Pets Magazine March 2015

March, 2015

Celeb Interview: DAMON SCOTT

PINUPS FOR PITBULLS! VINCE THE VET on homeopathy

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Photo credit: Celeste Giuliano Photography

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My Pet Interview Celebrity dog lovers Damon Scott and Craig Revel Horwood are backing a campaign calling for more regulations to help improve the long term health of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. A lack of screening means more and more Cavaliers are falling victim to heart problems and another painful condition where the dog’s skull is too small to accommodate its brain.

Craig and Damon were told recently their Cavalier Sophie, who has MVD, has months to live.

The couple are supporting a petition urging Kennel Club to stop registering Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies unless their parents are MRI scanned and Heart tested.

Sophie’s sweet nature has won her many fans. She appeared on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, and has her own YouTube video with 86,817 hits.

How long have you had Sophie?

Damon says: “I’ve had Sophie for five and a half years after rescuing her. She’ d been living in her own filth. This has been her second chance at life. We know she’s 13 and a half because local vets knew her; she’s unusual in that she’s a ‘one-ring’ Cavalier, with one ring of colour around her eye.

Does Sophie come with you to work?

Damon says: “I travel quite a bit, but when we’re in the UK we tend to split our time between London and Hampshire. Sophie also stays at my ex-partner’s house and at my parent’s hotel. She loves travelling in the car!

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Damon Scott and Craig Revel Horwood with Sophie

What difference does Sophie make tends to stay close by. to your life?

“She won’t eat dog food and I “She makes all the difference. wouldn’t give her it. It’s important She’s my daughter and brings to feed your dog good food like everything to my life,” Damon steamed chicken and vegetables says. not stuff that might come off the slaughterhouse floor. Good food is one of the reasons she’s lived to Do you take Sophie with you to 13. restaurants and pubs?

“Another thing she loves is lying “We used to take her to a drag on people’s laps. But she hates Karaoke night which she loved. laptops and anything electronic. I She’s deaf so the loud music didn’t think she thinks they are another bother her. She loved meeting new pet!” people and all the attention!”

Damon explains.

Does Sophie have any tricks or special character traits?

“She now loves nothing more than visiting a local country pub with “Life has definitely moulded her my parents and sitting by the character as she’s a very needy dog lovely open fire.” and she doesn’t want to be on her own; not that she ever is.

What are Sophie’s favourite things Whenever visitors come to the in the world? house, she goes to them, so she’s not the loyalest of dogs but she’s Damon says: “She loves our garden; we’ve seven and a half the most loving,” says Damon. acres, but as she’s quite clingy she Pets Magazine

Did you have pets as a child?

Damon says: “We always had dogs growing up including a Shih Tzu, Yorkies and a Lhasa Aphso. You can’t beat a Cavalier though, in spite of their health issues.

“But it’s important to get a rescue dog and not automatically go out and get a puppy. You maybe do miss a few years of their lives but they can be so loving because you’re giving them a second chance at life.”

Tell us more about the campaign to help Cavaliers?

Damon explains: “Sophie’s my little girl and Craig and I are passionate about animal welfare and the lives of all dogs.

“This campaign is focused on Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, but we want every dog to be healthy on the inside, rather than for the focus to be on how they look on the outside.

“Sophie’s health problems don’t put us off her breed. We love Cavaliers and Craig knew I would fall in love if I met one at the Battersea Collars & Coats Ball, but dog owners in generations to come should get to know this wonderful breed for their spirit and fun nature, not because of their health problems and the way to achieve this is to bring the breed back to health, not by ignoring the problem.”

Craig adds: “All these dogs need is a little love and someone with enough money to look after them.

“She is the most beautiful little girl. We need to make sure all Cavaliers are MRI scanned and heart tested before breeding.”

Damon says: “The passion of the Cavalier campaigners is hugely inspirational. People like Margaret Carter and Charlotte Mackaness are literally fighting for the future of the breed. It’s easy to feed off that passion.

“The celebrity element does help to raise awareness and we’re trying to get even more people on board.”

