RFID implants (for humans) linked to animal tumors – Boing Boing

The hell with humans – what about our beloved little cat Riley?  He’s chipped, though the studies seem to have been just on mice and not on cats or dogs. Is he at risk? I’ve just fired off a query to Avid,  the manufacturer for clarification or comment. Their email address was not easy to find, but turned out to be on their online ordering page. It’s info@avidmicrochip.com

Also, near the bottom of the news article is a long section detailing former HHS secretary Tommy Thompson’s business relationship with the VeriChip corporation, and wondering whether he had anything to do with expediting the company’s rather easy FDA approval for implanting their chips in humans, or benefited financially.

RFID implants linked to animal tumors – Boing Boing

VeriChip — and other vendors — have been busily implanting radio-frequency ID (RFID) chips in human and animal subjects ever since the FDA approved the process. But a series of studies conducted from 1996-2006 noted a high incidence of dangerous tumors arising at the sites of RFID implants — something the FDA apparently did not consider when it approved the procedure.

[tags]BoingBoing, microchips, cancer, animals, Avid, FDA[/tags]

PACT Humane Needs Cat Foster Families

Daily Herald | Cook County

Cherie Travis created the PACT Humane Society’s no-kill animal shelter seven years ago, but finds the problem of stray cats and kittens in the Northwest suburbs reaching an all-time high.

PACT, which stands for People and Animals in Community Together, runs adoption centers at both PetSmart stores in Schaumburg.

The group has the sole responsibility for saving all the stray cats and kittens found in Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Streamwood and Barrington Hills, Travis said.

Though the PACT shelters have a no-kill policy, as long as its 20 cages are full, many other cats that can be adopted are being sent to other places where they could eventually be euthanized, she said.

[tags]Cats, Humane Society, PACT[/tags]

Clematic Event

Clematic Event

It’s been a long, exhausting day – I worked in the yard from about 10 am on until 730pm, with breaks for when I got too warm and wobbly, or to run errands. But I’m pleased with the results – almost all the mulching is now done, several new plants are in the vegetable garden, which for the first time ever will possibly have vegetables in a month or two, and the “kitty garden” has been dug out and replanted. I say “dug out,” because the lawn care guys so helpully cut back everything in there to the ground and then overseeded this spring. And Stuey’s ashes have been installed in a little hole David dug, and the little statue is on top. So that’s finally done, too.

I added 2 bags of mushroom compost to the vegetable garden, and the rest went in the kitty garden. The bright brick-red mulch is all down except for one bare spot in front under the lilac and burning bush – and I have just one more bag left.

Most of the weekend I just sat around, but today was cool and not as rainy Saturday, and not as warm as yesterday, so I managed okay.  I had totally neglected everything last year, mostly because of Mom’s passing; after doing the little front flower bed at her house for the “celebration” after she died, I just kept avoiding anything in my own yard the rest of the summer.

Well, that’s changed for the better this year. It’s not as nice as it looked the first year, when I was all motivated and had patio planters and everything, but it looks nicer almost all the way around the house (the “blind” side will always be somewhat neglected, however).

I  stuck in some more petunias and planted some perennial dianthus, mulched the shit out of the front and side yards, and weeded and put out weed/feed besides. It looks okay.

What really surprised me was that the poor, neglected clematis plants I stuck in a couple of years ago made it through the winter, and in fact are thriving and even blooming. So I got all ambitious (but not crazy-stupid with it) and put in an heirloom tomato plant, a couple of peppers, and some herbs and even strawberries. Hence the errands to the home supply store, because I hadn’t planned on planting anything more, but oh, well.

My shower after cleaning up all the tools and weeds and stuff was interesting; a slurry of mud and compost and mulch and dirt went down the drain, no doubt. But it felt so good – I was seriously wiped out by the time I put everything away.

However, we made a pretty awesome dinner – David grilled some ahi tuna steaks and asparagus, and I made the soy/lemon/garlic sauce that he likes that’s sort of faux creamy for the vegetables.

Also, I gave Reilly got a couple of catnip leaves for a treat, and he went absolutely friggin nuts for them, like turning a light switch from “on” to “TOTALLY WACKY CAT” in about 2 seconds. So that he wouldn’t eat them and then barf them up later, I tucked them into one of his catnip mice that has a refillable pocket – he’s been throwing THAT up in the air and chasing after it much of the evening.

Not right now, though; he’s sacked out next to me. It’s time to sack out for me, too.

But oh, my back is going to be killing me tomorrow.

FDA: Chemical Found in Pet Food Recall | Chicago Tribune

FDA: Chemical Found in Pet Food Recall | Chicago Tribune

The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the wet-style products. The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food, but was not aware of any risk to people.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit in the deaths of more than a dozen cats and dogs and the illnesses of hundreds more, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

In a news conference, FDA officials said that the apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to a company that manufactures dry pet food, but they would not name the company. The FDA is attempting to determine if that company used any of the wheat gluten, imported from China, to make dry pet food, Sundlof said.

