in dogs with underlying immunosuppressive conditions. Puppies can also take a bit longer to recover. Since a serious episode of kennel cough can result in pneumonia, if your dog doesn’t start to improve on her own, or if the cough becomes progressively worse, it’s important to make an appointment with your vet to be on the safe side.

Pneumonia:
A cough that sounds wet (a “productive”cough) usually means there’s a buildup of fluid in the dog’s lungs. Fluid or phlegm in the lungs is a symptom of pneumonia, which can have a variety of causes. Bacterial pneumonia is caused by a pathogen, and there are several organisms that can result in infection. Fungal pneumonia is the result of a deep fungal lung infection, and is a more serious and hard-to- treat problem. Symptoms of pneumonia in addition to coughing include loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, lethargy and difficulty breathing. Another type of pneumonia is aspiration pneumonia, also called inhalation pneumonia. This is a condition in which the lungs become inflamed and infected as the result of breathing in a foreign substance like vomit, regurgitated gastric acid, or food.

Tracheal Collapse:
A recurrent, episodic cough that sounds like a goose honk can be a sign of a collapsing trachea –specially if your dog is a small breed. Tracheal collapse is a chronic, progressive disease that can be either congenital or acquired. Dogs with the condition also typically show signs of exercise intolerance, respiratory distress, and gagging while eating or drinking. Treatment options for a collapsing trachea include medical management, which works for about 70 percent of dogs with a mild form of the condition. More serious cases often require highly specialized surgery. Cartilage building supplements are also given to maintain the integrity of tracheal cartilage.

Reverse Sneezing:
Another condition common in small breed dogs and also brachycephalic breeds is the tendency to reverse sneeze. While it is indeed a sneeze rather than a cough, the sound a dog makes while it’s happening can be mistaken for coughing or choking. Reverse sneezing is caused by a spasm of the throat and soft palate that is triggered by an irritant, which can include simple excitement, exercise, a collar that’s too tight, pollen, or even a sudden change in temperature. In a regular sneeze, air is pushed out through the nose. In a reverse sneeze, air is instead pulled rapidly and noisily in through the nose. The sound of a reverse sneeze can be startling, and many dog parents wonder if their pet is choking or having an asthma attack. Most dogs that reverse sneeze also assume a telltale stance — elbows spread apart, head extended or back, and eyes bulging.

Heart Disease:
Coughing can also be a sign of heart disease in dogs. Other signs of a heart problem include a bluish tinge to the tongue, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness, decreased exercise endurance, a too-fast or too-slow heartbeat, and increased respiratory effort. If your dog has been diagnosed with a heart condition and coughs mainly while she’s resting, lying down, or at night, it could be a sign the disease is progressing. Treatment of heart disease in dogs depends on a variety of factors including the severity of the problem, the age and health of your pet, cost of treatment, and other considerations. A visit to a board-certified veterinary cardiologist can provide more information about the severity of your pet’s heart condition. A dog’s cough that doesn’t resolve quickly on its own should be investigated, and the sooner you make an appointment with your veterinarian, the better your pet’s chances for either a full recovery or a well-managed condition.

-Exclusive story by Buddy Life Magazine

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Dog Receives World’s First Vaccine to Treat Cancer

Clinical trial begins to test universal Vaccine against canine cancer.New York, May 11, 2019: Taking a leap towards canine medication researchers are working on a vaccine for treating cancer in dogs. The very first dog received this very first vaccine intended to protect her from cancer last week. And soon after the 9-year-old Gordon setter named Trilly received her shot, so, too, did Norton, a 9-year-old rat terrier mix.

“We’re testing a totally novel way of creating an anti-cancer immune response,” David vail said to media. He is a professor and board-certified oncologist at the University of Wisconsin,Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. “The holy grail would be to prevent cancer as opposed to waiting for it to start and then treating it.”.If the vaccine works in dogs, Vail says, it may not only provide a new strategy for addressing a critical canine health concern, it might also work in people.

