Oct. 25/2017

Feature:
Funeral Therapy Dogs Provide Furry Comfort to Mourners

“If you’ve ever lost a loved one, you know how very difficult those first few weeks can be...

To help mourners cope, Texas is about to get its first certified funeral therapy dog. Kermit, a 1-year-old border collie mix, has been trained in how to deal with grieving people...

Kermit belongs to Melissa Unfred, who works for Affordable Burial & Cremation Service in Austin. She began taking him to work with her about 8 months ago & immediately noticed his demeanor changed when he was inside the business.

...‘You see that as a hand will go out to pet him, it’s like an immediate sigh of relief.’

Kermit can instinctively determine who’s suffering the most. ‘He’s something of a chameleon — he can kind of sense the energy in the room,’...'Sometimes I will start to go upstairs & Kermit isn’t behind me. He ended up staying behind … He just moves himself into the position where he’s closest to the primary griever.'

 In New York, a goldendoodle named Lulu has been comforting mourners at Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services for the past 2 years.

Just like Kermit, Lulu has ‘an uncanny knack for knowing who needs her,’ Matthew Fiorillo, president of the funeral home, told TODAY. ‘She’ll park herself right next to an older person to let them pet her one minute & the next she’s prancing around with kids. It’s been really impressive to watch.’

Humans need to touch, Fiorillo said. ‘Even just petting her can be a subtle distraction from the tremendous amount of grief people are going through,’...

Vinny, another goldendoodle, is currently training to become a funeral therapy dog at the Kuhn Funeral Home in West Reading, Pa.

‘Death is hard for all of us,’ Michael Kuhn, the funeral home’s president, told WFMZ. ‘Death is sometimes, I think, even harder at younger ages, so to have sort of a distraction & a loving creature next to you, I think that’s going to serve really well.’...

...Just as therapy dogs comforting hospital patients have become commonplace nowadays, more & more funeral homes across the country are adding therapy dogs to their staffs. As Kermit, Lulu, & Vinny have proven, funeral therapy dogs truly help make the process of mourning a little less painful...”

Laura Goldman
June 20/2017
care2.com

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Weekly Chuckle

Oct. 18/2017

Feature:
Remarkable Migration For Painted Lady Butterflies

     “The thousands of orange butterflies being spotted all over Montreal are simply on a rest stop as they make their way down south.
     And 99% of them are painted ladies & not the monarch butterfly, said Maxim Larrivee of the Montreal Insectarium.
     ...there are clear differences between painted ladies & monarchs, said Stephanie Boucher, curator at McGill University’s Lyman Entomological Museum.
     ‘The painted lady butterfly is not as well known as the monarch, so that is probably why most people identify it as what they know best,’ Boucher said.
     'What’s really unusual is how many there are, which is really unprecedented,’ Larrivee said...
     He said he believes they got pushed to the ground by wind during their migration to the warmer southern U.S. climates from the Boreal Shield area. But they generally don’t stick around this long.
     'But we have had this spell of amazing weather for us, that is not great migration weather for them. In the meantime, they are fueling up on flowers, this is why we are seeing them (drinking nectar) everywhere,’ Larrivee said.
     Larrivee & Boucher both said the painted ladies benefit from the fact they can feed on a wide variety of plants- up to 100, according to Boucher- compared to the monarch, which feeds on milkweed. ‘They can adapt to many different types of plants, so that is a great advantage,’ she said.
  Larrivee said the butterflies enjoyed a great winter in terms of reproduction areas like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, & northern Mexico. They then migrated north earlier than usual, arriving in mid-April & he thinks that gave them the time to have an extra generation, reproducing twice instead of once during the summer...
     ‘It’s pretty hard to be in a bad mood when you are surrounded by butterflies. It’s fantastic. It’s different,’ Larrivee said.
     Now they are waiting for ‘winds that they are going to be able to surf back to the south,’ Larrivee said, ideally blowing from the northeast to the southwest.
     For more information on butterflies, go to e-butterfly.org”

Kevin Mio
The Montreal Gazette
Sept. 19/2017

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Weekly Chuckle

Memorial
M.C. (Oct. 19/2017)
M.C. is missed every single second he's been gone. I love you big man. There's a hole in my heart without you. RIP

Oct. 11/2017

Feature:
Meet These 4 Professional Library Cats

"Cats first became domesticated when came together with humans as a natural, very happy form of pest control. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, as cats had a constant supply of food, & humans didn’t have to worry about rats diminishing their grain stores.
in stores.

