Pocket Pets - Featured Article

Caring for Chinchillas

Ever heard of a pet that requires dust baths and has a coat so thick that they are not affected by fleas? These social active critters once raised for their coats are now widely kept as pets and can even be litter box trained, at least to a certain extent. The domestic chinchilla is a native of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The name Chinchilla is believed to have come from the native Chinchia Indians who hunted these little creatures for their meat and fur. Today the chinchilla is almost extinct in its native Chile. There are two living species of chinchilla: Chinchilla brevicaudata and Chinchilla lanigera. Read more...

Tularemia or Rabbit Fever

A disease first described in a California ground squirrel around 1913, tularemia is also known as "rabbit" or "deerfly fever". The disease is caused by a gram-negative bacterium by the name of "Francisella tularensis".

Vitamin C Deficiency in Guinea Pigs

A vitamin C deficiency, also know as scurvy, occurs when an animal lacks the hepatic (liver) enzyme called 1-gulonolactone oxidase necessary for the conversion of L-gulonolactone to L-ascorbic acid or vitamin C, and cannot store the vitamin to any appreciable extent in the body. Essentially three groups of animals lack this enzyme and they include man, monkeys, and the guinea pig.

Hedgehog Husbandry: Adopting and Caring for Hedgehogs

Want a prickly pet that will keep your garden free of insects? Then the hedgehog may just be for you. The hedehog that is most commonly available in the pet trade is the African pygmy hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)--or a mix thereof.

Adverse Vaccine Reactions

Vaccines are designed to induce immunity and prevent disease development in the vaccinated party. They have made some diseases rare and others almost nonexistent.

Ferret Adrenal Gland Disease

Is your ferret losing hair and has skin that appears to be normal? Your pet may be suffering from ferret adrenal gland disease. Hair will be lost symmetrically (evenly) along the flanks and tail and will proceed along the body wall forward to the head, or the hair may fall out in no specific pattern at all.

Osteoarthritis or Degenerative Arthritis in Dogs, Cats, Horses, Birds, and Other Pets

Is your pet having more difficulty getting up in the morning? Does he or she walk around still legged for the first 10 to 15 minutes in the morning to get warmed up? Is your pet limping especially on those cold, wet, rainy mornings? Does your pet limp around following that Frisbee session? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then your pet is probably suffering from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease (DJD) that is characterized by the wearing out of the articular cartilage (the cartilage located at joint surfaces), hypertrophy of the bone at the margins (enlargements of the end of the bones due to periostitis), and changes in the synovial membrane (the lining of the joints).

Heartworm Disease in the Ferret

Heartworms or Dirofilaria immitis are a spaghetti-type worm that develop in the heart and lungs of an infected host. The disease is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito.

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the Hedgehog

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is caused by an Aphthovirus that affects many species of animals, especially those that are cloven-footed. FMD is endemic in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

The 2008 Presidential Candidates--And Their Pets

What does a person’s pets say about them? If you can figure anything out about someone by the pets they keep, you may want to take a look at the pets of all the presidential candidates. It may help you decide on your way to the ballot box! For the Democrats, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich is the clear front-runner—at least in pet numbers.

Helicobacter Gastritis and Ulcers in the Ferret

Ferrets are often kept as laboratory animals for the study of Helicobacter mustelae, a bacterium implicated in the development of gastritis and ulcers. Helicobacter species of bacteria have been implicated in disease production in various animals and man.

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