News briefs on animals: cats’ knees to magpies’ smarts

Because my list of animal topics for this blog grows longer every day, I’ve decided this is a good time to share some of them here.  I’ve written a brief overview of each one that especially appealed, ending with a link to the source.

Then you can take your pick and start reading!  I hope you’re as fascinated by each story as I was.  

Manatees' salad:  Earlier this year, Florida manatees were starving because sea grass, their main source of food, had been mostly wiped out through human actions.  So, in an unusual move, lettuce by the ton was provided to the hungry mammals.  Enough?  We don’t know yet.

 Even if the lettuce suffices, the manatees will still be up against the same culprit: humans.  First, it was fatal boat strikes; now it’s pollution that destroys their food supply.  Much as people claim to love manatees, will they ever care for them enough to stop killing them?  https://tinyurl.com/mrx7mfpb

The knees know:  Do cats have knees?  That’s the last question you may have thought to ask about your beloved cat while admiring her feline grace in movement.  Have you ever heard anyone refer to this body part in cats? 

Annie

Fact is, cats do have joints that function the same as knees and elbows — they just aren’t called knees and elbows . . . and your cat’s knees might not be where you think they are. 

Now that you’ve started wondering about this, take a look at the illustrated story below.  And while you’re at it, try to not even think about bees’ knees.  https://tinyurl.com/3zky2wsw

Cats & arthritis:  Speaking of knees and joints and thinking of cats’ lithe moves, they do grow older and can suffer from arthritis, causing pain that cramps their style.  Which is why news of the first cat arthritis drug OK’d by the FDA was announced with such fanfare earlier this year.

Look into Solensia, an injectable medication given by a veterinarian once a month to help control osteoarthritis pain in cats.

Hippos endangered:  Massive and frightening as hippos are – or maybe for that very reason – hippos and their body parts (like teeth, skin, skulls) are widely sought after by traders and trophy hunters.

Regarded as “ecosystem engineers” in the African river and lake areas where they live, hippos are a captivating sight moving through water channels, reinforcing routes. 

                                                                               Hippo Advocacy pic

But now, slaughtered in cruel numbers, hippos must be protected.  To save them from near extinction, we should ask the US Fish & Wildlife Service to list them under the Endangered Species Act, assuring federal protection from such obscene results as a glass-topped table resting on a hippo skull.  Sick.   https://tinyurl.com/ypkkybcd

‘Smooshed’ look is out:  You know what they say about dogs being our best friends.  That’s nice, but humans are far from best friends with Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.  So dramatically have we inbred them into smooshed-faced pets that too often, they have short, difficult and unhealthy lives. 

The good news is that a court in Norway recently ordered a stop to breeding these dogs.  Viva, Norway! – but where is our AKC on this issue?  (The answer to that is bound to be long and UNsatisfying.)

https://tinyurl.com/5cp7mupa

Magpies: beauty & brains:  More and more, birds are seen as much more intelligent than thought till recently.  The Australian magpie has been called “one of the cleverest birds on earth,” with proof that goes far beyond its ability to remember up to 30 human faces and produce “beautiful songs of extraordinary complexity.”

Magpies’ latest feat was to outsmart scientists who had carefully made tracking harnesses for them.  Instead of cooperating, the birds helped each other remove the harnesses (birds: 1; scientists: 0; end of study?).   https://tinyurl.com/2szkxzrt

New way to help:  And finally, although first in importance, Humane Society International has initiated a new way to help Eastern European animals  (including those who escaped from Ukraine).  If you still want to help these needy animals, or to help them again, please look here then take action:  

https://www.hsi.org/news-media/free-veterinary-care-for-pets-of-ukrainian-refugees/ 

     Please make time to dip into these animal news briefs during your spring holiday weekend!    

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