Stem cell treatment for dogs

Humans with a bad hip or shoulder can only dream about a cutting-edge stem-cell transplant. But for dogs, it can actually happen. Time Magazine reports on stem-cell treatment for dogs:

Blue leads an active lifestyle: she runs four times a week around an enormous park in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn.; she likes playing Frisbee and loves swimming. But one day last November, Blue started limping — which was odd because the German shepherd seemed fit and was only 3 1/2 years old.

"She wasn't recovering as quickly as normal from a trek in the park. I thought that was just a sign of aging," says her owner Twila Waters.... In fact, Blue had hip dysplasia, a fairly common and sometimes crippling degenerative condition in dogs and cats. The cure — a complete hip replacement — would keep Blue in recovery for up to six months.

So while Waters mulled the surgery, Blue's regular veterinarian sent Waters to see another local vet, Kathy Mitchener, who was trained in acupuncture, to treat Blue's pain. But Mitchener had a better idea. She offered a cutting-edge stem-cell transplant, a therapy not yet available to humans, that would potentially help Blue's hip repair itself. The treatment took just two days last January.

Mitchener had recently become certified to perform the stem-cell treatment, pioneered by the company Vet-Stem based in San Diego. She removed some fatty tissue from the dog's abdomen and shipped the sample to Vet-Stem's labs, where technicians used centrifuges to extract stem cells from the tissue. The cells were shipped back the next day, and Mitchener injected them into Blue's failing hip, where they adapted and developed into the healthy cartilage and tendon cells the animal needed.

Within 36 hours, Waters says, "Blue was moving well, and you could see an ease in her gait."

One cycle of treatment typically costs between $2,000 and $4,000.

Some species could be wiped out feaster than feared

Sceientists are now warning that endangered species could become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought. Their findings, presented in the journal Nature, say that up until now, we have dramatically underestimated the speed at which some will disappear. The Guardian has details:

The findings...suggest that animals such as the western gorilla, the Sumatran tiger and Malayan sun bear, the smallest of the bear family, may become extinct much sooner than conservationists had feared.

Ecologists Brett Melbourne, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Alan Hastings at the University of California, Davis said conservation organisations should use updated extinction models to urgently re-evaluate the risks to wildlife.

"Some species could have months instead of years left, while other species that haven't even been identified as under threat yet should be listed as endangered," said Melbourne.

The warning has particular implications for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles an annual "red list" of endangered species. Last year the list upgraded western gorillas to critically endangered, after populations of a subspecies were found to have been badly affected by Ebola virus and the commercial trade in bushmeat. The Yangtze river dolphin was listed as critically endangered, but could possibly be already extinct.

A sanctuary for animals in the Arabian desert

When you think of an animal sanctuary, the Arabian desert is probably not the first location that comes to mind. But Ronel Smuts runs such a place in the United Arab Emirates. Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman reports:

Life can be tough on the edge of a desert emirate where sand stings and the sun hangs like misery by 9 a.m. Ronel Smuts oversees a menagerie of exotic and endangered animals rescued from smugglers, airports, bazaars, palaces.

Some arrive bone thin, others were abused, like the lioness whose teeth were filed down by a sheik. Two African baboons were found in a car in Dubai; a jaguar was shipped in from Kazakhstan.

When they get here, they meet a South African divorcee with a tin feeding bowl and an ornery side who jokes -- one assumes it's a joke -- that she'll throw her crew, eight Arab men in khaki shirts and matching caps, into the crocodile pond if floors aren't swept and cages aren't repaired.

Smuts has a soft heart for animals and a tart tongue for most everyone else; she once had 14 cheetahs living in her villa, and she's installed mosquito zappers in the lion's den, which, incidentally, is air-conditioned.

Photo: Gulf News

A childhood dream (raising hedgehogs) is realized

Some people dream of sailing the globe. Others hope to conquer the highest peaks. A woman in Mansfield, Ill., dreamed of raising hedgehogs (they come in 15 colors!) and, like many in this great nation of ours, she has achieved that dream. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports:

Sarah Roberts lifted a little hut covering Bailey and her offspring and plucked the protective mother off her babies, four tiny hedgehogs that looked like a clump of cactus.

