Revealed: The Surprising Reason Pet Owners Stick to Weight Loss Plans for Their Pets
A groundbreaking study has uncovered the key motivations and decision-making styles of pet owners who enroll their overweight or obese pets in weight loss programs—and the results could revolutionize how veterinarians approach pet obesity.
Wildlife researchers train AI to better identify animal species in trail camera photos
Oregon State University scientists have improved artificial intelligence’s ability to identify wildlife species in photos taken by motion-activated cameras.
Their study, which introduces a less-is-more approach to the data on which an AI model is trained, opens the door to wildlife image analysis that’s more accurate and also more cost effective.
Scientists find the mutation that gives cats their orange fur
Fukuoka, Japan—From Tama, Japan’s most famous stationmaster calico cat, to the lasagna-loving, ginger Garfield, cats with orange fur are both cultural icons and beloved pets. But their distinctive color comes with a genetic twist—most orange tabbies are male, while calicos and tortoiseshells are nearly always female. This pattern points to an unknown “orange gene” on the X chromosome, but identifying this gene has eluded scientists for decades.
Artificial Wetlands Could Save the Axolotl—And Revolutionize Wildlife Conservation
A new conservation breakthrough could change the fate of one of the world’s most endangered animals—and reshape how we save species in the age of climate change. Captive-bred axolotls, the gilled amphibians native to Mexico, are not just surviving but thriving in artificial wetlands, according to a new study published in PLoS ONE.
Road traffic accidents leading cause of pet cat deaths in the UK, Bristol Cats study finds
Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of death among UK pet cats who are 8 years old or younger, new research has found. This is the first UK-wide study to assess mortality and survival rates in pet cats to include those that do not attend vets or have insurance. The study, by the University of Bristol Veterinary School and Cats Protection, is published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.
This Brain Tumor Treatment for Dogs Doubles Survival Time—And It's Not Surgery
In a comprehensive study involving 285 dogs, researchers found that dogs with meningiomas—the most common brain tumor in pets—lived significantly longer with radiation therapy than with surgery. While the average survival time for dogs undergoing surgery was around 10 months, those receiving radiation therapy lived for an average of nearly 2 years.