Pets

Most pet dogs carry a little wolf inside them; tiny snippets of wolf DNA that slipped into dog genomes after domestication. Now a new study has found almost two-thirds of dog breeds have a small amount of wolf genes, including some breeds you wouldn't expect.

Once confined to Latin America, Chagas disease – a potentially deadly parasitic infection that is spread in a gross way – is now endemic in the United States, threatening both humans and their pets in what experts are calling a silent public health crisis.

The biggest tragedy of pet ownership is that they just don’t live long enough. Thankfully scientists are working on that, with a new cancer vaccine for dogs that almost doubles their survival rates in the face of certain types of the disease.

While it's important for your dog or cat to have a form of ID in case they get lost, tags can fall off, and microchips can migrate out of place. Japanese scientists are developing an alternative, in the form of quick and painless tattoos.

Getting your cat spayed is a normal part of pet ownership, but it can be expensive, invasive and not very practical on strays. Now scientists have tested a new method that renders female cats permanently sterile with a single gene therapy injection.

Earlier this month, Ella, a three-year-old potbelly pig, entered into a surgical procedure at Oregon State University (OSU). Simultaneously, she entered the record books as the first pig to ever have undergone the complete removal of an ear canal.

A single protein called Fel d 1 is responsible for the lion's share of human cat allergies, but a company called InBio says its initial research indicates a promising possibility that this protein can be eliminated safely using CRISPR gene editing.

Scientists in Japan investigating the possibility of a vaccine for people allergic to dogs have made a significant breakthrough, identifying the crystal structure of a protein at the heart of the majority of dog allergies for the first time.

More and more, insect protein is being suggested as a more sustainable alternative to meat. Humans aren't the only omnivores, though, which is why a new insect-based cat food should soon be hitting the market – and it won't be the only one.

A new survey has found owning a pet is associated with better mental health during COVID-19 lockdowns. The survey also linked pet ownership to lower levels of loneliness, and both positive associations were detected regardless of species.

We've already seen quite a number of skin-adhered sensors that track people's vital signs. That's all very well and good if you're human, but what if you're a fur-covered animal? Well, there's now a sensor that works on them, too.

Sparking new dogs versus cats arguments, a study is suggesting exposure to a pet dog over a child’s first years can be linked to a lower risk of developing schizophrenia as an adult. The same correlation was not seen in children raised with cats.