An eighth-grade Wisconsinite is being hailed as a hero after grabbing hold of the wheel of his school bus after the driver lost consciousness. His heroics have earned him plaudits from the mayor’s office, city council, fire and rescue, and the police department, and the young man has said the incident has made him feel […] The post 14-Year-old Grabs Wheel of His School Bus After Driver Passes Out with Foot on the Gas appeared first on Good News Network.

Three years ago, Araba Maze was reading a book to her niece on the front stoop of her Baltimore home in a perfectly ordinary fashion. But as the pages turned, the number of local children gathered around for “stoop storytime” increased until Maze had to take notice. ‘What are they doing?’ she thought. When she […] The post Meet the Street Librarian Changing the Lives of Baltimore Youth and Beyond appeared first on Good News Network.

A fascinating new discovery offers “tantalizing” evidence for the origin of multicellular development in life on Earth. It seems related to something that had perhaps never happened before, and certainly has never happened since: a near-total collapse of the Earth’s magnetic field. 650 million years ago, there was little going on across the Earth worth […] The post An Ancient Collapse of Earth’s Magnetic Field Led to Multicellular Animals Emerging appeared first on Good News Network.

An interesting event happened in the domain of classic English literature recently when a 78-page memoir of Jane Austen’s brother came into the hands of the Jane Austen House Museum, who were having difficulty reading the handwriting. Comparing it to a citizen science project, the museum initially invited anyone interested in helping to email a […] The post Thousands Volunteer to Help Jane Austen Museum Solve Mystery of ‘Spidery’ Script in Brother’s Biography appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Taking Care of a Picky Cat: How Olga’s Eating Habits Have Changed by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga. When Olga was a kitten, she wasn’t as finicky and always ran to the kitchen when she smelled my cooking. I gave her dry food every day and wet food a few times a week, and I made the mistake of replicating my previous cat’s diet. Free feeding isn’t recommended for most pets, but my Siamese cat never became overweight when allowed to graze all day on kibble. Free-Feeding Frenzy I shouldn’t have free-fed Olga; her head was much larger than her body when she was young, and her belly was starting to catch up. When my veterinarian said she was a little heavy for a kitten, I changed her diet and only gave her dry food in the morning and wet food in the evening. It took several months, and by the time she entered adulthood, she no longer had a bulging belly. She loves wet food but only eats formulas with chicken or turkey. I discovered early on that seafood and beef weren’t kind to her gut, and until recently, she liked dry food. Keep your feet away. This ottoman belongs to me! Kibble Conundrum She stopped eating her kibble, and when I tried to introduce new brands gradually, she ate them for a few days until they made her vomit. I’ve tried limited-ingredient diets and too many brands to remember, but nothing seems to agree with her stomach. She only tolerates wet food, and I no longer give her treats. I don’t know why, but she eats more when I’m in the same room. If I go outside to fill up the birdfeeders after leaving a bowl of food for her in the morning, she waits at the window until I return and then runs back to her bowl to eat. She doesn’t like to eat alone, and sometimes, she leaves most of her food uneaten and walks away. If I call her back and tap on her bowl, she returns to her food and devours it. Some dogs and cats become irritated or aggressive if you stand too close to them or pet them on the back when they’re eating, but Olga prefers it. She eats all her food now, but I still have to encourage her. I’ll spot you 10, but you still owe me for losing last week. Picky and Proud Living with a picky cat is annoying, but Olga is healthy. She doesn’t bother me when I’m eating and doesn’t consume foreign objects, plants, or toxic chemicals. Being selective and indecisive may be an advantage for her. Since she has such a sensitive stomach, she may be less likely to eat something harmful. That’s not a statement from someone with veterinary expertise, but it applies to my stubborn cat. Before dinner, she stares at me and whines if I look at her. She acts like a starving animal and tries to intimidate me by slamming the closet door or knocking my pen off my desk. Her begging is relentless, but as hungry as she appears, she doesn’t eat all her food unless I join her in the kitchen. Olga is a freak of nature, but she’s a good cat. The post Taking Care of a Picky Cat: How Olga’s Eating Habits Have Changed by Christopher Bays appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

