Well finally!! Something useful and non-selfish to do with this pill. Maybe we could get some of the horny Rethugs to spare a few when they are not out chasing small children or mistresses. From Itchmo:
Ingrid was rescued in April by a Long Island animal shelter after being near death from heartworms. A vet suggested giving Viagra to Ingrid to keep her blood vessels open.
"We were really worried she wouldn’t make it," Stein said during a phone interview with WNBC.com. "There was such a turnaround after or week or so of the Viagra; she just became a new dog. She perked up and was lively, just like any other dog."
More on Ingrid and how Viagra has saved her life after the jump.
Now, the shelter is seeking Viagra donations from local residents to help keep Ingrid alive. The shelter cannot afford to pay $10 for each Viagra pill that Ingrid needs on a daily basis.
"If 200 people could send us just one pill, that would be good for seven months," Stein [a spokesperson for the shelter] said.
Stein said that when Ingrid is adopted, the shelter will provide a lifetime supply of Viagra to the owner.
The shelter is also accepting cash donations to purchase the little blue pills.
"Ingrid is a sweetheart of a dog that anyone would be proud or happy to own," Stein said
Link
The link to the shelter is at Itchmo.
For those of you who are not pet owners, heartworm is a parasitic worm that can get into dogs and cats. It grows in the heart, damages the organs and will eventually kill the animal if it is not treated. There are heartworm preventatives as well as ways to kill the parasites once they get into the body.
Hmmm, I wonder if the ads for Viagara will make mention of this development.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itchmo is also continuing it's great reporting of the Pet Food Recall.
UC Davis’s lab is reporting that they found melamine and cyanuric acid in 35% to 40% of pet food tested out of 650 samples. They generally work through vets, but they tested some pet food samples from owners of cats and dogs because of the high demand. That 35-40% percentage seems quite high for pet food testing positive for melamine or cyanuric acid. We wonder how many of those tested pet food samples are NOT on the recall list.
ExperTox, the lab that tested Earl’s cat food, found traces of acetaminophen in several pet food samples including Earl’s pet food sample. ExperTox said that about 70% of the pet food samples that are being tested are being requested by individual pet owners. A spokesperson for the lab said that there were 5 or 6 samples that tested positive for acetaminophen.
Earl then tested his cat’s food at an Oregon lab for common toxic chemicals, not including melamine, and the results came back negative. This has not deterred Earl from continuing to test for acetaminophen, melamine and other toxins in pet food.
More on pet owners testing their pet food on their own to find answers after the jump.
From the LA Times (registration required):
The Texas lab, ExperTox, has been under fire by pet food companies and the FDA because Menu Foods said that they disputed the lab’s findings and said that FDA tests resulted in negative findings also. Although it seems like the FDA cannot confirm that they tested the same cat food that Earl tested.
So we not only have melamine, acetaminophen, cyanuric acid, amilorine and amiloride (all by products of melamine which were found in pigs that were then slaughtered) all found in pet/pet food. To top this off the ASPCA tested a whole three cans of cat food, found no acetaminophen in those and said that there was no reason to worry about your pet food. So is the ASPCA afraid that they will lose their pet food donations? I can understand that, but why feed all the animals they rescue tainted food? UC Davis tested this brand of cat food several weeks ago and found acetaminophen, then this ocurred:
"A few weeks ago, we received three cans of cat food supplied for testing by an individual pet owner," says Dr. Robert H. Poppenga, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist running the Toxicology Section of the California Animal Health and Food Safety System at UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine. "We were told that this was the same food that had tested positive for acetaminophen and cyanuric acid at a private laboratory in Texas. We immediately began conducting our own rigorous tests on these foods, and all the samples came back negative for this type of contamination."
More on ASPCA’s findings after the jump.
From APSCA.org:
Adds the ASPCA’s Dr. Steven Hansen, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist and Senior Vice President, ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, "The bottom line is that neither did the FDA’s tests confirm the presence of acetaminophen, nor did those conducted by UC-Davis—nor has the APCC managed any clinical cases to date. As a result, we want to reassure the public that, based on this information, we believe any fear of acetaminophen contamination in pet food is unfounded, and pet parents should rest easy on that account."
Link
So either the Texas Lab lied, the samples were different, or UC Davis is lying. This gets so confusing and makes me wonder if we will ever get to the complete truth of it. If you check into Expertox, they are a private lab with very good credentials and do not take donations from anyone, including pet food companies. I am not sure if UC Davis or other school labs do take money/supplies from pet food companies but it is interesting that the private lab gets one result and the FDA and a school that may take money from pet food companies get another. There was also a private lab in NY that found rat poison in pet food but of course the FDA says they are wrong. My other question is the UC Davis was at the forefront in finding the toxins originally so I don't know if they got in trouble for that or not. I just wish they would take 4 labs, all the same samples, have them test them all at once and go from there. At any rate, trust no one I guess is the operative mode to take these days.
To end on a happy note: Next time you hear that Bull Terriers of the Pit persuasion are vicious, disloyal creatures, send them this story.
Gerry Cunningham was attacked by four men when he was playing with his 18-month-old dog, Gizzy, in a London park. He was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head with a baseball bat, but when he awoke, he found his Staffordshire bull terrier licking his face having forced the men to flee.
Mr Cunningham said: "I was in the park throwing a stick around for Gizzy when four youths came in with machetes and bats. They had a Japanese Akita with them and a bull mastiff heaps bigger than my dog.
"One of them pushed me to the floor. I got up but he took a baseball bat and knocked me out.
"When I came to, my dog was sitting there licking my face trying to get me conscious. The dog had managed to fight them off and saved my life."
Cunningham was rushed to the hospital and was cleared except for a damaged shoulder. Gizzy walked away from the incident with a broken tooth and after being checked by a vet, he is in perfect health. Cunningham rescued Gizzy after the dog had three previous owners.
GO PITTIES GO!!!