Campaign update: Over 8,000 Cavalier lovers, including a host of celebrities,

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have signed the petition asking the KC to only register puppies whose parents have been tested for the breed’s two most serious hereditary conditions.

Frustrated by The Kennel Club‘s refusal to receive an 8,000 strong petition at Crufts, dog lovers have started a “virtual march”.

The ‘Cavaliers Are Special Virtual Health March to the Kennel Club’ is taking place on Facebook.

Many of the virtual marchers have posted photographs of Cavaliers who have died at a young age from painful inherited disease.

The campaign is also backed by the RSPCA. To sign the petition, please visit: change.org.

Vince The Vet

The magic of homeopathy Pt.2 Expert holistic vet Vince MacNally BVSc. VetMFHom MRCVS - Vince the Vet - shares with Pets Magazine readers the second part of his fascinating journey into veterinary homeopathy - a practice that has literally worked miracles, as Vince explains...

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Homeopathy can help where conventional medicine has not found a solution

Who would have thought that a nice, new, shiny wet nose could change everything? Well Tina’s did.

streaked with red, which was never a good sign.

We paused for a moment, listening. No sound of puppies or In one fell swoop it swept way any kittens squeaking. No clip doubts I had about homeopathy’s clopping of webbed feet, or the ability to positively influence pecking of a beak against the health. It was living proof that inside of the box. None of the remedies, no matter how dilute, strange cries that wild animals could stimulate healing. There was sometimes make, particularly no other explanation. And if when injured or frightened. There it worked for Tina, then why not was however, the sound of muffled for other pets too? What’s more, if breathing. it worked for a condition as serious as nasal aspergillosis then Gloves at the ready, just in case, what else was possible? I soon we slowly lifted the lid, and were found out. met by a pitiful sight.

Lying prostrate on a makeshift Red Eye bed of bloodied blankets, panting ‘It was dumped on the doorstep a furiously and trembling from head few moments ago,’ Karen said to foot, was a small black cat, with annoyed, placing a battered multiple injures. cardboard box on the examination table. Here and there it was

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Torn nails. Abrasions. An assortment of bumps and bruises.

Pale, cold, clammy mouth and an eye full of blood protruding from its socket. All the hallmarks of being hit by a car.

Thankfully, on closer examination there didn’t appear to be any broken bones, or signs of internal damage. The left side of the face appeared to have born the brunt of the impact, which accounted for the dreadful state of the eye.

With a waiting room full of patients to attend to, a nurse was assigned to dress his wounds, and a homeopathic remedy made up for the bruising and shock, with instructions to administer it every five minutes. A slot in theatre was booked to remove the prolapsed eye.

Ninety minutes later, I entered the in-patient area and found a very different cat. ‘Red Eye’ as he was now called, was breathing normally, all signs of shock had gone and the left eye had shrunk almost back into its socket - which was causing quite a stir.

Proof Of The Pudding Looking back, I can see now that I fell into the trap of dismissing homeopathy because it didn’t fit my belief system at the time. I couldn’t see how it could possibly work, and so it didn’t.

Fortunately, Dr Reilly’s lecture

which depends on many factors. It is in my experience however, one of the gentlest, safest and most effective ways to stimulate the body’s natural healing mechanisms in both animals and people.

And so now, instead of cringing and thinking of my younger self when I hear words like ‘placebo’, ‘nonsense’ or ‘quackery’ bandied about, I picture Tina’s beautiful nose and Red Eye climbing trees with a full complement of eyes, and SMILE!

Putting surgery on hold, homeopathic treatment was maintained throughout the day, as Red Eye continued to improve.

By the end of the following day, the blood clot in the anterior chamber was dissolving. By the end of the week the front of the eye was completely clear, except for a few strands of scar tissue connecting the cornea to the iris, which restricted pupillary movements.

came along with a different point of view, when I was struggling with the inability of conventional medicine to help many of my patients. Tina and Red Eye - real live animals with real problems and real, documented healing responses, not abstract contentions in a debate - provided the proof of the pudding that homeopathy can heal.