As reported by media, the Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study, now underway, will evaluate a vaccine strategy for the prevention of cancer in dogs. Much like an influenza vaccine bolsters the body’s readiness to fight the flu, this preventative vaccine follows the same principle, “to have the immune system primed such that if a cancer cell develops, it will attack,” Vail says.

More than 800 patients are enrolled in the study, making it the largest clinical trial conducted to date for canine cancer, and across the history of veterinary medicine. The UW School of Veterinary Medicine is one of three participating institutions.

Cancer is the number one cause of illness and death in the aging dog population, with approximately one out of every three dogs affected and six million new cancer diagnoses made in dogs each year.

“The vaccine may not be effective, but this is probably the only approach to this type of vaccine, so we feel we have to try it. The implications of success would be quite large, for dogs and people,” says Stephen Albert Johnston, professor and director of the Center for Innovations in Medicine at Arizona State University, who developed the technology behind the vaccine.

Traditional vaccines work by introducing into the body a protein found on the surface of the virus that the vaccine is protecting against. The immune system sees the protein as a threat, establishes a memory of it, and, if there is a later infection, recognizes that protein and is primed to react.

“It’s almost like putting up a wanted poster,” Vail explains. “When that virus infects you, the immune cells recognize it because of the ‘poster.’ Then, the immune cells go out and kill it.”

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Talking to Your Pet is Not Whacky, On the Contrary it’s Good

The research was presented at the first Summit on Social Isolation and Companion Animals.

New York, May 10, 2019: Owning a pet increases human interaction and combats the increasing health concerns around loneliness, according to the researchers. They suggested government should do more to encourage it.

Researchers released new data Tuesday that show about 40% of people support a government push to increase interaction with pets. The research was presented at the first Summit on Social Isolation and Companion Animals by Mars Petcare and the Human Animal Bond Research Institute. Mars Petcare even gives consumers tips on how to convince government officials to make their cities more pet friendly.

As per one researcher loneliness is as dangerous to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That makes it a health concern on par with obesity. Nancy Gee, human-animal interaction research manager at Mars’ Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, says showing other people pictures of your pet and even talking to that cat or dog are both typical and healthy behaviors.

“When we think about loneliness, we need attachment figures and pets meet that need,” says Gee. “You don’t have to worry about confidentiality or judgement. It just is what it is.” The caricature of reclusive hoarders and pets wasn’t borne out in the online survey of 2,036 people, which included 1,469 pet owners for HABRI and Mars Petcare. Finding say, more than half (54%) of respondents say their pet helps them connect with other people. And 51% said their pets make them “feel less shy.”

About one in four pet owners said they got a pet because they know it is good for mental health. More than half of people 55 and over got their pet for that reason. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those surveyed believe nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have a degree of responsibility to foster pet interaction.

(Inputs from USA Today)

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Beware if Your Dog Licks Your Lips

Both you and your pet could be struck down with illness.

London, May 5, 2019: It is hard to resist when your cuddly mutt shows affection, especially when it licks your face and lips. But no matter what, you must not let your dog reach your face, nor if a recent research is to be believed.

According to a recent finding licky dog can actually spread a great deal of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to your mouth, and that’s never good news. Dogs don’t brush their teeth everyday, and so their mouths harbor a lot of bacteria, much of it harmful to humans. Hence letting your dog kiss you on the lips could be really bad for your health.

Scientists at Glasgow Caledonian University discovered that allowing dogs to kiss or lick your face or eat from your plate increases the chance of spreading ¬antibiotic-resistant bugs between species.Both you and your pet could be struck down with illnesses that can’t be treated with antibiotics, as the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria leads to more and more superbugs in the UK.Health psychologist Dr Adele Dickson, who led the research, said to media “This close contact could potentially put adults, children and the pets themselves at risk of transferring bugs that are resistant to antibiotics through saliva.

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