Manage your cat’s diabetes - online!
ANIMAL health company, Intervet UK, is launching www.diabeticpets.co.uk a website dedicated to the management of diabetes in cats and dogs.
The site provides clear and concise information for pet owners on the diagnosis, treatment and management of diabetes, including feeding advice, helpful tips on how to store insulin and timing of daily injections.
“When a pet is diagnosed with a condition such as diabetes, it can be very daunting for the owner and there is a lot to learn”, says Jac Bergman, product manager at Intervet UK. “With people increasingly turning to the internet as a source of information, www.diabeticpets.co.uk provides easy to understand information for pet owners, covering all aspects of diabetes mellitus in cats - without the need to wade through stacks of literature”.
For further information on diabetes or Caninsulin - Intervet’s insulin for cats and dogs - please log on to www.diabeticpets.co.uk, contact your local vet or call Intervet’s Veterinary Support Group on 01908 685685.
One-in-five owners make no provision for cost of pet care, says RSPCA
RECENT research has found a significant number of pet owners make no financial provision for the cost of unexpected veterinary treatment.
The survey of pet owners conducted by RSPCA pet insurance showed a quarter of owners would rely on their savings to cover vet bills, while a further quarter would use credit cards, despite potentially high interest charges.
Worryingly, nearly a fifth of pet owners (18 per cent) made no provision for unexpected vet bills, and did not know how they would cover the cost. The RSPCA found that although almost three-quarters (72 per cent) considered pet insurance essential, or at least very important in the event of their pet becoming ill or injured, less than a third (27 per cent) had taken out protection.
The research also revealed a lack of knowledge among pet owners about the cost of treating pets. When asked how much it would cost to treat a cat for a broken leg, only a third of owners guessed within £50 of the correct answer of £300*, while ten per cent had no idea, and the remaining 70 per cent under-estimated the cost.
Steve Cheetham, the RSPCA’s chief veterinary officer, commented: “With around two visits to the vet a year on average, keeping an animal can become expensive. We believe pet health insurance is an integral part of responsible pet ownership”.
The most common reasons for visiting the vet are road traffic accidents for cats, and broken legs for dogs*. The table below demonstrates how much it costs on average to treat some common pet conditions*.
Treatment Cost
Dog - cruciate ligament rupture £500 - £1,200
Dog - broken leg £1,000
Cat - road traffic accident £1,000
Cat - broken leg £300
Dog - lump removal £200+
RSPCA pet insurance covers up to £4,000 of veterinary treatment, for as long as the condition requires. The policy also covers kennel or cattery costs if the owner is taken into hospital unexpectedly, and protection if the policy-holder’s dog causes damage to a third party. Owners can claim up to £500 towards advertising costs and a reward for finding pets that are stolen or lost. Policyholders receive the benefit of a 24-hour emergency veterinary helpline, legal advice helpline and pet bereavement counselling line.
The RSPCA launched its pet insurance service in a bid to help pet owners cover the cost of caring for their animals. RSPCA pet insurance can cost as little as £6 a month for cats and £9 a month for dogs. Ten per cent of the monthly premium is paid to the RSPCA, providing much needed funds for the society’s ongoing work to promote kindness to animals and prevent cruelty.
Pet owners wishing to find out more about RSPCA pet insurance can call 0870 242 6242 or visit www.rspca.org.uk
* Datamonitor analysis of the UK Pet Insurance Market 2003/4
IAMS wins product of the year
IAMS were celebrating on 2 February 2005 after scooping the top accolade from consumers at the UK’s first Product of the Year Awards for its new Active Maturity 7+ lifestage cat food.
Designed to champion and reward product innovation, Product of the Year gives consumers a faster way to discover new products, and helps them to navigate the vast choice offered in today’s supermarkets. Product of the Year has been launched in the UK this year, following more than 15 years of success in France. Manufacturers also benefit, with significant sales uplifts reported by category winners sporting the ‘Product of the Year’ logo.
The new Active Maturity 7+ lifestage, which was launched in the cat food category by the Iams brand beat off strong competition from Purina ONE to take the prestigious award in the Pet Food category. More than 22,000 consumers voted for winners in the largest independent survey of its kind undertaken in the UK, conducted by TNS. The awards, which are sponsored by Channel 4, Marketing Magazine, Waitrose Food Illustrated and TNS, were presented during a ceremony at the Science Museum in London.
Iams Active Maturity 7+ has been specifically designed to support the nutritional requirements of cats between the age of 7 to 11 years of age. Iams is the only grocery cat food brand to offer consumers a product which meets the specific nutritional needs of a cat of this lifestage.