The post Unifury Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt Review 2024: Our Expert’s Opinion by Sara Seitz appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Click to Skip Ahead About Unifury Overview Key Features Is It A Good Value? FAQ Our Experience  Our Final Verdict We give the Unifury Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Print Quality: 5/5 Options: 5/5 T-Shirt Comfort: 4/5 Value: 4.8/5 Visit Unifury If you’re looking for a special gift for the cat lover in your life, nothing beats a customized creation. One company that offers a host of pet-centric gifts in this category is Unifury. Unifury is most well-known for their hand-drawn family and pet compilations. These unique images can be printed on mugs, t-shirts, posters, pillows, and more. They also have many photo print products to choose from, including the fun, colorful, and stylish Personalized Pet Photo Retro T-Shirt. This customized gift makes for a great way to surprise and celebrate the cat lovers in your life, whether it be for their birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. I had the opportunity to get a retro tee printed with my cat’s image. I thought it would be a fun product to check out and review. I had no idea how much I would love it! To find out more about what makes this product so unique, why I liked it so much, and to see my full Unifury Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt review, keep reading. About Unifury Unifury was started in 2014 by entrepreneur and pet lover, Lya Meyers. After a decade in the IT industry, she set out to find a more fulfilling career path. That’s when she decided to combine her love of creative design with her passion for helping people connect, both with their each other and their pets. Today, Unifury offers dozens of different gift options featuring customized images of people, dogs, and cats. Where Are Unifury Products Produced? Unifury has headquarters in California, Vietnam, and Singapore. Most of the printing for products sold in the US market is done at their US facility. The products themselves are sourced from around the world. The T-shirt I received, for instance, was made in Honduras. Who Is Unifury Best Suited For? Unifury offers a wide variety of products, each of which features a customized print or drawing. These images can be of dogs, cats, or humans. This is to say that products from this company are a great choice for anyone who might enjoy clothing, a mug, a blanket, or similar items with the likeness of their favorite people or pets on them. For cat lovers, Unifury offers many great options, from T-shirts that say “This Human Belongs to (your pet’s name here)” to hand-painted coffee mugs with your cat’s adorable face. Overview Visit Unifury Here is an overview of one of Unifury’s most popular items for cat owners, the Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt. We’ll look at the options available in this product category, the print quality, the T-shirt quality, and the available customizations. Product Options Unifury has a number of different photo print T-shirt options available. I chose the Retro Comfort Colors tee for the bright, fun background image. Other photo print T-shirt options include: Personalized Cat Mom Tee Personalized Memorial Tee Staring at You Ugly Colored Tee for Mom This Human Belongs To Tee Cat Peeking Hiding Custom Embroidered Tee Even Baddies Get Saddies Comfort Colors Tee Custom Cat Portrait with Floral Tee Blank Custom Design Tee And many more! The company also offers many special occasion T-shirts, including eclipse, Christmas, Mother’s Day, anniversaries, and more. Print Quality The print quality of Unifury’s shirts is exceptionally high. The colors are vivid and the details are clear. And, most importantly, the photo prints look exactly like the image you submit. The cropping is also impressively well done. You’d never know the portrait image was pulled from a picture with a background. I also really enjoy that, on the retro shirt, a shadow is inserted behind the image to make it look like the cat is in front of the colorful background. The print section itself is thick and seems like it will last. However, there are careful washing instructions that should be followed to ensure the color and integrity of the image stand the test of time. The shirts need to be washed inside out on cold and dried on low. Shirt Quality I was blown away by the print quality of this product, but less impressed with the quality of the shirt itself. Or, I should say, with the comfort of the shirt. The shirt is thick and certainly well-made, but it’s far from the most comfy shirt I own. The fabric is a little stiff and the collar is pretty narrow. This is true even though the shirt itself is a bit long and wide for me. I think the main issue here is that these shirts are unisex. They seem like they would be a much better fit for a man. For women, I recommend sizing down. The shirts themselves are 100% cotton and do have a nice durable feel to them. I’m hopeful that after a few washes, mine will soften up a bit. That said, I will still be wearing this shirt often because it’s just too dang awesome. Customization Options Most T-shirt products from Unifury come with plenty of options in terms of color and size. The retro shirt is no exception. It’s available in 21 different colors including some classics like white, black, and gray. And some more unique hues, including mustard, blossom, and heliconia. I chose the blue spruce color. Each shirt is available in seven sizes from small to 4XL. Unfortunately, there is no extra-small option, which probably would have been the best choice for me. Pros & Cons Pros High-quality prints Dozens of color options 100% cotton shirts Seven sizes to choose from Easy to order Cons Shirts are unisex No extra-small available Fabric is a little stiff Key Features Visit Unifury High-Quality Prints These aren’t the iron-on photo print shirts you used to make yourself in your parents’ basement. Each of Unifury’s custom print shirts features a high-quality digital print taken from the photograph you submit. The colors are vivid and the details are clear. Thanks to the careful cropping, the portrait cutout looks natural against the background and features impressive