Get stuffed
The burgeoning pet bereavement industry has seen an increase in that most sensitive of procedures - pet taxidermy. Dogs, cats, rodents and even fish are increasingly being seen as part of the family, and owners who cannot contemplate parting with their beloved pet or ''animal companion'' are realising they don't have to.
For anyone considering having their pet ''set up'' after death, the decision must be made quickly. An animal's suitability for taxidermy depends upon its condition at death and it must be presented within 24 hours of dying.
Some taxidermists place the pet in frozen storage for several weeks to enable a final, considered decision to be made by its owners (part of the deliberation will be over the cost - taxidermy can be very expensive, with the size of the animal being no guide to the final bill).
Once a decision has been made to go ahead, the position the pet will be set up in must be chosen. Its favourite resting position is often recommended for dogs, cats and small animals, while budgies or fish tend to be mounted.
Tree rescue
In an amusing role-reversal, a man recently found himself stuck up a tree. Catalin Pavel, 25, had climbed up the tree to rescue his cat but, once 50 feet up, discovered a latent fear of heights. Pavel was rescued nearly 24 hours later, after firemen were called to his house in Mangalia, Romania. The cat, it is believed, made its own way down.
Testing times
Allergy tests for humans are a common place, so it should come as no surprise they're also available for pets. YorkTest Veterinary Services provide allergy tests for food (through analysis of the main constituents in a pet's diet, including beef, wheat and milk) and the environment.
Dog-specific tests are available for the detection of malassezia, a type of common yeast organism, and sarcoptes, a common transmissible disease. YorkTest itself is a diagnostic laboratory and allergy research centre,
but the tests are available through veterinary practices.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article