Containing a unique blend of animal proteins, fatty acids and vitamins, Iams Active Maturity 7+ is a complete food that supports healthy joints that help your cat to stay healthy throughout life.
Helen Warren-piper, Marketing Director at Iams, said: “We are delighted to have won this award, Iams always strives to promote optimal well-being in cats and dogs through proper care and nutrition for each lifestage. We are very pleased that consumers have responded so positively to the launch of our new Active Maturity 7+ product and its success has helped elevate iams Cat to the position of number one dry cat food brand in the UK*”.
The new Iams Active Maturity 7+ diet for cats is available from all good retailers. For further information call the FREEPHONE Iams Care Line on 0808 100 7010 or visit www.iams.com
* Source: IRI Source One value share data DE 04
Is your pet ‘Picture Purrrfect’ asks PDSA?
THE bond between a pet and owner is unique and is often hard to put into words, which is why PDSA has launched its Valentine’s Day ‘Picture Purrrfect’ photograph competition to find an image that truly captures the special relationship between people and their pets.
PDSA, the UK’s leading veterinary charity, is asking pet owners across the nation to send in their favourite photos of themselves and their pet. The winners will feature in a special Picture Purrrfect gallery on the PDSA website during February and March. The closing date for entries is 15 March 2005.
Celebrity Big Brother contestant and PDSA supporter, heart-throb Jeremy Edwards, was photographed with his dog Molly by Lord Lichfield for the month of February in the PDSA Pet Pawtraits 2005 Calendar. He says: “Whether you’ve got a cat, dog, rabbit or something more unusual like a ferret or budgie, send in your pictures for your chance to be crowned winner of the PDSA ‘Picture Purrrfect’ appeal”.
As Valentine’s Day is all about love and affection, the charity for pets in need of vets feels it is the purrrfect time of year to celebrate the important role pets play in peoples’ lives.
“We’ve all seen those photographs of pets with their owners that make our hearts melt. It’s the ‘ahhh’ factor we are looking for - pictures that show that unique bond between a person and their pet. If your picture says puppy love, purrrfect puss, hamster heaven or ferret attraction, then you might just be a winner”.
Successful entries will feature on the PDSA website - www.pdsa.org.uk/picture purrrfectcompetition and may go on to be used in PDSA leaflets and posters. PDSA will select an overall winner who will receive Pets at Home vouchers worth £25 to spend on their beloved pet.
Send pictures, complete with pet name, owner name, address and telephone number, plus a 30 word caption explaining what makes your relationship with your pet so special, to: PDSA Picture Purrrfect Competition, Whitechapel Way, Priorslee, Telford TF2 9PQ. Digital images can be entered online at www.pdsa.org.uk/ picturepurrrfectcompetition Please refer to the PDSA website for full terms and conditions.
PDSA regrets that it cannot return photographs. By submitting photographs entrants are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the competition. The closing date for entries is 15 March 2005. Only selected images and those sent with owner contact details will be considered for use on the PDSA website and in PDSA literature.
Clone at home for Valentine’s Day
By NICK MAYS
SAUSALITO, California, 14 February 2005 - Dan, a 40-something investment counsellor from Southern California, became the second paying client to receive a pet clone when Genetic Savings & Clone (GSC) officials delivered a kitten to his door on Tuesday, 8 February. “Little Gizmo” is a clone of Gizmo, his mixed breed Siamese who died at the age of 13 in March 2004.
“Valentine’s Day” is a special day for GSC, because our business is all about the love between people and their exceptional pets”, said Lou hawthorn, GSC CEO, who delivered Little Gizmo with Mike Hodnett, the company’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “With our second commercial cat clone delivery, we have again duplicated an exceptional pet, and made a certain client very, very happy”.
Dan, who requested that his last name be withheld for privacy, was among Genetic Savings & Clone’s first five people to sign up for GSC’s cat cloning service, which became available in February 2005 on a limited basis, at the price of $50,000. One company client received her cloned kitten in December, the others will receive theirs within the next few months.
Gizmo
“There are no words to describe how happy I am”, Dan wrote in an e-mail to Hodnett, after spending time with Little Gizmo. “She is exact, exact, exact in all of her mannerisms, habits, traits and personality”, Dan wrote of Little Gizmo’s similarity to Gizmo.
GSC’s company policy is to counsel clients that, because behaviour is influenced by environment as well as by genes, clones may not behave exactly as their genetic donors - the clients’ original pets - did. Nonetheless, both of the clients who have now received clones say that not only do they look like their predecessors, but their behaviour is strikingly similar as well, although this may largely be due to the owners’ emotional input and their lifestyles that would have ‘shaped’ their original pets.
However, Harry Griffin, the assistant director at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh that cloned Dolly the sheep, said that pet cloning was an “illusion”.
