Hospitalized kids, their pets will visit

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They’ll reunite at new facility in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI — A southwestern Ohio hospital soon will be welcoming the furry, four-legged friends of children who face long hospital stays.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center broke ground last week on a Family Pet Center. Hospital officials said they think the center will be the country’s first hospital-based facility to reunite kids and their pets.

The center will be open to children battling cancer and others with other serious medical conditions.

John Perentesis, executive co-director of the hospital’s Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, said pets can be “very therapeutic” to patients.

He said the pets will bring joy, comfort and a positive mindset to ailing children.

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A shaggy dog story: Boy and his pet pose for pictures every day for his father while he is away serving with the navy

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Found you! Max (left) and Julian are best friends and pose for a picture with different props every day

These adorable pictures show Julian Becker and his 165 pound pet Max, the shaggy Newfoundland that never leaves his best friend’s side.

Five-year-old Julian’s mother Stasha started taking pictures of the odd couple every day before they got in the family car in Whidbey Island, Washington, although both Julian and Max were born in England.

With her husband away regularly in his role as a U.S. naval officer, the pictures began as a way of keeping in touch.

Found you! Max (left) and Julian are best friends and pose for a picture with different props every day

Shelter: Julian and Max snuggle under an umbrella. The pair were both born in the UK, and Julian still drinks tea in the morning
Shelter: Julian and Max snuggle under an umbrella. The pair were both born in the UK, and Julian still drinks tea in the morning

They have evolved into a charming document of a boy’s love for a four-legged friend he began walking with his mother from the age of three.

Mother Stasha says: ‘My husband is a naval officer and I am a self employed lifestyle photographer. My son Julian and Max, our Newfoundland, were both born in England, where we were stationed before moving back to the States.

‘My boy still drinks tea every morning but has mostly lost the accent. Max still barks with a Yorkshire twang. Max will turn six in May and Julian is five. They have been together all day, every day since Julian was born.

Quirky: Some of the pictures, such as this one where a pineappple adorns Max's head, are just plain bizarre

Superdog: The caped canine watches over his human friend
Superdog: The caped canine watches over his human friend

Comedy: The pair share their funny side

Contact: With his dad away regularly in his role as a naval officer, the pictures are a way of staying in touch
Contact: The pictures are a way of staying in touch with his father, a naval officer

Den: Max peeps out from a shelter on a sunny day
Den: Max peeps out from a shelter on a sunny day

‘I started taking photos of them in front of the garage everyday before we got into the minivan when I joined Instagram. It was mostly to send them to family and my husband when he travels.

‘Although my son usually refused to have his pictures taken with my camera he warmed up to the iPhone shots quickly and started directing them soon after.’

Pose: Max is incredibly protective of Julian and the two go for a walk every day

Pose: Max is incredibly protective of Julian and the two go for a walk every day

Items that appear in shots are usually things Julian takes for show and tell at his preschool or gadgets he wants to take with him to the beach.

She added: ‘Max usually sits there and takes orders from Julian. I just snap a few and post the photo that made me giggle the most.

‘When I take photos on our hikes and adventures I tend to click as moments evolve too.

Very rarely will I ask if they can stand still for me and when I do photos never have the same “soul”.

She says Max never takes his eyes off Julian when they are out and he likes to swim.

She said: ‘He is always slightly-to-very damp. He endures brushing and likes to be scratched just above his tail.

‘The only time he barks is at whales, one particular UPS guy and if you stop scratching him before he had enough. He snores loudly and loves sleeping outside in cold weather.

Julian, true to his NY Italian roots, talks non-stop. He loves hiking, documentaries and golf. He is pretty much great at everything he does, including bossing his 165 pound dog around.’

Max’s pet peeve is random strangers suggesting he should put a saddle on and ride his dog.

Medical Marijuana For Dogs, California Vet Says

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As more Americans give their pets prescription medication initially intended for humans, at least one U.S. veterinarian is advocating for medical marijuana for pets.

