Pets for Christmas: Probably Not

Holiday music is in the air, proclaiming peace on Earth and love for all God's creatures, including pets! It is very tempting to rush out and buy your child or your parent or your lonely friend a pet...don't do it!!! Having a pet is a tremendous responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. Having a pet is a serious commitment of both time and money. No one loves all God's creatures more than I do and I sincerely believe that they are worth the effort and that they give back far more than they get from their owners but you cannot just give a puppy or a kitten or a parakeet like you would a stuffed animal. Pets have needs and they have feelings. Unfortunately, many are taken to shelters during January and February when their human's realize that, athough they a cute and lovable, they do not take care of themselves. Don't be swept up by all the cute puppies in the paper this Christmas. Get a pet when you're ready for a serious commitment and then give them all the love and care that you have! Merry Christmas!

Can a cat and a crow be friends?

Can animals of different species be friends? This little video certainly makes a case for it. Who knows whether the sounds they make help that along or even have any influence on it. No one really knows why or how cats purr (do they?). Anyway, it's an interesting and amusing video. Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in about Jack's death

The past almost three weeks have been really hard for us. Jack's death seemed so sudden even though we knew he was getting older and was blind in one eye and beginning to lose his hearing. Still, he could go lickity-split up the steps and loved to go to the office with me and sit in on of my therapy chairs looking like a wise old sage, which he was. Jack had such wisdom about people and such love for people. He really was a little wizard covered in fur!

Now, when I come home at night there's still a little part of me that hope maybe he'll be right inside the door, waiting to see me and that it was all a bad dream. Very slowly I'm beginning to accep that I'll never see him again, not in this life anyway. A dear friend sent me this bit of wisdom:

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all.It's the best deal man has ever made.

Jack gave us his all and we'll never forget him!

In Memorium: Jack Sahner Cash

This afternoon about 4:30, Jack Sahner-Cash passed through the gates of Doggie Heaven. Many of you knew and loved Jack as Crystal and I did. For us, Jack was the perfect dog. He was so loving, so smart and so unbelievably empathic. He did wonderful therapy with many of my clients. If someone was sad or depressed he would curl up beside them and they would pet him and feel the love he had to offer. He was trained to be a lap dog and loved to be as close as possible to whatever human was around him. He remembered everyone he ever met and would lick them all over if they would let him.

In the end, Jack contracted a deadly case of salmonella that two solid weeks of fluids and medication of all kinds could not knock out. This afternoon he began bleeding and having seizures. He went to sleep peacefully at 4:30 PM and is now surrounded by loving parents and siblings in Papillon Heaven. He will be cremated and a memorial service will be announced in the next few days. Jack would have been 14 in January.

Update on Jack

So many people have written to me privately and called me to ask about Jack and how he's doing. He's had a very difficult week and has hardly been able to keep anything down. The vet has decided that he got a very bad case of salmonella, probably from eating chicken that was too old! We feel awful about this but had no idea that the chicken might hurt him because it still seemed fresh to us. Anyway, Jack has been to the animal hospital every day for 8 days now to have iv fluids.
We really didn't think he'd make it through the day today, but since we got him home he's actually been doing a little better and has kept the fluids down and been able to take two of his heart pills.
We thank everyone for your healing prayers and thoughts for Jack and will continue to keep you posted via this blog. BTW, this is an old picture of Jack. We have not been making him dress up for Halloween at all this year!

Can music help Jack?

My dog Jack has been sick for nearly a week now. He's had to go to the animal hospital three different days to get fluids and finally today the vet decided that he probably has salmonella. Poor little doggie has had not appetite and has also been throwing up and has diarrhea. I've had soft instrumental music playing in the background for several days as well as a natural soy candle that is called "warm pears." Tonight he seems a little better but still must go back tomorrow to get fluids and antibiotics again. Tomorrow I will suggest to the vet that he play soft instrumental music for Jack.

Should baby gators swim to the oldies?

Yesterday I was playing miniature golf while on vacation in Sarasota. To my great surprise, the course also houses a baby alligator farm! I was told that these alligators are "moved" when they get to be four feet long. was fascinated to watch these little critters and even more so in person. What amazed me even more was that they had "oldies" playing quite loudly. My sense was that the little gators didn't like it one bit! See what you think!