This relationship has been ongoing for thousands of years, & continues to this day. At some point... cats & humans decided they liked to spend time together off the rodent-eating clock as well. This bond is evident not only in daily life, but also in one of the longest-serving bases of human knowledge: the library.

Experts have traced the origins of cats living in libraries to ancient Egypt, where temples housed resident cats who took care of the rodents & snakes that would have otherwise destroyed the preserved papyrus scrolls.
This relationship continued through to the Middle Ages, when monks happily coexisted with cats in monasteries in order to keep their manuscripts safe...

In the 1800s, the British government even paid libraries to house cats...

...There are hundreds of library cats living around the world...

Now, however, many places pride themselves on the cats’ ability to keep customers relaxed, happy, & coming back to visit. They often serve the purpose of being excellent PR gurus, of course, mostly through looking adorable. While they still do their part in keeping the mice & rats at bay, most of these felines have begun to live a much more sedentary life.

And their primary responsibility is to be loved & appreciated...

Here are some of the modern day librarian cats, living out their happy lives as they receive attention, accolades &, sometimes, their very own chair.

1. Stacks, Litchfield Public Library, Illinois
Stacks was adopted in 2009 from a shelter, & she quickly set to work doing what her ancestors did: getting rid of the resident mice. Once she had done a thorough job, Stacks sat back, relaxed & settled into her new duties — namely, sitting on laps.

2. Trixie, Independence Public Library, Kansas

Trixie was dropped off in front of the Independence Public Library when she was just a kitten. The librarians took her in, & she’s been enjoying the spotlight ever since. Trixie even has her own Facebook page!

3. Miko, Texas A&M University Libraries, Texas

Miko has an official title at the Medical Sciences Library of Texas A&M University. She has been officially deemed the Pest Control Specialist. She is also...the libraries’ mascot & occasional model... 

4. Kuzya, Novorossiysk, Russia

 

Kuzya wandered into the warmth of a Russian library one day, rubbing up against people & winning hearts, food & a nice place to sleep. Seeing his potential, the staff worked to get him an actual cat passport...After that, he was good to go. Kuzya was promoted to assistant librarian, which earned him a certificate — & a bow tie to wear at work."

Laura Burge
July 2/2017
care2.com

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Weekly Chuckle

Oct. 4/2017

In memory of my Max.
RIP (2007-2017)

Sept. 27/2017

Feature:
 Rare Tiger Born At National Zoo ‘Doing Great’

     “A rare Sumatran tiger has been born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington...
     The zoo said it is not yet sure of the cub’s sex. ‘Keepers watched the birth via a closed-circuit camera & continue to closely monitor the cub, which appears to be nursing, moving, & behaving normally,’ the zoo said.
     ...birth was the second for the 8 year old mother, Damai, but the first via the zoo’s 13 year old male, Sparky.
     'This is such an exciting time for us, not only because we have a cub who appears to be doing great, but also because this animal’s genes are extremely valuable to the North American population,’ Craig Saffoe, curator of the Great Cats habitat said.”

The Washington Post
in The Gazette, Montreal
July 13/2017

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Sept. 20/2017

Feature:
 11 Outstanding Ways Animals Are Good for Our Health

    “In the United States alone, 65% of households own a pet...The vast majority of those pets are cats & dogs (163.6 million total; 85.8 & 77.8 million, respectively)... our 4-legged, feathered, & even finned friends... are good for our health—physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual...

1. Provide pain relief.
Therapy dogs have a positive effect on patients’ level of pain after procedures...

2. Increase physical activity.
Dog parents tend to get more exercise than people who don’t have a dog..

3. Improve cognitive function.
One population that has experienced good results with pet therapy is residents of nursing homes & assisted living facilities...pet therapy was shown to help preserve & enhance the function of residents with cognitive impairment.

