My dog has worms, how do the pills work? GUEST BLOG

Todays guest blogger is Blake

Anti-worm pills are anthelmintics, and work by paralyzing the worms or starving the worms to death. Worms have no way of storing energy, so they must continuously eat. If you interfere with their eating process for about 24 hours, most adult parasites will die, and if they are paralyzed, they will not be able to eat temporarily, leading to death.

Source: http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2068/ANSI-3976web.pdf

Is Chocolate Really Bad For Dogs?

Don't be tempted to share your chocolate Easter eggs with Fido. Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, both of which are toxic to dogs. Dark chocolate is especially harmful to your four legged friend because of higher theobromine level (130 mg/oz compared to 58 mg/oz in milk chocolate).

It takes only a small dose to cause problems - less than one ounce of chocolate could be lethal.

Source: Gwaltney-Brant, S.(2001) Chocolate Intoxication

Are Dogs Colorblind? GUEST BLOG

Today's question is answered by one of my students, Taylor.

Dogs can see color, however they cannot see every color. During the day, humans use cells in their eyes called cones to see colors. Humans have three different types of cones, which allows them to see the colors red, blue, and green. However, dogs only have two cones, which only allows them to see the colors blue and green.
Dogs are not colorblind in the sense that they only see black and white, but they do only see certain colors due to the lack of one cone in the eye.

Source: Cornell Center for Materials Research,Cornell University
Neitz, Geist and Jacobs.(1989) Visual Neuroscience

How Big is a Marsupial Pouch?

The size of the mammal's pouch depends on the size of the adult marsupial and how long it is going to be used. Interestingly, marsupials give birth after a short gestational period and the baby is very, very small (1 gram or less). These tiny little marsupials live and feed in the pouch until the mother finds another home for them, like a nest, or until they are ready to go off on their own.