A woman on the upper west side of Manhattan buys lunch at Starbucks for her dog, a shepherd mix who hasn’t been feeling well lately. Another patron, in full yoga regalia, says she buys her own dog bottled water and hypoallergenic puppy chow, taking him to a “holistic veterinarian” as well as doggy daycare for socialization.

(Photo : Creative Commons) Though no studies exist to prove efficacy, at least one American veterinarian says medical marijuana might be considered for pets when other prescription medications fail in treating pain and distress-based disorders.

The scene is not a typical in a country that spends $50 billion per year on pets, including an average of $655 on health care for dogs, with some even buying insurance premiums for doggie health care. Since receiving regulatory approval in 2007, pharmaceutical company Eli Whitney and Company has marketed Reconcile, an antidepressant in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class that is intended specifically for dogs.

Now, at least one veterinarian in California is advocating for a more “holistic” approach: Medical marijuana for dogs.

Veterinarian Doug Kramer said he got the idea from a customer whose dog “Nikita” failed to respond to steroids and other pain medications for cancer – and has now set up a website to advocate for the cause.

“A glycerin tincture is, to me, by far the optimal way to do it because it offers the greatest accuracy in dosing,” Kramer told media. “It’s also sweet tasting. Obviously you can make it into butter or oil, so anything that you can cook or make with butter or oil would work, like homemade dog biscuits.”

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Rescued pup with cleft palate becomes Internet sensation

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Lentil

No one can resist little Lentil’s cuteness!

Lentil, a 9-week-old French bulldog puppy with rare facial deformities, is melting hearts and gaining thousands of online supporters with his inspirational story. His foster mother, Lindsay Condefer, was quite surprised her puppy became a viral hit when multiple news outlets from all over the world covered the story.

“All of a sudden this baby turned my life upside down,” Condefer, 34, told TODAY.com.

When Lentil was born Feb. 2 with a cleft palate and deformed nose and lip, The French Bulldog Rescue Network knew he would need special love and attention. As founder of the nonprofit Street Tails Animal Rescue and a pet foster parent with 12 years of experience, Condefer was a perfect choice to take in Lentil, who was the only surviving member of his litter. She took him home a couple days later and now feeds him through a tube every three hours.

The French Bulldog Rescue Network is also amazed by the attention Lentil is getting. FBRN President Joan Cleveland said Lentil “is a very special little puppy whose beauty is in his imperfection and indomitable will to survive.”

Lindsay Condefer
The French Bulldog Rescue Network is amazed by the attention Lentil is getting. FBRN President Joan Cleveland said Lentil “is a very special little puppy whose beauty is in his imperfection and indomitable will to survive.”

Amazed by Lentil’s fight to survive, Condefer created a blog and Facebook page to record his progress. His page has already garnered over 48,000 likes on Facebook.

“I have received more support than I can ever in my mind imagine possible. I don’t know how it happened,” Condefer said.

While she isn’t sure why Lentil’s story has touched the most hearts out of all the dogs she’s fostered, Condefer hopes something good will come out of all the attention, such as raising awareness for rescue pets and those born with cleft palates.

According to Dr. Lewis, a “cleft palate is a congenital deformity that occurs during gestation in utero.” Lentil's condition is rarer than the usual types.

Lindsay Condefer
According to Dr. Lewis, a “cleft palate is a congenital deformity that occurs during gestation in utero.” Lentil’s condition is rarer than the usual types.

Cleft palates usually cause problems in puppies shortly after birth, before the clefts are even noticed, said Dr. John Lewis, assistant professor of dentistry and oral surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Lentil’s rare combination of deformities makes him more at risk for inflammation of his lungs and nasal passages, which can make it difficult to breathe. While he’s survived longer than his siblings, he’s not out of the woods yet.

Condefer is taking Lentil to see Dr. Lewis at the end of April, when surgical options for the puppy will be discussed. Multiple surgeries may be necessary, but there is hope that Lentil won’t have to eat from a tube forever.

Let's play! Lentil doesn't let his health problems get in the way of being a lively puppy.

