Pet owners should take their pets to have periodic physical checkups, as cats and dogs aged seven or older could easily get fatal heart diseases, the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office said.
The office cited Ruifang Animal Shelter veterinarian Wang Yan-hsu (王嚴?) as saying that prevention trumps cure, urging pet owners to periodically bring young cats and dogs to veterinary hospitals for congenital heart defect screening tests and physical examinations.
Dogs’ diets should consist of good proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables and fruit, based on the low-sodium, nutritional balance principle, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Siraya National Scenic Area Administration
Cats should be fed with whole foods containing taurine, which is abundant in chicken, pork liver and tuna, L-carnitine — mostly found in beef and fish — fish oil and coenzyme Q10, Wang said.
To reduce cardiac stress for pets, owners must control their pets’ body weight and avoid intensive exercise or emotional stress, he was quoted as saying.
Pet owners should also keep a clean living environment by removing standing water to minimize the risk of pets contracting heartworm disease transmitted by mosquitoes, Wang said.
Research showed that 50 to 60 percent of stray dogs and 30 percent of house dogs in Taiwan are infected with heartworm disease, the office said.
Heartworm infection would result in right ventricular hypertrophy, valvular diseases, and pulmonary endarteritis or embolism in cats or dogs, seriously affecting their cardiac health, the office quoted Wang as saying.
The treatment of heartworm disease usually includes medications, antithrombotic agents and sometimes taurine supplements to prevent fatal heart diseases, the office said.
The incidence rates of chronic diseases in pets have increased, as they live longer nowadays, so pet owners should arrange regular checkups for them, it said.
Pets with heart disease can live happily and normally as long as their owners follow the vet’s instructions and make periodic appointments, it said, adding that people should not abandon pets that have poor health.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS