065 A Dog with Extraordinary Skills Helping Children & Reassurances about Cats and Covid-19.

Raising Your Paws- Your resource for dog & cat pet parents

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Have you heard about the zoo wild cats or domestic cats overseas that are reported to have tested positive to Covid – 19? Are you worried that this means your kitty can get sick and even transmit the virus to you? The American Veterinary Medical Association has the latest information and detailed stories about these felines and in this segment, I summarize their findings for your reassurance.

Next, NutriSource Pet Foods, donated $250.000 thousand dollars to a children’s hospital in Minneapolis in 2019 in order to select, train and place on staff, a dog who would assist children and their families as they go through challenging, and often traumatic medical journeys in the hospital. This Golden retriever is named Rocket and you’re going to hear from his partner and handler, Anna Dressel, a child life specialist at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, the stories of how he unexplainably senses people’s emotions and then offers his unique canine comfort.

Then, do you have a cat that seems to anticipate and know when family members are due to arrive home when there is no reasonable explanation for it? I’ll explain a few of the possible theories for cats moving to the window or the front door to greet you even when your return times are random and unplanned.

Invitation to tell your story! Do you have any stories of your cat exhibiting really mysterious, unexplainable behavior, acting as if they know something that seems impossible, or predict extreme weather, such as thunderstorms or earthquakes? If you do, send it to me at [e-mail]. I may ask you to tell your story on the podcast so everyone can hear it.

Congratulations to the people who sent me photos of their dogs that look like they smile. I have selected 4 dogs with the most winning of smiles. Thank you to Alissa from Menahga, Minnesota for her photos of Super Cooper, John from Perham, Minnesota for the photos of Emma and Luna, and Susan from Cottage Grove, Oregon for her dog, Tank. All of these dogs have won a free large bag of NutriSource pet food and their human companions will receive a coupon to take to their local stores to select their bag. You can see these engaging photos on the blog for this episode number, 65 at our podcast website www.raisingyourpaws.com.

Additional Resources for the Show.

Details about zoo wild cats and domestic cats with Covid-19 – AVMA website.

See the video of Rocket, at the hospital on the blog page for episode 65 at www.raisingyourpaws.com.

More information from the M Health Masonic Hospital:

M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s hospital website page about Rocket.

Visit https://www.mhealth.org/childrens to learn more about the hospital.

For more information about Rocket, at NutriSourcepetfoods.com.

Source of the story about cats knowing arrival times –“What Your Cat Knows” by Sally Morgan.