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Let’s play! Lentil doesn’t let his health problems get in the way of being a lively puppy.

“Long-term, once the palatal surgery heals, Lentil should be able to live a normal life. He will always look a little different, but dogs don’t tend to dwell on these things,” Dr. Lewis told TODAY.com.

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Sexy Bar Refaeli sizzles in the sun with her furry friend in pictures to make you very jealous

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They are going to be some weird tan lines

It is a tough being one of the most beautiful women in world,when you’re literally rushed off your feet and are laying horizontal, tweeting beside a pool in the searing hot sun.

The lingerie model and ex beau of Leo DiCaprio posted these snaps of her banging body and adorable dawg with the caption: “A dogs life.”

But then Bar Refaeli has never held back when it comes to smugging off about her amazing life. Not that we’re bitter or anything.

It’s been a good year for Bar with a lingerie shoot, which like the sun, was too hot to stare directly at and later her lol-tastic appearance playing tonsil tennis with a nerd at the Superbowl, which you can see in all its absurd glory below.

So yeah, it’s official, this picture has cemented her as the most desirable woman in the world right now by combining two extremely good things.

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Hyperbaric Chambers Breathe New Life Into Pampered Pets

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Even in a land of pampered pooches, Mayumi Niizuka’s miniature schnauzers are considered spoiled.

Berun, 5, and Kilche, 6, get aroma massages and mud packs twice a month. They bathe in hot springs and dress in designer clothes. Combined with monthly veterinarian fees, Niizuka shells out more than $1,000 on the two pups, far more than she spends on her and her daughter.

“We may not be celebrities but we treat our dogs like one,” she says, laughing.

She’s now adding bimonthly oxygen treatments to the list.

The latest addition to Japan’s $16 billion pet industry, dog spas are increasingly offering hyperbaric-chamber sessions, better known as medical therapy for athletes like Michael Phelps.

Veterinarians have long used oxygen treatment to aid recover for ailing animals, but Japanese spas are turning need into luxury, offering 10- to 30-minute sessions for weight loss and anti-aging. The most pampered animals sit in the capsules for basic R and R.

“Dogs are increasingly becoming a valuable part of the family,” said Masahito Kitoh, the owner of Aspet, one of two companies selling the canine chambers. “Owners are doing everything they can to extend their lives, more than ever.”

First launched by Japanese company Air Press in 2007, the capsules pump 100-percent oxygen at elevated pressures so the blood absorbs more oxygen, and speeds up the body’s recovery time, Kitoh says. The treatments are now offered in more than 100 locations throughout the country for roughly $15 for a 10-minute session. Kitoh says they offer the same aerobic benefit as two hours of exercise.

At the swanky Wag Style dog spa in Tokyo, owners who are too busy to walk their pooches schedule sessions to breathe new life into lethargic dogs. The barometric pressure inside the capsules is equivalent to diving 7 feet under water.

“Lack of exercise, stress and obesity are all reasons [for the oxygen boost],” therapist Sanae Hagiwara said.

In real estate-challenged Tokyo, where dogs live in cramped quarters, Hagiwara says the capsules offer canines the perfect place to unwind.

Much like Americans, the Japanese have been known to coddle their pets, treating them to posh treatments, gourmet meals and couture fashion, with labels like Chanel and Dior offering luxury canine products. There are hot springs resorts for dogs, “strollers” to carry tiny lapdogs, anti-aging supplements and even doggy beer.

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SPCA to hold seminar on planning pet’s future when you’re gone

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Shelter cat (Maisie Crow, Baltimore Sun Media Group / February 10, 2008)

Sadly, the Maryland SPCA receives pets that are surrendered by neighbors of people who have passed away, because no one has made plans for the animals ahead of time. No pet lover wants to think of their dog, cat, bird, or other animal being put up for adoption, so the SPCA is hosting a seminar to help owners make plans for pets who may outlive them.

The seminar will be held Sunday, March 17 at 2 p.m., and again Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at the SPCA’s administrative office, 3300 Falls Road, Baltimore.

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