Posted: Dec. 19, 2008, 3 a.m. EST
Pets, Too, Losing Homes to Recession
With the worsening economy comes an increase in animals abandoned or surrendered by owners no longer able to care for them. The Animal Rescue League of Boston and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have begun to see people mention foreclosure as the reason they're giving up their pets, and the MSPCA this year started to officially track it. The MSPCA reports a 45 percent increase in pets surrendered to its Boston shelter for economic or housing-related reasons — from 574 in the first 11 months of 2007 to 836 in the first 11 months of this year, the Boston Globe reports.
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You're Not the Only One With a Cold
Kitty got a cold? Maybe, or maybe it's snuffles. Pets with chronic upper-respiratory congestion are called snufflers. It's a cute name for a not-so-cute condition that causes a lifetime of sniffling, sneezing, irritated eyes and stuffed noses. Like people, pets can develop congestion in the upper airway (nose and sinuses) or lower airway (chest and lungs) from infections, allergies, asthma, bronchitis or pneumonia. Any time a "cold" lasts more than a week, or whenever an animal has a fever or stops eating or drinking, it's time for a visit to the vet, the Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer Journal reports
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Male Siamese Cat Plays Mother to Kittens
Coco the Siamese cat is a bit of a new man, as he plays mum to four cute kittens. It is virtually unheard of for male cats to look after kittens and stay with them after birth. But Coco is happy to sit with his offspring and their mum Angelina and do his share of the childcare, the Nottingham (U.K.) Evening Post reports.
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