Bits for Pets Blog

A dog who has collected 3,000 balls at his local golf club has been rewarded for his efforts - with lifelong membership at the place!

Mongrel terrier Deuce and his owner Jim often take a sunset stroll at Pontnewydd Golf Club and the pet can’t resist going looking for lost balls.

The balls he collects are handed out to the Monmouthshire club’s young players.

Deuce gets lots of treats, but his reward won’t stretch to one thing - the club house is out of bounds!

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For 16 years, the 60-year-old Garland resident has worked in her spare time to save rabbits, find homes for them and educate people about their proper care.

And for Ms. Yule and the nonprofit North Texas Rabbit Sanctuary she founded, the weeks after Easter are a busy time. She hears the same story again and again.

“Often people think: ‘My child is crying for a rabbit. How much work can it be?’ People think that a rabbit is a farm animal, content to live in a small hutch in the back yard. They are wrong.”

“People don’t realize how much care bunnies need, but also what phenomenal pets they are,” says Loretta Pantenburg, one of a handful of local veterinarians who are well versed in rabbit care. “Rabbits should be spayed or neutered. They don’t require vaccines but do need to see the vet more frequently than dogs or cats.” Expect to spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $1,000 a year on rabbit care.

“Before adopting any pet, you should research its care and make sure it’s a match for your life and family before you bring it home,” Dr. Pantenburg recommends. “Rabbits can live 10 to 12 years – that’s a long-term commitment for any family.”

The North Texas Rabbit Sanctuary can be reached at www.ntrs.org

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Important news for dog owners.

New powers for local authorities to deal with a plethora of environmental crimes came in to force recently.

Measures under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act will give local authorities new powers to deal with problems resulting from dog owners.

The following new powers affecting dog owners come into force, as of April 6th.

Dogs:

- dog byelaws replaced with dog control orders which enable local authorities and parish councils to deal with:

1) fouling by dogs

2) ban dogs from designated areas

3) require dogs to be kept on a lead and

4) restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person.

(on the spot fine available for these offences to a maxiumum of £80)

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Benji when he was overweight. A very fat cat has been forced to lose some weight after being bullied by… a rabbit!

Benji, a six-year-old ginger moggy, had piled on the pounds after getting used to a high-fat diet. He weighed 10kg - that’s twice the size of a normal cat.

Then the family’s pet rabbit, Chester, starting jumping on the poor cat, and Benji couldn’t get away from him.

So his vet put him on a diet and he lost half his bodyweight. Now he’s much happier and can get away from Chester.

One of his owners, Jackie Tucker, told The Metro newspaper: “He’s like a new cat and has so much more energy.”

Vet Katherine Blanchard said: “He was the fattest cat I’ve treated but he’s done really well.”

She added that some people don’t think overweight pets are a problem, but it should be taken seriously as being obese affects animals in the same way as it affects humans.

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We have just introduced a new 4ft x 2ft rabbit hutch. The rabbit hutch is deeper than most other hutches at almost 2ft and provides valuable extra space for Rabbits or Guinea Pigs. We will soon be introducing a full height rabbit run to compliment this fabulous new hutch. Take a look at the new rabbit hutch here.