Dammit! WHAT COMPANY is that manufacturer of dry pet food???? I've got a brand new back of Iams Dry Lamb/Chicken right now in the kitchen, and I don't know if it's safe to give to Riley or not, as Iam's wet canned "cuts and gravy" was actually made by Menu Foods, the Canadian company that's being blamed for making contaminated pet food under so many different store and "premium" brands.

I've known about this story since just before we left on vacation and I made sure my supply of Purina Fancy Feast was not on the "contaminated" list before we left. I also let my petsitter know about it. The really tragic and unaccountable thing is that Menu Foods apparently had some inkling more than a month or more ago that there was a problem with their "cuts and gravy" line that they made for a bunch of different brands.  

And… melamine? Not rat poison? How weird. As it happens I'm also listening to a news update right now from NPR. 

Riley is fine and is extremely happy that we are home. He's been keeping us under his eye ever since we returned last night, and it freaked him out a little when I went out for about an hour to get some sandwiches and snacks. He has remained within a foot or less of my person ever since. And last night, he purred so loudly and head-butted us so insistently that it took a long time to settle him down so we could get to sleep.

But I'd still really like to know what the hell the deal is with dry pet food.  

[tags]Menu Foods, FDA, pet food recall, melamine[/tags] 

Menu Foods Income Fund – Annual General Meeting

Menu Foods Income Fund – Annual General Meeting

Golly, somebody should change the name of this page quickly, it's going to get too many people thinking "right, must make sure I don't own any stock in this company." 

Recalled Cat Product Information
Recall Information
1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Eukanuba
8. Fine Feline Cat
9. Food Lion
10. Foodtown
11. Giant Companion
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Iams
16. Key Food
17. Laura Lynn
18. Li'l Red
19. Loving Meals
20. Meijer's Main Choice
21. Nutriplan
22. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
23. Nutro Natural Choice
24. Paws
25. Pet Pride
26. Presidents Choice
27. Price Chopper
28. Priority
29. Save-A-Lot
30. Schnucks
31. Sophistacat
32. Special Kitty Canada
33. Special Kitty US
34. Springfield Prize
35. Sprout
36. Total Pet, My True Friend
37. Wegmans
38. Western Family
39. White Rose
40. Winn Dixie

Riley’s Self Image

Riley looks just like this when he's grabbed his favorite boingy-boingy toy in his mouth and tries to walk off with it before getting pulled back by the elastic cord.

Just now David was playing with him upstairs and we had a case of "wacky cat" right on the bed. Riley went completely spazzy for the toy, and we were lounging at either end of it just laughing hysterically at him. Then he collided with the laptop and decamped for the relative safety of the floor. Funny little kitty! 

Draft Rileycat and Polly Dog For A Truly Bi-Petisan Ticket!

The heck with Obama and Clinton… now that it's official, we'll be supporting Rileycat in his candidacy for President, and now we've got to convince our friend Steve to let his Golden Doodle, Polly, run for Vice President. It's an unbeatable ticket: cat people and dog people, Democat and Repuplican, unleashed on the American political scene for the first time.

Forget Blue and Red America, it's time for Poo and Shed America!

As running mates, they might have some problems, though Riley has been declawed and Polly reportedly "likes cats." His handlers, though, are allergic to cats, and we're not crazy about the whole "go for a walk in any and all weather and pick up warm poop in a plastic bag" aspect. 

We also might have to compromise as to who is top cat or top dog on the ticket.

Hillary Is In – washingtonpost.com

Riley’s Big Adventure

It wasn’t really a big deal, just a yearly trip to the vet. However, it’s already been blogged over at Rileycat.

Afterwards, much petting. Riley’s in great health and we found that the chip that he had is one of the brands our vet, the Arlington Cat Clinic, carries. So we’ll re-register it at last under our name – we mislaid the form a while back so it’s good that we got around to that at last. The brand name is “Avid” and apparently we can’t register that
one online, so David’s mailing the form today.

He was pretty subdued at the vet, displaying flattened ears to indicate fear and stress. The vet laughed and called them “airplane ears,” something I used to call it myself when I was a kid and my childhood cat, Beebee, was annoyed.

A couple of things the vet told us to remember: if we don’t want him to wake us at the crack of dawn, we should gradually wean him of canned food in the mornings, and increase the amount of canned food at night by the same amount. And we have to continue to be vigilant about matters of le cadeau du chat.

Those Rotten Monkeys Did It Again

It's been lovely, really lovely being head of household. Now it's the time of year when it gets cold and my fur puffs up to keep me warm when a door or window is cracked open. It was like this before when the monkeys brought me home from the catpersons' detention center.

And how do they mark this anniversary? They go away and leave me again.

IMG_7547

I tried to stow away in my monkeylady's carry thing, but she found me. Drat. Today the lady who looked after my simple needs came in and fed me and petted me. And now she's gone, ho hum ho hum. I hope my monkeys are enjoying themselves… they shall find one or two little surprises on their return, however.