“Cloning will not recreate a loved pet”, he said. “A clone might be 99.95 per cent genetically identical to the original, but it will grow up with a personality and behaviour all of its own”.
Just before Christmas 2004, Julie, an airline worker whose last name was withheld because she fears harassment from anti-cloning activists, paid $50,000 to GSC to clone her beloved tabby cat, ‘Nicky’, who died in 2003, aged 17. ‘Little Nicky’ was born in October 2004 and presented to Julie at a party at a San Francisco restaurant. Little Nicky had the distinction of being the world’s first, true cloned pet, rather than a scientific specimen or company mascot, as were the cats previously cloned by GSC.
“I see absolutely no differences”, she said. “When Little Nicky yawned I even saw two spots inside his mouth, just like Nicky had. Little Nicky loves
water, like Nicky did, and he’s already jumped into the bathtub like Nicky used to do”.
Just over three years ago, the company produced the world’s first cloned cat, named CC, an abbreviation of carbon copy. Before Little Nicky, the company had produced Peaches, a clone of a cat called Mango, and Tabouli and Baba Ganoush, clones of a Bengal cat named Tahini.
Little Gizmo was born in Austin, Texas, where GSC has done most of its cloning research and development. The company’s business headquarters is located in Sausalito, California.
Animal welfare is among the ethical issues the company regularly addresses in its public communications. GSC hosted a media briefing on ‘The Ethics of Pet Cloning’ via teleconference on Wednesday, 16 February. This was followed immediately by a second media briefing teleconference on ‘The Science of Pet Cloning’.
Little Gizmo
GSC turned five-years-old on 14 February, having opened on Valentine’s Day 2000. In addition to commercial cat cloning, GSC is intensively researching dog cloning and expects to produce the first cloned dog in 2005.
The company’s gene bank holds the DNA of ‘Missy’, a dog owned by billionaire John Sperling, who founded the company with the plan to clone his beloved dog - a dream he is confident of realising. GSC plans to make the now deceased mongrel the world’s first cloned dog. However, the company has faced an uphill struggle, as the techniques involved on canine cloning are far more complicated than with cats and the ‘Missiplicity Project’ has been under way for nearly eight years now.
British pet-lovers are already expressing strong interest in cloning. “We have received more interest from UK clients than from any place outside of the USA, with the possible exception of Japan”, company spokesman Ben Carlson said.
Ethics experts denounced the first commercial cloning of a pet and animal rights groups, although several pet owners expressed great interest in having their own pets cloned.
Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society, America’s largest animal protection group, said: “There’s no doubt that cloning causes animals to suffer. For every successful clone, there are dozens of animals who die prematurely, who face shortened life spans, who have physical abnormalities and who face chronic pain and suffering”.
* Genetic Savings & Clone’s website - www.savingsandclone.com
PDSA launches ‘ER for pets’ directory
PDSA, the UK’s leading veterinary charity, has launched a new ‘ER for Pets’ directory on its website that enables pet owners to identify the location of not only PDSA PetAid services, but also the charitable services of many other animal charities.
The ‘ER for Pets’ web page provides contact and location details of all PDSA PetAid services - the 46 PDSA PetAid hospitals and 153 PDSA PetAid practice locations. In addition, people can search for the location of PDSA shops, fundraising groups and regional offices, and the charitable services provided by the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, The Blue Cross, Battersea Dogs Home and Wood Green Animal Shelters.
PDSA Director General, Marily Rydström, comments: “As the leading provider of free veterinary care to the sick and injured pets of those in need, PDSA was delighted to be at the forefront of the development of the online ‘ER for Pets’ directory - a project which further reinforces the charity’s ongoing responsible pet care activity”.
PDSA treats the sick and injured pets of people in need, specifically those who are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit - people unable to afford private veterinary fees.
For anyone unsure of where to go for PDSA PetAid services, then the ‘ER for Pets’ directory, www.pdsa.org.uk/er4pets is the ideal way to locate their nearest facility. Likewise, those pet owners requiring the services of other animal charities can simply change the search options for information on services in their area.
The ‘ER for Pets’ idea was created by members of the Chief Executives of Small Animal Charities group (CEoSAC), which meets regularly to discuss ways of developing charitable animal welfare services.
Marilyn Rydström continues: “People often contact PDSA to ask about the services and contact details of other animal charities. The same is true for other animal charities. It was with this in mind that members of CEoSAC identified the need for a comprehensive listings directory that could provide pet owners with a broad range of animal charity contacts at the touch of a button”.
To find out about PDSA services in your local area and those of other animal charities, log on to www.pdsa.org.uk/ er4pets