Most wonderful of all, is that these aren’t isolated cases. Over the years, I’ve seen similarly dramatic It was difficult to tell how much improvements in health in both vision there was left in the eye if animals and people suffering from any, but it certainly didn’t a wide range of conditions, handicap him in any way, or including chronic skin disease, prevent him from living a full and allergies, digestive disturbances active life when he went to his new and behavioural problems. home.

Homeopathy is not a cure all. It relies on a pet’s or person’s ability to respond to a healing stimulus,

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Vince MacNally BVSc. VetMFHom (1998) MRCVS is an expert holistic vet. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Liverpool University in 1983. He went on to gain the VetMFHom qualification in 1998. Vince has 30 years experience of using a wide range of natural remedies, therapies and supplements in pets, including acupuncture, homoeopathy, herbs and nutritional supplements. He is currently a Partner in Vince The Vet® https:// www.vincethevet.co.uk.

Pinups for Pitbulls!

Deirdre Franklin, aka ‘Little Darling’, is the founder of Pinups for Pitbulls, a wonderful movement that deploys glamour to promote the cause of pitbulls and unloved canines of the pitbull type throughout America, and now the world, with the publication of an eponymous book based on a glamourous annual calendar.

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Photo credit: Celeste Giuliano Photography

In 2005, Deirdre founded the non-profit organisation Pinups for Pitbulls because she was tired of so-called rescues and shelters euthanising healthy, friendly and adoptable animals due to their breed.

Deirdre ‘Little Darling’ Franklin

Deirdre came up with the most ingenious way of promoting the cause of these misunderstood canines.

Drawing on her background in modelling, she created a calendar like no other – eye-catching pinup girls and their pit bull pooches, in glamorous Photo credit: Celeste Giuliano Photography epoque defining style – Deirdre Franklin is a burlesque effectively prevented from that has become something of a performer going by the stage entering thousands of phenomenon in the world of name ‘Little Darling’. She got jurisdictions across the US. She animal advocacy. involved in the dog cause while also discovered the levels of volunteering as a teenager at a ignorance surrounding the “Once you have them engaged, Philadelphia animal shelter breed and that people would then you can educate them,” that had a policy of putting actively cross the street if they Deirdre says. “I thought it down every pitbull that came saw a pitbull coming their way, would be a little Kinko's-style through its doors. even if it was with its owner, on calendar that would come out a lead and wagging its tail. for, like, one year.”

After experiencing one euthanasia too many, she She learned that dogs like Carla Since that first calendar, which adopted a pitbull named Carla Lou, who'd been left to die in is now an annual event, Pinups Lou from a Texas-based rescue the basement of an abandoned for Pitbulls has expanded its centre. house before her rescue, and advocacy and education work, who have been ‘shipped’ across while also helping rescue After the dog was shipped to the country into the care of groups with their work for the teenage Deirdre, she started teenagers, were “amazing.” homeless pets. to realise the extent of the “Carla Lou inspired me to stigma surrounding the breed. defend her kind for the rest of She found out they were my life,” Deirdre explains.

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helpful tips for new rescue owners and a heartfelt homage to the dog who inspired it all – the late Carla Lou – Pinups for Pitbulls is a must-have book for anyone who loves their fourlegged friend.

Little Darlings Pinups for Pitbulls: A Celebration of America’s Most Lovable Dogs By Deirdre Franklin is Published by The Overlook Press and distributed by Turnaround (visit www.turnaround-uk.com.) It is available from stockists including Amazon.

Photo credit: Celeste Giuliano Photography

Pinups for Pitbulls is a not-forprofit organization whose mission is to educate people about the history, temperament, and plight of the pit bull-type dog; raising awareness to rally against Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) and Breed Discriminatory Laws (BDL).

The organisation’s goal is to restore the image of the pitbulltype dog to its former reputation as America’s companion animal, war hero, and family member.