attention to detail with fur and whiskers sticking out beyond the boundaries of the cat’s body. Easy to Order Unifury makes it super simple to order your custom T-shirt or gift. All you need to do is pick your shirt style, pick your color and size, and upload a photo of your kitty. Orders typically take 8 to 15 business days to arrive. So Many Options With 21 different color options, seven sizes, and an endless list of different T-Shirt products to choose from, it’s easy to find the perfect custom gift for you or a loved one. And that’s before you upload the photo of your favorite furry friend to be featured on the shirt. Is Unifury’s Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt a Good Value? There are a lot of companies that offer custom T-shirt printing but the quality can vary greatly as can the price. When comparing Unifury to the most popular photo printing service and their T-shirt options, I found Unifury to be slightly more expensive. However, the more popular print service does not do any cropping of the images you submit. Considering the high print quality and the detail that goes into cropping the picture to put your kitty front and center, I’d say Unifury is a very good value. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Can I see a proof of my order? There is no pre-order proof option available for the Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt, unfortunately. But many of the products do offer a proof image before your order is finalized. For products that don’t have a pre-order proof, you can request a proof be emailed before the item ships by going through the Contact Us tab. How long will it take to receive my order? On average, apparel prints take 3 to 5 days to create and an additional 5 to 10 days to ship, depending on the destination. Can I upload pictures of multiple cats? For the Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt Retro Comfort Colors option, you can only upload one picture as the shirt only features one cat. However, many of Unifury’s shirts are meant to feature multiple cats. Our Experience With Unifury’s Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt Visit Unifury When I learned I’d have the opportunity to get one of Unifury’s shirts for a review, I was excited—who doesn’t want a shirt with their cat’s photo on it!? But I had no idea just how much I would like the final product. The moment I opened the package and laid eyes on the shirt, I was giddy. There’s just something so fun about seeing your cat staring back at you from a piece of clothing. What makes this specific product even more loveable are the bright retro colors in the background and the fun script that spells out the cat’s name along the bottom. It has such a fun look to it. The print quality is exceptionally high and I love that Makoa’s whiskers stick out beyond the edge of his body. This combined with the shadow on the background really makes it look like the picture was taken in front of that fun retro backing. As I mentioned above, this isn’t the most comfortable shirt I own. It has the stiff feel and tight neck of a T-shirt made for men. It’s thick and high quality and 100% cotton, though, which is nice. And given how much I love the print of Makoa, I will still be wearing it quite often. As much as I love this shirt, I can say with confidence that my daughter loves it even more. She cute-rages on it every time I wear it. I only wish Unifury made shirts in kids’ sizes so she could have her own! I’m already planning to gift a Unifury shirt with one of my dogs on it to my husband for his birthday and will definitely be keeping this company in mind for future gift-giving occasions. Conclusion If there’s a cat lover in your life, I highly recommend checking out Unifury’s Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirts as a gift option. These shirts feature high-quality prints with well-cropped portraits that perfectly capture the kitty’s likeness. The shirts are available in over twenty different colors and seven sizes. Plus, Unifury has dozens of different gift options so you can find the perfect one for your friend, loved one, or for yourself. The post Unifury Personalized Pet Photo T-Shirt Review 2024: Our Expert’s Opinion by Sara Seitz appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

The post When the Wee! Isn’t So Fun: Feline Inappropriate Urination in My Patients by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller. Putting aside Pancake and Tiller for this week, one of the most common reasons I see young cats in clinics as a veterinarian is for inappropriate urination. Called by various terms, which makes the issue even more confusing, such as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), Feline Inappropriate Urination (FIE-U) and various others, it’s a bit of a minefield, at times. Inappropriate urination refers to cats presenting for urination outside of the litter box, either on surfaces that are horizontal such as beds and floors, or for vertical surfaces such as walls. Some owners even see things such as blood or crystals in the urine. Too often, these cats are misdiagnosed, and pet parents and undoubtedly cats themselves, are left frustrated. There are generally a few common reasons that a cat urinates outside the box, including but not limited to their sex and sexual status, medical causes, and behavioral reasons. A quick look at each might give you some better ideas of what is occurring. There are some more uncommon reasons, as well, but we’ll leave those out, for now! Understanding feline inappropriate urination is important (Pancake