Traditional Chinese Medicine Helps Pets

Enjoy this story from Pantagraph.com:

Kobi's thick tail wagged, then slowed, as a dozen acupuncture needles were tapped along his spine.The yellow Labrador stood still, with a little encouragement, as Dr. Daniel King knelt beside him with spa-like music playing softly in the background.As a needle was inserted in his hind leg, the dog jumped."That's a good sign," the Tolono veterinarian said. "You know you're in the right place."Kobi was getting his fifth treatment for a painful bone growth at the end of his spine. About 45 minutes later, he was prancing out of the room, tail wagging.A week later, he was still feeling the benefits, said owner Kathy Whorrall, who said the 45-minute treatment relaxed him, relieving his pain and giving him more energy. The monthly treatments cost her about $100.She drove to Chicago for treatment before she found Dr. King, who used to work at Highland Pet Hospital and Wellness Center in Bloomington.He makes monthly visits to see patients at Dogs in Suds, a Bloomington grooming business Whorrall co-owns.Veterinary acupuncture and chiropractic treatment isn't mainstream, but it's not as rare as it used to be.At the annual American Veterinary Medicine Association convention a month ago, sessions on non-traditional medicine that might have been nearly empty a decade ago filled more than a month ahead."Absolutely, there is a lot more interest in it," said Dr. Stuart Price, who teaches anesthesia and pain management at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Champaign. But he adds there need to be more controlled studies to determine what types of pain the therapy can best alleviate."It looks promising, but I don't think we have all the answers yet," he said.Pet owners are the ones driving the non-traditional treatment, he added."People experience it maybe for themselves and have beneficial effects and think about it for their pets as well."About 15 years ago King, who also has an equine practice, started looking at chiropractic care as another way to manage pain and disease.As he studied for his certification by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, he kept hearing about the benefits of acupuncture. That led him to Florida's CHI Institute of Chinese Medicine, which offers veterinarians a master's degree in traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and herbal therapy.King blends it into his practice, using acupuncture and chiropractic treatments to treat diseases, injuries, allergies, even incontinence and storm phobias.What impresses him about Chinese medicine is its 4,000-year medical record."It's a phenomenal amount of medical history and they've been refining their techniques through this whole time. Western medicine is maybe 200 years old and it's not safe. Virtually one-third of all new drugs are off the market in five years because of adverse side effects."It's not that he's against Western medicine."I use it in my practice, where appropriate. I like to use what works and what's best for the patient."Using alternative medicine, he can pick up on a failing organ or a disease earlier."Things will start changing in the body way earlier than blood work will show it," he said.Chinese medicine is based on neurology, how energy flows along "meridians" or energy pathways throughout the body. If the flow is disrupted, it can cause problems."What happens with aging or an injury is the nerve flow drops, causing symptoms," he said. "Acupuncture restores the nerve flow."And he restores it, usually, without tranquilizing the animal. Even cats sit still for it. And horses respond particularly well to chiropractic care because of their sensitivity and phenomenal nervous and musculoskeletal systems, he said, estimating 70 percent of equine veterinary practices use it."Their bodies are prime to respond," he said.Tobey, a 2-year-old Bichon Frise, is one of those animals that needs a short-acting tranquilizer prior to being treated for severe allergies. Owner Mike Miller of Normal took the dog to a local veterinarian, who recommended steroid treatments."We really didn't want to go that route," he said, stroking the dog's neck while he rested next to him on a loveseat in the treatment room.This was Tobey's fourth treatment, designed to strengthen his immune system. The first time, he didn't itch for almost three weeks, but subsequent treatments weren't as long-lasting because of the pollen in the air. With diet therapy and herbal medicine, he's moving in the right direction, Miller said.Acupuncture treatments aren't painful, King said. The sensation feels more like heat, which quickly dissipates. Sometimes electrical stimulation is added; spaghetti-thin wires attached to the disposable needles. Electrical current aids in healing and pain relief.What the veterinarian doesn't use are cold, stainless steel tables. He works on the floor on his knees, with the animal in front of him. That makes them more comfortable, he said, although the work is harder on him."I wear pants out like crazy."

Do animals enjoy lullabies?

We all know that human babies like lullabies and to have their mother's sing to them. Is the cat's purr or the dog mother's soft whining or moaning comforting to their newborn. Mother's birds sing to their young and nearly every species seems to have some way of communicating with their young. It's an interesting thought isn't it? Let me know what YOU think! Alice

Do Animals Have Rhythm?

In all honesty, I don't know the answer to that but my gut says "some do and some don't!" Brilliant! It seems that I have seen birds such as large parrots and macaws that bob up and down in rhythm with music. I have a feeling that, as huge as the animal kingdom is, there is a wide range with some animals being more overtly rhythmic than others. What comes to mind immediately is circus elephants with circus music blaring and elephants "marching" in a circle around the ring. Whether or not they are actually marching in rhythm is questionable I'd say.

