Spayed & Neutered Pets Live Longer. Dolphin Therapy. Jack Flash. “The Bear”. Otter Pups. White House. Duke of Windsor. American In Space. Habitat.

 

For “Mammal Monday”:

Research Finds Spayed & Neutered Dogs Live Longer

“New research from the University of Georgia has found that spaying and neutering your canine companions could lengthen the lives of your pets.

Pet owners are encouraged to sterilize their dogs in an effort to help control the pet population; however, the study is now suggesting that the procedure is also good for a dog's overall health.

Researchers looked at a sample of 40,139 death records from the Veterinary Medical Database from 1984–2004. They determined that the average age of death for dogs that had not been spayed or neutered was 7.9 years vs. 9.4 years for dogs that had been sterilized. 

• Neutered male cats live 62 percent longer than unneutered ones.
• Spayed female cats live 39 percent longer than unspayed ones.
• Neutered male dogs live 18 percent longer than unneutered ones.
• Spayed female dogs live 24 percent longer than unspayed ones.”   More at: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter/spay-neuter-top-ten.aspx

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Wisdom of the Wild, Dolphin Therapy

“Eight-year-old Thomas was born with a rare genetic disorder, which resulted in a lot of trouble communicating with his parents. Now, Thomas undergoes dolphin therapy in the Florida Keys. His parents believe that the connection between Thomas and the dolphins is helping to unlock his silent world. Remarkably, Thomas is beginning to be able to communicate. "Wisdom of the Wild" illustrates some of the surprising ways in which animals help teach, heal, and strengthen people, in body, mind, and spirit.”

See the full episode at http://video.pbs.org/video/1354324880

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Kitten Training for Agility.

“Jumpin Jack Flash, a Tonkinese kitten at 5 1/2 weeks is training for Cat Agility using toddler sized obstacles.”

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“The Bear” trailer

Film Review: “Storytelling doesn't get much purer than this--a film with virtually no dialogue and not a minute that isn't fascinating, either for the plot it pursues or the way director Jean-Jacques Annaud gets his ursine stars to do what he wants. The story deals with a young cub who, after his mother is killed in a landslide, bonds to a lumbering male Kodiak. The two of them then must cope with an invasion of hunters into their territory--and Annaud makes it clear whose side he's on. Aside from stunning scenery, the film offers startlingly close-up looks at bear behavior. They say the best actors are the ones that let you see what they're thinking, a trick Annaud manages with his big, furry stars.” --Marshall Fine
“The Bear has all the marks of a classic. Lauded by animal rights groups for its respect for the integrity of all species, it manages to speak out eloquently against the senseless hunting of wildlife without having to depict killing to make its point. Instead, it emphasizes the ties that bind the human and animal worlds together.” --Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

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Otter Pups Swim Lesson

“You've probably noticed that otters seem almost as home in the water as most fish. But, did you know that otters have to be taught how to swim? Otter pups aren't born with any innate knowledge of how to swim or handle themselves in the water. And since otters depend on water to survive, mom has to teach her babies how to be as home in the water as they are on land.”

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On This Day:

President Adams settles in new capital, Jun 3, 1800:

“John Adams, the second president of the United States, becomes the first president to reside in Washington, D.C., when he takes up residence at Union Tavern in Georgetown.

The city of Washington was created to replace Philadelphia as the nation's capital because of its geographical position in the center of the existing new republic. The states of Maryland and Virginia ceded land around the Potomac River to form the District of Columbia, and work began on Washington in 1791. French architect Charles L'Enfant designed the city's radical layout, full of dozens of circles, crisscross avenues, and plentiful parks. In 1792, work began on the neoclassical White House building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue under the guidance of Irish-American architect James Hoban, whose White House design was influenced by Leinster House in Dublin and by a building sketch in James Gibbs' Book of Architecture.

On June 3, 1800, President Adams moved to a temporary residence in the new capital as construction was completed on the executive mansion. On November 1, the president was welcomed into the White House. The next day, Adams wrote to his wife about their new home: "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house, and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but wise men ever rule under this roof!"

The mansion was enlarged under the direction of James Hoban, who added east and west terraces to the main building along with a semicircular south portico and a colonnaded north portico.  Work was completed on the White House in the 1820s and it has remained largely unchanged since.”

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Duke of Windsor weds, Jun 3, 1937:

“In France, the duke of Windsor--formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland--marries Wallis Warfield, the American divorcee for whom he abdicated the British throne in December 1936.”

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An American walks in space, Jun 3, 1965:

“One hundred and 20 miles above the earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun, White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. As a space walker, White had been preceded by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, was the first man ever to walk in space.”

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Yesterday:

As usual, my sinuses woke me up around 4.00am, when I was all clogged up and it was making me cough.  Then I heard thunder and rain.  A little while later the power went out.  Armed with flashlights and stick-up lights, I boiled water on my propane stove, and poured it over ground coffee to try to make coffee.  It was only OK.  It was raining too hard to go out to the motor home to get the ‘gas’ percolator.  As it was raining so hard and Misty had to go out, I put her raincoat on her, only then would she go out in the rain.  She really likes her raincoat. I had gone to bed early the night before, so I knew she couldn’t wait.

Quickly, I got the critter’s food out of the fridge and fed them, but they knew something wasn’t right.  Even the animals missed the electricity.  I plugged the phone cord into my laptop, and tried to use it on Dial-Up, but it was so slow that it was just aggravating.  To think that was all I had a few years ago!!  The power come on a few hours hours later.  One room was vacuumed, when Jay arrived on his ATV with Maddie the Yorkie.  He wanted me to clip some hair off her tummy as it kept on getting wet in the grass, so that’s what I did.  He is very mad at himself for going back to drinking.

I was really tired and lay down for a while, when the power went off again.  I was supposed to be getting ready to go to a wedding, but gave up on that.  I didn’t want to start coughing during the ceremony.  I tried to rest some more till the power came back on, but I had to take my foster cats to Conroe Petco.  So I put them in their carriers, and Ray’s son put Simba’s in my van. That cat is too heavy for me, but I could manage Nila’s.

Nila cried all the way to town, and didn’t settle down until we got there.  A Petco customer got Simba’s carrier out of the van for me, as Kenya was late.

While we waited, I had each carrier in a shopping cart by the window at Petco, and let them watch the world go by. 

Then we, the cats and I, had to wait until Kenya had the top area of the habitat cleaned, then bleached, with new blankies and toys, ready for it’s new inhabitants.  I would have helped, but you know how it is when you have a routine, it would have thrown her off.  Simba got nasty again when he was put in there.  He gets upset with any changes, and so Kenya put a cover over the Plexiglas door, so he could chill out. 

Simba and Nila will be there for a month, or less if adopted in that time.  I hope they get ‘furever’ homes, as if not, they will be back here.  Gentle little Nila is alright, but humongous Simba gets into my tools in the Grooming Room, and knocks things down.  He can open plastic buckets to get to cat food, so I have to keep it in the house.

When I got home the very first thing I did was empty the cat boxes, take them through to the workshop sink and soak them in bleach water.  Maybe I’ll find out if my sinus problems are from cats in a few days.