Animals lost on vacation are more likely to stay lost. While getting ready for summer vacations, travelers may forget an important part of the trip — making sure their pets return home safely. (more…)

Kristina Narfstrom, a veterinary ophthalmologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, implanted microchips into the eyes of eleven Persian cats, half of whom were severely visually impaired or blind. The microchips were implanted inside the retinas of the cats, where the chips produce small electrical impulses that help the cats to see. Each chip includes several thousand micro-photo-diodes that react to light and produce electrical impulses in the retina. The microchip is two millimeters in diameter and only twenty-three micrometers thick. (more…)

A lost dog is far more likely to be found than a missing cat. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, seventy-one percent of dogs lost in the Dayton, Ohio, area were reunited with their owners, while only fifty-three percent of lost cats ended up back at home. Here’s why: (more…)

Law enforcement officials in Orange County, California, say they will start using DNA from pets and other animals as forensic evidence in criminal investigations. County authorities plan to cooperate on investigations with the Serological Research Institute in Richmond.   That would make it the first local law enforcement agency in the country to make animal DNA a primary source of evidence.

Everybody who has animals knows that you are forever getting their hair on your clothing, so you can imagine how powerful this type of analysis may prove to be. Using animal evidence has been rare because few crime labs have accreditation for testing animals, but it’s already helped solve some crimes: (more…)

San Diego-based biotech company says it’s bred hypoallergenic cats — cats that don’t cause allergic responses in humans. People who are allergic to cats say that Allerca, Inc.’s genetically gifted cats don’t produce any allergic reactions, such as watery eyes, an itchy throat, or runny nose. What’s the catch? Well… (more…)