4. Relieve stress & boost mood.
Cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, & even fish have been found to help relieve stress & enhance mood... a study from Indiana University Media School reported that people who viewed cat videos felt less sad, anxious, or annoyed & more positive after they watched the videos online than before they saw them.

5. Assist people with autism.
...pairing pets with individuals who have autism can significantly improve a number of factors, including socialization skills, eye contact, & positive affect...

6. Facilitate reading among kids.
...Experts have found that children who are having difficulty with reading...do much better when they pair up with a dog, who offers only unconditional love & patience while being told a story...

7. Improve children’s emotional development.
Among children who have no siblings, having a pet can help them develop greater self-esteem, improved empathy, & more participation in physical & social activities...

8. Benefit heart health.
A scientific statement from the American Heart Association... concluded that ‘there is a substantial body of data that suggests that pet ownership is associated with a reduction in CVD risk factors...& increased survival in individuals with established CVD.’...

9. Help detect illness.
Experts have been discovering more & more that certain dogs can be employed to detect or ‘sniff out’ diseases & conditions, including diabetes, epileptic seizures, & even some types of cancer...

10. Improve neuromuscular skills.
...Known as hippotherapy, horses are used to improve the coordination, posture, & strength in children & adults who have neuromuscular disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, & brain injuries.

11. Improve the lives of people with physical challenges.
...Technically there are 3 types of assistance dogs: guide dogs (for visually impaired & blind individuals), hearing dogs (for deaf & hard of hearing), & service dogs (for individuals with other disabilities). These extraordinary canines are paired with individuals who can then enjoy more freedom of movement, safety, & well-being.

Whether it’s a specially trained service dog, a beloved pet cat, an aquarium of fish, or a therapy horse, animals contribute to & support our health in both obvious & subtle ways...”

 Deborah Mitchell (Naturally Savvy)
Oct. 20/2016
care2.com

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Weekly Chuckle

Sept. 13/2017

Feature:
 Kitties Are Right Here, Right Now

     “...an online livestream of 4 kittens living in an oversized custom-made dollhouse.
     It’s a simple recipe for a show, but Keeping Up With the Katashians has taken Iceland by storm.
     Keeping Up With the Katashians follows 4 kittens- Guoni, Briet, Stubbur, & Ronja- as they sleep, play, sleep, eat, & sleep.
     It’s a real rags-to-riches story for the 4 kittens.
     They were found abandoned in a factory by a local animal shelter, which nursed them back to health & co-operated with Icelandic broadcaster Nutiminn to create the show & provide the stars.
     Though it’s only been out for a few weeks, it’s already become Nutiminn’s most popular web show.
     ‘There’s about 1,000 people watching at any given moment,’ Nutiminn editor Atli Fannar Bjarkason told Foreign Policy. ‘And we are getting more viewers by the day’...
     While it’s widely popular in Iceland, the show’s garnered a lot of international fans, too. Bjarkason said people from across the world post regularly on the show’s Facebook page about what the kittens are up to, which one is their favorite, & just what might happen next (probably sleep).
     The show’s title is, of course, an homage to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, a much less eventful & emotionally fulfilling show than one where kittens sleep for 8 hours on end...
 Guoni is the rebellious socialite, Briet the aloof dreamer, Ronja the gentle soul, while Stubbur is large & in charge...watch the livestream by visiting youtu.be/UBIc7P_Bnf8
     Bjarkasojn said the show’s purpose is to find the abandoned kittens permanent homes & raise awareness for stray animals...
     All 4 have been adopted & should be moving in with their new families by the end of this week. (Nutiminn created the show in co-operation with the Icelandic Cat Protection Society & Iceland’s animal welfare office to ensure the stars are well cared for.) 
     After they move, Nutiminn will find a new family of kittens for the second season until those stars find homes, & so on.
     ‘As long as there are stray cats out there, there will be new Katashians & the show will go on’...
     Bjarkason said his team was amazed by the show’s popularity. ‘People started laughing when they heard about the idea,’ he said. ‘They’re not laughing now.’”

Robbie Gramer
The Washington Post
in The Gazette, Montreal
Feb. 27/2017

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Weekly Chuckle

 Memorial
Snowball RIP (Sept. 17/1998)