An article in the April 2001 issue of Scientific American reviews a book by primatologist Frans de Waal..."Science, and the tried-and-true scientific method, is supposed to be free of bias. But as de Waal explains in The Ape and the Sushi Master, science, like all human endeavors, is warped by cultural ideology. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the field of animal behavior and particularly in discussions of whether animals have culture. "We cannot discuss animal culture without seriously reflecting on our own culture and the possible blind spots it creates," de Waal writes.

What do you think?

The Moozart Effect?

What will they think of next?! Farmers in Spain have now discovered that playing specific pieces of music by Mozart greatly increases the amount of milk his dairy cows produce as well as enhances the taste by making it sweeter! Here's what the ABC site had to say:

"On Hans Pieter Sieber's Priegola dairy farm in Villanueva del Pardillo, Spain, the secret to success is not some newfangled technology or machine. Nor is it a time-tested technique or process handed down from generation to generation. Rather it is the dulcet, layered tones of classical music.
And not just any music. Sieber exposes his herd of approximately 700 heifers to the famous chords, crescendos and cadences of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Once just normal, run-of-the-mill dairy cows, these Friesians now receive the rock star treatment -- listening to soothing music, sleeping on water beds, taking relaxing showers, and even enjoying sessions with an animal psychologist.
Believe it or not, since sending Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp in D Major soaring through their stalls at milking time, Sieber has seen a dramatic shift in the temperament and production of his Daisys and Besses.
Now his herd quietly lines up to be milked, seeming not to mind the poking and prodding that comes with being a dairy cow, and, most notably, producing anywhere from 1 to 6 more liters of milk per day than their non-Mozart listening counterparts.
"It is relaxing music for them, but at the same time it is dynamic, it keeps the cows active. The trick is not to have music too relaxing," said Sieber's son, Nicolas Sieber, the head of marketing for the Priegola farm. But Sieber believes it's simpler than that. "If you give the cows comfort they are more disposed to help out," he said. " Fascinating!

Anxious to save two injured wayward whales, a team of marine rescuers on Thursday played recorded humpback songs, hoping to lure the stranded mammals from the Sacramento River back to the sea.
The humpbacks, believed to be an adult female and her calf, were first spotted in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on Sunday and have since meandered almost 90 miles upriver from their natural habitat in the Pacific Ocean along Northern California.

This has been on the news quite a bit lately but last I heard, the whales have still not been returned to the sea.

Dog nurses abandoned baby tigers

An amazing story came across the news wires yesterday: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a dog feeds tiger triplets and her own puppy, right, at the Paomaling Zoo in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Wednesday, May 16, 2007. The tiger triplets were rejected by their mother shortly after their birth. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Lu Chuanquan). Wonder what kind of music inspired this kind of altruism??

Music brings an unusual animal to visit

At the moment I'm on vacation in Sarasota, FL. Earlier today I was just home from the beach and was sitting at a friend's computer reading some email. I was softly humming to myself when suddenly my friend called me quietly to tip-toe over to the window. When I did, there was the most beautiful, snowy-white egret standing on the porch just looking around. Here is his picture. We were concerned at first that we would accidentally scare him away but then we started moving around and he just stood there looking at us. Did the music draw him in? He never made a sound but he sure seemed to be listening to something. What do you think?

Avian Rap: How do birds learn to sing?

Our country has hundreds of varieties of birds, maybe thousands. Does each bird have his own unique song? Does each variety have its own song? No to the first one, yes to the second. But how to they learn their own song?

Here is some interesting info I found online tonight about that question:

SOME birds are just born knowing how to sing the special songs and calls of their own species. In fact, ducklings actually make cheeping noises a few days before they hatch!!
Birds like chickens, turkeys, and pigeons - even when prevented from hearing the calls of their own species - nevertheless develop perfectly normal calls as they grow up.
OTHER birds, such as Canaries and Song Sparrows and those birds we know as "Songbirds", either do not learn to sing their own song or do so only poorly if they are raised where they are not able to hear the singing of their own species.
Baby birds that are raised by "foster" parents may learn to sing the foster parents' song instead of their own.
For instance, Bullfinches raised by a canary grew up to sing a canary-like song.
Baby birds may be more influenced by their own father's song than by the song of other birds even of their own kind.
The offspring of one of the Bullfinches raised by a Canary learned their father's canary-song even though there were other Bullfinches around singing "normally"!
Young birds "practice" until they get it right!
Baby birds while still in the nest make warbling noises known as "sub-song". Only baby birds that learn their song by hearing do this. Song Sparrows begin this warbling at about 13 days of age. Over the next winter, this warbling stops but resumes again the next spring. Finally, by the time the bird is old enough to look for a mate, it will have its song perfected!
By the way, does THIS remind you of anyone YOU know --
Baby birds get their parents to feed them by making "begging calls" - the louder they beg, the harder the parents work in order to satisfy them!
The information on this page came from : (1) Watching Birds, an Introduction to Ornithology by Roger F. Pasquier