and Tiller agree!) Common Reasons Cats Present For Inappropriate Urination Sex and sexual status: Intact (unneutered) male cats, and even male cats neutered late in life, are commonly brought into veterinarians for urinating around the house. Medical issues, such as urinary/bladder crystals, bladder stones, and urinary tract infections can cause a cat to urinate outside the litterbox. Sometimes these can be difficult to check for, so even multiple vet visits can miss them! In particular, struvite crystals can be common. In my experience as a vet, often found in young, overweight cats eating predominantly dry food. And diagnosing these is trickier than you’d think; often ultrasound and a trained eye is key to making the diagnosis! (Google twinkle artefact for fun info about the possible findings) Behavioral causes: We don’t fully understand how these develop, but believe that long standing medical issues, even once resolved, or other factors, can lead cats to urinate outside of appropriate spots in the house. The longer a behavior has been occuring, the more difficult it can be to change. Husbandry issues: Cats might not use the litter box if they don’t like the style of the box, or the litter, or the location, etc. As all cat owners know, their behavior can sometimes be a mystery. What to Do If Your Cat is Urinating Outside the Litterbox As you probably already know, the first step is a vet visit. Even if your cat has been previously, or even multiple times previously! As a vet, I certainly understand that it can be very frustrating to not get answers, and to have to bring your cat in for multiple visits. However, just as different people might fix cars in different ways, or cook lasagna with very different recipes, veterinary medicine can sometimes be as much of an art as a science! How you were trained, what school you went to, your veterinary mentors, and the equipment you have at your practice may all potentially influence how you approach any case. So, if as a cat owner, you are frustrated and feeling like answers should exist when they don’t, it never hurts to request or seek a second opinion from a fresh set of eyes. As a vet, I promise that we don’t mind, and are happy to support your search for answers! What to Ask Your Vet In cases of inappropriate urination, useful things to ask for include an ultrasound of the bladder, and sterile urine sampling for culture and microscopic exam, if your vet thinks it may be medical in origin. (The microscopic exam ideally should be a dried and stained sample, if looking for bacteria, which is bacteria in the urine, in case the urine culture is a false negative). Crystals can be easily missed if only a sterile urine sample is performed, so multiple sampling and imaging techniques of the bladder can be very important for some cats! Providing your cat’s history including the results of all testing prior to the appointment can make it a more productive visit, and ultimately, more likely to get a resolution. Also, book the appointment as a second opinion for inappropriate urination, so that appropriate time can be scheduled for the exam. Diagnostics might need to happen at a separate visit, however. If you can, find a vet that is cat-oriented, which can help! This can mean a feline specialist, or a feline-only clinic, or even a vet that simply has additional certifications in feline medicine. Especially as feline-only clinics are used to working with cats, they will have higher case numbers of similar issues, and this familiarity can sometimes help getting to the bottom of an issue! Googling “feline vets near me” is often a good starting point. Other Things to Look For Other considerations for inappropriate urination in cats and things you can look for at home: Whether your cat is urinating on horizontal or vertical surfaces can be important. Horizontal surfaces more often mean underlying medical issues, whereas vertical surfaces can indicate territorial marking or behavioral intent. Does the urine smell stronger or foul? This can be important, potentially indicating infections, dehydration, or other issues Is observed urine bloody, or does it feel or look gritty? Bringing a diagram of your house and litter boxes, or even better photos, may help detect any husbandry issues at play. Be aware too of pseudo spraying or phantom spraying. This can look like true spraying, where a cat (male or female) backs up to a vertical surface, holds their tail upright, and essentially wiggles their tail. These cats are not actually spraying or urinating, but rather expressing pleasure, and happiness, often associated with you, their owner, being fed, or other pleasant experiences. Pseudo spraying can appear like a cat backing up to a wall or door, with a tail held high, that is shaking, but no urine is released. Final Thoughts Hopefully, this gives you some more ideas about what might be occurring, and some options to pursue in getting some answers to the question of why a cat might be urinating outside the litterbox. It can be frustrating, but also rewarding once answers are forthcoming. In my experience, most of these feline patients have a medical reason for doing so, therefore getting them seen by a veterinary professional is key; finding one that enjoys these types of issues in cats can also be important, as it can be a very subtle workup. You’re not alone, as it is a relatively common complaint for many cat owners. But, with proper help, it is often resolved. The post When the Wee! Isn’t So Fun: Feline Inappropriate Urination in My Patients by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.