Through Deirdre’s ever-growing team of volunteers in over twenty US states, Pinups for Pitbulls has

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Photo credits incl. cover image: From Little Darling's Pinups for Pitbulls: A Celebration of America's Most Lovable Dogs © 2014 by Pinups for Pitbulls, Inc. Published in 2014 by The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. www.overlookpress.com. All rights reserved.

been able to host educational seminars, community outreach initiatives, and fund-raising events. In its educational crusade, it hopes to end discrimination, abuse, and the unnecessary killing of pit bull-type dogs around the world–all the while dreaming that one day, Pinups for Pitbulls will no longer be needed.

Featuring essays and testimonials from former pinups and longstanding volunteers, as well as a complete history of the breed, Pets Magazine

Photo credit: Celeste Giuliano Photography

Who’s Afraid of Black Cats? “… a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat

Our regular DAVID CLIFF, of Gedanken, a company specialising in coaching-based support and personal development, looks at the fascinating mythology and superstition that has surrounded black cats for thousands of years....

As the proud owner of a black cat, it is always puzzling to see advertisements from cat shelters and other animal rescue centres that seem to show how black cats are the hardest to rehome.

Unfortunately, poor Bastet, or Bast as she was called in various manifestations, would give way as Upper and Lower Egypt unified to Seckmet, who although a cat, was associated with menstruation and medicine as well as war and vengeance. With this, the links between cats and females began to increasingly grow.

Why a feline noir should be so difficult to place is a complex inter play of superstition, aesthetics and cultural perspectives, which gives the poor old black moggie a bit of a hard time.

The Egyptians so loved their cats that any harm to them was considered a severely punishable offence.

The revered moggies were mummified in their thousands; sadly few examples of these now exist as Victorian entrepreneurs chose to use the mummified corpses as fertiliser!

The ancient Egyptians prized all cats; indeed, the ancient Egyptian God Bastet was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt and was depicted as a black, cat-headed woman who was the defender of the Pharaoh.

In Celtic mythology, the black cat was considered to be evil and was sacrificed, despite cats as a group being regarded as magical.

The full-blown assault on black cats however, took place in the middle ages when the Christians began

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plague then spread without restriction.

Humanity always pays a high price for its uninformed strategies.

In a modern world, surely cats and in particular black cats can be subject to more enlightened thinking?

Something of the night? David’s cute and placid black cat Lola

to associate cats with witchcraft and Satanism, often seeing the accused witch as having a “Familiar” or even, the cat itself being a transformed witch.

The church began what turned out to be a one thousand year killing spree of cats and, of course, primarily of the black cat, which was associated with the forces of darkness. Indeed, a black cat only had to have a small fleck of white on it, to sometimes be offered mercy and spared its owner’s fate.

Yet the same redeeming white flash on a black cat is associated with Sith in Scottish and Irish folklore, who steals souls before they could reach heaven. Just to show how pervasive imagery and mental association can be even nowadays, Sith lords are, of course, those of the “dark side” in Star Wars mythology, who of course wear all black costumes…

Wherever in history, cats have been persecuted; black cats, with

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their dark, sleek looks, have somehow managed to be associated with an unfortunate conjunction of an association between blackness, the night and the devil himself.

And of course, let’s face it, when do cats come out but at night.

They are crepuscular, obligate carnivores, required to hunt at key times when their prey is available.

They typically sleep for the greater part of the day, but come alive at the very time we humans are subject to other diurnal rhythms that call us to out beds. They are agile and fast and even their hunting habits can seem extreme and sometimes cruel.

Surely we can appreciate the beauty of the black cat? But sadly no. So many of these beautiful felines languish in cat shelters while people prefer tortoiseshells and other styles that somehow appear more appealing.

One cannot help however thinking that there is a deep prejudice in the subconscious of some that relates to historical folklore.

Conversely, the black cat can be seen as good luck. In Germany depending on which way a cat crosses your path left to right, right to left can mean good fortune, or otherwise.

There are many examples of when black cats can bring good luck.

The black cat is the emblem of Sunderland Football Club, for The resurgence of the Black example. However, every good Plague in the 1600’s was example can be counterbalanced attributed to cats who were mercilessly slaughtered as a result, by a not so good one; for example, with the perverse irony that the rat the legend of the Ovinnik, a Slavic, population increased and thereby a mischievous spirit that used to created more rodent vectors of the manifest itself as a black cat with flaming eyes.

