Disturbing Trend Pet Owners Hurting Animals Just to Score Pet Prescriptions

Addicts are now using pets as tools to score prescription drugs. Some of them are even hurting their pets. CBS2’s Jessica Layton reported, a New Jersey lawmaker wants to put an end to the abuse of pet prescriptions.

New Jersey State Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (R-Wayne) said that he heard about specific cases around the country.

“A golden retriever dog sliced by its owner, taken to multiple vets to get an opiate, dogs were taught to cough in order to go in and be prescribed an opiate. It’s trending throughout the entire United States,” he said.

Right now, in New Jersey, anytime a veterinarian prescribes a medication for someone’s pet, it’s done in the animal’s name. The lawmaker is pushing for a statewide database to keep track of pet prescriptions using the owner’s name.

He said it would crack down on people who hop from vet to vet to get pills.

“It sounds like it’s escalating, and probably not long before I see a case,” Dr. Benjamin Davidson said.

Dr. Davidson, of Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Paramus said the only downside he can see is that have to report to a centralized system could take time away from pet care.

“But I think we have to look at, we have to look at the big picture which is preventing people from hurting animals,” he said.

In New York, vets are required to make an online report within 24 hours of dispensing tramadol, a pain reliever that can be taken by both people and pets.

Assemblyman Rooney hopes to see his bill go to the full New Jersey legislature in the next few weeks.

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People in the US are spending more on pets care

American spending on pet's health care are rising, according to a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. According to the study, the U.S. health-care system is “uniquely inefficient” since it is plagued by high costs and poor health outcomes compared to other developed countries.

Although there are plenty of reasons why this might be, they write, it’s often blamed on an insurance industry that shields customers from decisions about costs, and government regulation and reimbursement that give the industry little reason to make itself more efficient.

The study found that spending cost on pet purchases, medical supplies and veterinary visit have mirrored the human health-care spending closely. It is up by 60% for pet health care from 1996 to 2012, and 50% for people.

Also the supply in physicians grew significantly faster than in other sectors it grew about 40%, while the supply in veterinarians nearly doubled. Physician-related establishments and veterinary-related establishments grew at similar rates, and more quickly than did other kinds of establishments.

Bear Enjoys Playing in a Swimming Pool

A cuddly bear decided to beat the Southern California heat by entering a house with a swimming pool and the bear clearly enjoy playing in the pool. He even gnaw at toys left in the pool.

Cute Red Panda Escapes Zoo

Three super cute red pandas escaped from the Hangzhou Zoo. They were able to escape due to a broken cage, it broke due to the weight of the snow. The three red pandas got the chance to experience the wild outdoors. Two of escaped red pandas were found and returned to their cage shortly after escaping. But the third was able to extend the vacation from the zoo for 8 months.The red panda was later found in a tree near the zoo.

Fugitive red panda recovered by Chinese zoo after eight months on the run https://t.co/fYVqNVgsyN pic.twitter.com/Rtc8YgVUk1

— SCMP News (@SCMP_News) August 5, 2016

Acupuncture for your pets

Acupuncture relieves stress for aging and pets who are in pain. Needles are inserted and a low-level electrical current flow to the needles. It is the same as in human acupuncture. After the treatment pets shows less pain and they move easier.

However, pet acupuncture is not cheap the initial consultation and treatment starts at $220 and the followup treatments may cost $73 up to $100.

Acupuncture has been use in animals in China. According to the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners (joint guidelines),  there is a solid and still growing body of evidence for the use of acupuncture for the treatment of pain in veterinary medicine to the extent that it is now an accepted treatment for pain.

Hippo saving a gnu from a crocodile Captures on Cam

Too bad for the crocodile, it lost his lunch when a hippo decided to save the gnu that the crocodile has caught.

Hippos are one of the most dangerous animals they are known to be ruthless and scary, but not this time. The video captures a hippo rescuing a gnu that is being attacked by a crocodile. It shows the hippo chases the crocodile, then push the injured gnu with its snout to the shore.

Vadim Onishchenko, 34, took the video when he was visiting the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.

Pets in the US today lives longer

Banfield Pet Hospital release their 2013 State of Pet Health Report and things are looking good for our four legged friends. The report stated increase in lifespan of both dogs and cats. The average lifespan of a dog in 2012 was 11 years which is up nearly half a year since 2002 (4% increase), while the average lifespan of a cat in 2012 was 12, which gone up by 1 year since 2002 (10% increase). The report also stated that the small breed dogs live longer than giant breeds.

The States with the longest lifespan for dogs are South Dakota, Montana, Oregon, New Mexico, and Colorado. While states with the shortest lifespan for dogs are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Delaware, and Massachusetts.

For cats, the states with the longest lifespan are Montana, Colorado, Rhode Island, Illinois, and Nebraska. While states with the shortest lifespan for cats are Delaware, Ohio, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi.

Obesity has caught up with our cats and dogs, overweight and obesity have reached epidemic levels in dogs and cats in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in 5 dogs and cats. Although some might consider pets to be cuter or happier when they are overweight, the truth is, being overweight is linked to  other serious conditions such as arthritis, heart and respiratory problems and diabetes mellitus (cats).

Check out the full Report here: http://www.stateofpethealth.com/