"She has two girls and two boys," said Roberts, who has made a business of raising and selling the playful, trendy and trouble-free African pygmy hedgehogs. She also shelters hedgehogs who have run into trouble in other homes where owners no longer want them, often because they've grown old or become sick.

"I figure I'm putting babies out there, so I think it's only fair," Roberts said.

A University of Illinois animal science graduate, Roberts finally realized her childhood dream of owning a hedgehog when her roommate, Jacqueline Butler, talked about getting a pet. Their apartment building banned dogs and cats, so Roberts, after researching the subject, convinced Butler a hedgehog would be perfect. Three years later, Roberts has 60 of them.

Gourmet dog food at hotels

We love our pets; we love them so much that we cannot bear to be parted from them. For some, that means Take Your Dog to Work Day (which sadly, seems to happen only once a year). For others, it means traveling with pets ... on the road. Some in the travel business see this as an opportunity (!) and a few forward-thinking establishments are coming up with some interesting meals. USA Today reports on gourmet dog food at hotels.

With an increasing number of pet owners bringing their four-legged friends on the road, hotels throughout North America and Europe are responding with tail-wagging gourmet menus fit for a king (or a Cavalier King Charles spaniel). Fifi can feast on Zen Yo ($11), a hearty vegetable stir-fry with poached eggs and steamed brown rice that's designed to help pets adjust to jet lag and altitude, at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Or down an organic Buddy Burger hamburger with cheese ($5) at Los Angeles' Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, which offers an organic and locally sourced in-room dining service doggie menu with cooked-to-order items. Or start with an appetizer of chicken liver pâté ($7) before moving on to the braised New Zealand lamb served on a bed of rice ($15) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa.

Pretty soon, you might see "premium dog treats" stocked in the mini-bar.

We're spending more on medication for pets

It's a relief to know that, in this age of obesity among Americans, a new diet drug has emerged ... for dogs. Yes, we are spending more and more on medication for pets. Newsweek reports:

Next month this will change when Slentrol, the first diet drug for dogs, hits the market. Developed by Pfizer and approved by the Food and Drug Administration late last year, Slentrol suppresses a dog's appetite and limits fat absorption. ... Pfizer believes the owners of at least 17 million dogs will be willing to try Slentrol. That could be a conservative bet: about one third of the 74 million dogs in the United States are overweight (5 percent are obese). And, increasingly, Americans are willing to open their wallets for Fluffy and friends, spending nearly $40 billion on their pets last year, double what they did in 1994. ...

The FDA has approved more than two dozen new drugs for pets since 2002 alone. Along with Slentrol, Pfizer has a drug to treat motion sickness in dogs that's due out in August. Eli Lilly just launched a new companion-animal division, and plans to develop six drugs in the next four years, in part by reconstituting drugs developed for humans, targeting not physical but psychological ailments.

Some experts caution that today's pets simply spend too much time in the home, sleeping and being slugs and what they really need is a good run through the meadow, chasing sheep.

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Animals suffer in California fires; condors may be lost

The fires burning in Big Sur and Goleta are forcing evacuations, destroying thousands of acres and threatening more damage. Among the victims of the wildfires are animals--both wild, like this deer in Big Sur, and domestic. Pets have had to be sheltered, animals have been forced from their habitat and some condor chicks may have been lost.

The Salinas Californian reports on fire-related issues in central California:

As authorities order mandatory evacuations due to a fire that has scorched more than 50,000 acres in Big Sur, organizations are lending a hand to owners of animals, both small and large. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Monterey County is opening its doors to evacuating residents who need a place to shelter their pets or livestock, whether it's a tiny turtle or a large cow.

Beth Brookhouser, director of community outreach for the organization, said Thursday the SPCA has rescued and sheltered roughly 227 animals affected by both the Basin Complex Fire in Big Sur and the Indians Fire in more remote parts of the Los Padres National Forest.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported that "so much forest has burned near Big Sur that animals have been forced out of their habitat and onto the roads. Buzzards flew overhead to snatch up dead rodents and squirrels, and residents reported that they'd seen bear, deer and other big animals migrating toward the sea."