Yersinia Pestis bacterium. The Pets Magazine

However you cut it, we live in modern times. We struggle now to believe in the existence of God in many cases in an increasingly secular society. And yet despite all of this, we still have this uneasy association with a black cat.

people who have black cats, one thing is clear is that the black cat is every bit as loyal, affectionate, fascinating, sensual and curious as any of the feline world. Modern design has seen black as more chic, sophisticated and frankly

Ironically, black cats lend themselves very well to graphic design. Many iconic images that are produced for the Web or elsewhere are typically those of a black cat because the image is clear and equivocal and distinctive as well as providing effective contrast and impact.

The truth is that many black cats are not black. Comparatively few breeds are a pure black pigment.

Many have other colours encompassed within them, which present themselves depending on the light. Many black cats for example are chocolate brown in sunlight and some black cats have been known to find the dark pigment recede and acquire a hue of “rust” in favour of their more long lasting brown pigmentation.

The truth is I couldn’t go past a black cat. From the very time that my dear Lola came in to my life as a kitten, she was nicknamed “micro-panther” because of her sleek lines, her elegant gait and the pure aesthetics displayed as she moved. Another very practical thing is that black cat hair doesn’t show up on anything other than the lightest of fabrics and so if the odd hair should stray onto a suit or whatever, there is no sense of looking any less than pristine on arrival at the office!

As a black cat owner and as somebody who knows many

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don’t run for sticks without an O2 subscription!

Our relationship with the cat is improving and strengthening with each generation. Our understanding is still limited.

Fossils record has a huge “cat gap” millions of years, where a development of cats is simply absent, although there are some early indications that this is now slowly being filled due to new fossil finds.

We need a contemporary modern relationship with the cats. In this, black cat offers it as something that requires you to think for yourself, not the superstitious past, and enjoy them for what they truly are.

So next time you are thinking of adopting a cat, passing through a cat shelter or simply looking at a litter of kittens, do factor in the black cat. Put what might be subconscious cultural heritage to one side, born of misguided Bast: The mythical black cat Christianity and other beliefs and upmarket than many other kitties. look at these magnificent creatures for the beauty, aesthetics There is even a black cat’s calendar now and they all look and sheer fun that they exude.

Give them a good home and the great. rewards will be truly magical, without you having to burn at the The history of cats is fascinating.

It was only with the creation of stake for it! agrarian, (agricultural) societies, that their domesticity really got David Cliff is MD of under way. The dog was Gedanken, a company domesticated a long time before specialising in coachingthat for defence and hunting. based support and personal With humanity’s need for the development. maintenance of food stored supplies, the destruction of vermin and the avoidance of famine in organised societies, cats far exceed the merits that their canine counterparts offer us, even if they Pets Magazine

Sophie’s Choices Top product picks by our resident reviewer Sophie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Lily’s Kitchen dog & cat food & treats RRP - please see company website.

Lily’s Kitchen offers an award-winning range of delicious and nourishing food for pets – which includes over 80 natural products catering for both cats and dogs. Lily’s Kitchen also does a wonderful range of pet treats including Bedtime biscuits and Rise & Shine treats, which we love! :) For stockist info, visit the Lily’s Kitchen website at www.lilyskitchen.co.uk.

Dogs: Best in Show trump card game RRP £8.95 Find out who’s top dog with this beautifully illustrated set of cards.

Does a retriever need more grooming than an Irish setter? Has a terrier got a keener nose than a German shepherd? Is a poodle faster than a spaniel? With six categories and 30 dogs to choose from, you’ll have hours of fun playing Best in Show!

Available from all good stockists, including Amazon.

Tribal pet treats for dogs RRP from £2.99 each.

We love these tasty treats from pet food brand Tribal. They come in seven flavours including chicken & flaxseed, and are wheat and gluten free with no artificial flavours - See more at: www.tribalpetfoods.co.uk.

In association with...

Personalised Pet Sculptures www.artylobster.com

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