| Animal News |
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| Budgie The budgie originated in Australia. Millions of human households are graced by this little bird, as they are sociable, bright, and easily maintained animal companions. They can learn to talk, whistle, and do simple tricks. Also, if raised well, parakeets can grow to be very affectionate to their human companions. For people that can only have caged pets in their homes, parakeets offer worthwhile companionship. Prospective parakeet parents should seek one that is about six weeks old. To determine the age of the budgie, find one whose head and brow are striped, whose eyes are solid black, and whose cere (the area surrounding the nostrils) is a tannish pink. Age is important because the ideal training and bonding time is when parakeets are less than a few months old. Seeking out a healthy bird is time well spent. Learn to recognize what healthy, young parakeets look like. They should be able to walk quickly and fly smoothly. The eyes should be clear and wide open. The parakeet should rest on straight legs with its body at an angle. Stained feathers around the bird's anus suggests diarrhea, and it's best to avoid birds with this affliction, which may suggest serious illness. Spending a bit of time in finding a healthy bird will help avoid early illness or even death. Besides age and health, the other considerations in selecting a parakeet are color and sex. The wild budgerigar is typically green, but selective breeding has created a variety of colors. Neither color nor sex are significantly correlated with intelligence or trainability. With the bird picked out, the new guardian must purchase a cage. Avoid cages that are painted, for the parakeet will be nibbling on the bars and chipping the paint, possibly ingesting it. Likewise, wooden cages will be subject to a barrage of gnawing attacks. There should be several perches in the cage, along with secure water and seed dishes. The most convenient cage has a removable bottom tray for easy cleaning, which can also be lined with paper. At home, the cage should be placed in a relatively quiet location away from direct sunlight and drafts. In furnishing the cage, people debate over providing a mirror for the parakeet. Most parakeets enjoy looking in the mirror and seemingly become good friends with their image. However, some people contend that this distracts from the bond the bird develops with its human companion. Another possible addition to the cage is a plastic parakeet, which again allows the bird to find companionship. Once the parakeet is settled into its new home and is becoming acquainted with its new human, it may be ready to explore outside the cage. All windows, doors, and cabinets should be shut. Window blinds or shades should be drawn to avoid dangerous collisions between bird and window. Unless you know that your plants are not poisonous for parakeets, they must be covered. Fans should be either turned off or shielded. Dogs and cats should be closed out of the room. After all precautions are taken, feel free to let the bird flit about the room. As with any pet, having a parakeet as a companion requires time and money, but for those people who are interested in adding some unique companionship to their home, the expense may be worth it. |
| Poison If your pet has a rapid onset of unusual actions such as wobbling, seizing up with convulsions, becoming strangely stiff, trembling, breathing with difficulty, or falling over, it may have consumed a toxic substance. Poisoning is an especially vital emergency. A very quick search of the animal's quarters may offer an obvious source of the poison, such as an overturned container or a shredded toxic plant leaf lying on the floor. If the poison is isolated to a product, the label may offer recommendations for responding to ingestion. If the poison is discovered, but there are no response recommendations on the product, it is best to induce vomiting in the animal, but only if it is certain the poison is not gasoline, kerosene, a corrosive material like paint thinner, or a strong acid or alkali substance. It is important that the animal be fully conscious, though it may be disoriented, when trying to cause vomiting because an unconscious animal may choke on the vomit. A way to induce vomiting in dogs is by creating a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (the regular 3% strength) with an equal amount of water. A tablespoon of this mixture for every ten pounds of body weight should be administered. The dog will vomit within a couple of minutes. During the waiting time, a family member can get the car prepared in order to rush to the veterinarian, and another family member can call ahead to the veterinary clinic (if this is after business hours or on the weekend, most vet offices have answering services that will tell where to take emergency cases). Once the dog has vomited, it should immediately go to a veterinarian, accompanied by the container of poison for the veterinarian to see. If it's known that gasoline, kerosene, an acid or alkali, or a corrosive substance has poisoned a dog, the animal should receive milk, but vomiting should not be encouraged. The milk will dilute the toxin in the animal's stomach. A veterinarian must see the dog as soon as possible. Compared to dogs, cats are finicky eaters, and they are less likely than dogs to intentionally eat poisons. However, cats can ingest toxic substances when they groom themselves. For example, if overspray of an insecticide lands on a cat, the cat may later lick its coat and consume residue from the spray. Just as with dogs, it is crucial to induce vomiting only after the poison is identified (induced vomiting in cats should not take place if the poison is gasoline, kerosene, an acid or alkali, or a corrosive substance). After administering a strong salt solution (3 teaspoons for half a cup of warm water) or syrup of ipecac (about 8 cc for an average adult cat), the cat should soon vomit. If the cat's hair and skin are contaminated with a poisonous substance, washing the animal with soap and warm water will help ensure it won't ingest any more poison. After the cat has vomited, if appropriate for the poisoning, a veterinarian must examine the ailing animal as soon as possible. Bringing along a sample of the poison, if known, will help the veterinarian treat the cat. While there are all sorts of health emergencies with pets, people must be especially prepared to recognize and respond immediately to poisoning if they are to save their animal companions from untimely death. |
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