And finally, the Monterey Herald is reporting that the fate of condor chicks near the fire zone is unknown.

One rare California condor chick may be dead and two others are in areas too dangerous to be saved, as the Basin Complex Fire creeps into their once-serene canyons. "It is horrible, but there is nothing we can do," said Kelly Sorenson of Ventana Wildlife Society, which monitors each bird along the vast Central Coast.

Thick smoke thwarted a rescue attempt early Tuesday. "We're just waiting, watching and hoping for the best. Our hands are tied," he said.

The chicks are about 2½ months old, covered in downy gray feathers and already the size of chickens. Too young to fly, they are confined to their nests.

--Alice Short

Photo: Robert Durell/Los Angeles Times

Rating dogs for feistiness

A new study has found that little dogs tend to be "feisty," while certain breeds, like golden and Labrador retrievers, "are as mellow as their reputations suggest." Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News reports on the study that identified the most and least aggressive common dog breeds.

Although certain pooches appear to be more cantankerous than others, the study supports the old adage that "there are no bad dogs," since aggression is often balanced by other more beneficial attributes, such as watchdog skills. "Most dogs are a mixed bag of positive and less desirable traits -- just like people," lead author Deborah Duffy, a research specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society, told Discovery News.

Duffy and colleagues Yuying Hsu and James Serpell collected basic and behavior-related dog data from two separate groups. The first consisted of members of 11 American Kennel Club recognized national breed clubs, such as The Labrador Retriever Club and The English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association. The second involved an online survey posted at the university's website.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science, represents one of the most extensive of its kind and is the first to report replicated findings of breed differences in aggression, since both of its data sets led to similar conclusions.

Chihuahuas and dachshunds scored higher than average for aggression directed at both humans and dogs, putting them toward the top of the list. Akitas and pit bull terriers, which have "bad boy" reputations, mostly scored high for dog-directed aggression. When they did injure humans, however, the injuries tended to be more severe than those inflicted by the scrappy, smaller dogs.

Basset hounds, golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, Siberian huskies, Bernese mountain dogs, Brittany spaniels, greyhounds and whippets were on the "least aggressive" end of the spectrum.

--Alice Short

Photo: Aaron Favila / Associated Press

Woman creates private animal shelter in China

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in China, the Associated Press has a report on something very unusual in that country: A former businesswoman has created a private animal shelter.

The white short-haired mutt was found dragging his crushed hind legs through rubble-clogged streets after the massive earthquake devastated China's Sichuan province.

The shy terrier mix was lucky to live through the May 12 quake that killed nearly 70,000 people. He was even more fortunate to survive the squads of police and soldiers who were gunning down homeless canines for fear they would spread disease in the disaster's aftermath.

But his luckiest day was when he was picked up by Chen Yunlian.

Now he's among some 100 "quake dogs" rescued by the former businesswoman, who has created something extremely rare in China: a private animal shelter.

Chen is also on the vanguard of a new movement in China of citizens who start their own groups to deal with social problems that were once mostly handled — or ignored — by the Communist Party-led state. Click here for more photos of injured animals who have been helped by Chen.

Photo: Andy Wong / Associated Press

Tiger population declines at reserve in Nepal

The World Wildlife Fund is decrying a dramatic drop in the Bengal tiger population at a Nepalese nature reserve once regarded as a prime sanctuary for the big cats.

In 2005, there were 20 to 50 tigers in the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. A survey conducted in April found a population of 6 to 14 tigers, the WWF said. The organization said the survey results were quietly announced by the government of Nepal on July 1 and based on a camera trap study conducted in large part by the WWF.

The organization blamed the decline on poachers and the illegal wildlife trade. The WWF reported that two tiger skins and nearly 70 pounds of tiger bones were seized from a Nepalese border town in May.

-- Steve Padilla