A new blog from my friend Melissa

My friend Melissa Scott has created a new blog dedicated to all animals but especially hers. Melissa is the proud owner of 17 cats, 1 dog, and 1 bunny! How she has the time to care for them is unknown to me but I know that she gives her all to them. She and her Mom also make animal beds that they sell online, at craft fairs and to friends and family in the Louisville, KY area. They also mail them out of town and our of the country if need be.

Please consider going to her blog and ordering one of these adorable beds for your pet. They come in three sizes and different patterns and are reasonably priced. The picture is shows one of the pet beds. Get one today and make your pet happy and comfortable!

Does Your Pet Enjoy the Holidays

I was surprised to find out that you can now get St. Paddy's Day costumes for your pet! Although this picture is obviously not a real dog, I did see some dogs in my neighborhood dressed up in a similar fashion. I know that this is for the benefit of the pet owner and not the pet but I do think there are animals that probably enjoy the Irish music we celebrate and enjoy on St. Paddy's Day...especially an Irish Setter! What do you think?? Please enjoy my healing music special offer

http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/listmailings/StPatricksDay.htm

Animals Sighted in Las Vegas

You probably know that I visited Las Vegas this weekend and was very unimpressed with the healing music available. I also was not thrilled with the few animals I saw there. The lions at the MGM hotel were so lethargic looking that I wondered if they had been given something to keep them calm. Understandable. If lived just a few feet from a packed casino with slot machines dinging and blinging I'd want to be tranquilized probably, but with some soothing music.

Just thought you might like to see my favorite animal pictures from Las Vegas. Enjoy!

Can animals appreciate healing music?

Do you play music around your home or work space with your pet in mind? Those of us who are tuned in to our animal friends often think about whether or not the music we're playing will be pleasing to our pets. When I'm home I think about what will be calming, soothing and centering to both Jack and to myself. When I'm gone for long periods of time I try to leave soothing, peaceful music on for Jack or sometimes I just leave the television on tuned softly to the animal planet channel. More than once I have returned home to find him looking at it with seeming interest.

It can make all the difference to the animal's well being. I recommend the beautiful angelic harp music of Erik Berglund because his music is so ethereal and angelic. I believe that animals and angels have a close affinity, ministering to us as they both do so unconditionally and with such great love. Clients often comment enthusiastically on their animal's reaction to Erik's healing harp music and beautiful soothing voice. Animals particularly like Harp of the Healing Waters and Angel Beauty.

What are you getting your pet for Valentine's Day?

Most pet lovers are rabidly fond of their pets. It's not surprising, therefore, that the pet gift business is booming, especially around Valentine's day. I'd like to cast a vote for buying your pet some beautiful, romantic music for them to snooze by. I know that my little Papillon Jack does not have a sweetheart this year and I don't want him to feel less than the man he is, therefore, if I surround him with beautiful romantic music, maybe he can dream of happier days when the little girl Papillons were after him at every turn and life was full of romping and playing. He's 13 now...in his 90's in human years the vet says. Let him dream again! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Lullabies for Animals??

Recently I came across a fascinating article on the BBC website about playing Bach to soothe animals. We all know that our beloved pets can get upset and agitated when there is chaos an confusion around them or when they've been alone for too long or when they're tired from being played with too much! There are times we'd like to soothe our pets without giving them something unhealthy or even dangerous. Here's what the site reported:

An RSCPA rescue centre has installed a £2,000 sound system to play soothing classical music to stressed dogs.
Staff at the kennels in West Hatch, near Taunton, Somerset, said they now hear Bach rather than barks.
The animals are said to respond well to the strains of Beethoven and Mozart, but are not fans of pop or dance music.
Deputy manager Anita Clarke said: "It's a very stressful environment for the dogs to be in here, so anything that can help is worth a go."

Give it a try next time your pet is fussy or cranky!

Happy New Year to you and Your Pets!

Happy New Year to your and your pets. Hope you both did some healthy celebrating and are now happily into your New Year. Jack (my Papillon) spend most of New Year's Eve curled up on the couch in his little bed, listening to Oldies. He seems to really prefer oldies to classical or rap or reggae. Does your pet have a favorite type of music? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Just click where it says "respond" and share what your pet likes. Catcha later! Alice and Jack