Quite a bit of detailed information on holiday pet safety is available from an expert post at Peteducation.com. Be sure to check it out. The post discusses several great suggestions for surviving the holiday hustle and bustle while keeping your pets as healthy and happy as ever. Several potential dangers we might not think about are mentioned such as holiday foods we innocently slip our pet from the table that can make them sick; popular plants that are poisonous like mistletoe and poinsettias; decorations and wrappings that can be lethal; and even Christmas tree needles that are toxic.

It’s hard to believe many of our favorite holiday traditions can be hurtful to our pets but with a little knowledge potential harm can be avoided. Remember to take extra care this season and watch your pets closely.

As we kick off the season on Thanksgiving Thursday, we wish you all health, happiness and safe pets in the coming year.

FooCrew Lynne

Last week, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) issued a post on their website about a recent case in Oregon where the H1N1 virus spread to pet ferrets from their owners. There are other recorded cases where cats and birds have also been infected. Currently there is no H1N1 vaccine specific to domestic animals so it’s important to watch your pets closely for signs of a respiratory illness or lethargy. If you notice these symptoms you should have the animal examined by your veterinarian immediately.

To help prevent the spread of H1N1 to your pets, standard techniques to prevent the spread of influenza are recommended. These include hand-washing and using alcohol-based hand cleaners, covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze, and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Try to avoid close contact with sick people and stay home from work or school if you are sick. If you are sick, you may want to limit contact with your domestic pet, bird or backyard poultry until you are well.

The good news in the Oregon case is that all of the infected ferrets recovered, so watch your pets closely and take careful note to follow H1N1 prevention recommendations. If you’d like to learn more information, please visit the AVMA’s website where you can find a helpful H1N1 FAQ.

Let’s keep our pets healthy!

FooCrew Lynne

While not everyone can bring their pets to work, spending time with them is very important for their overall emotional health. Building a trusted relationship based on sincere, wholehearted love forms a bond that is truly unique – both in the life of the animal and the owner. It does take time and commitment but there are lots of easy things you can do with your pets that help them form a strong attachment with your “pack”.

Because establishing a pet-owner bond is so critical to creating a successful companionship, we’ve also built it into FooPets.com. While rewarding owners for taking care of their pets has always been part of the game play, we really felt a bigger emphasis on forming longer term bonding would raise awareness even further. Say hello to our new Bonding Bar!

The Bonding Bar measures the connection between a FooPet and its owner. For every consecutive day that an owner interacts with one of their pets, their bond with him/her will increase. An owner must interact with their FooPet for 10 consecutive days to maximize the Bonding Bar and if a day is missed, the measurement meter will drop.

We’ve also introduced a new Bonding Badge. We consider this badge one of the highest distinctions a FooPet owner can have – a true symbol of commitment. This badge will appear on an owner’s profile if all of their pets have full Bonding Bars and will keep track of the number of days the owner maintains their bonding status. With the dedication we see from our owners, we fully expect to the see the number count hit well into the hundreds.

There’s more to caring for a pet than putting food and water in bowl. They need love, attention and genuine affection to be healthy and happy. Even if it’s just a few minutes a day – throwing a ball, playing chase or scratching behind an ear – can do the trick for your pet. They will only love you more for it…

FooCrew Lynne

This year, we wanted to bring a little of our Halloween spirit to FooPets and help everyone get their scare on. For a limited time, we’ve “dressed up” our Heart Park and transformed it into a creepy landscape your brave FooPet will want to explore.

Dress your FooPets up in their favorite costumes and go play in the Halloween Park. Sound scary? You bet – right down to the hidden ghosts, tumbling jack-o-lanterns, tombstones and special sound effects. But what’s Halloween without some treats to go with your trick? In this park, it’s a race against time while your pets search for glowing candy corns and other lost and lonely treats. Think your FooPet can collect them all before time runs out? Only the clock will tell! But don’t forget to give it a try soon because this ghoulish game will be gone in a skeleton’s heartbeat – right after October 31st!

Happy Halloween!

FooCrew Lynne

As most of you probably know, the original idea for FooPets – very realistic looking and behaving virtual puppies and kittens – came from the imagination of our very own veterinarian, Dr. Ron. Having lots of experience with the love, devotion, and emotional attachment shared between people and their pets, Dr. Ron strongly believed realistic virtual pets could bring a similar strong bond of pet ownership online.

Now while the NYT story focuses on studies about real-world pets, one could ask whether any possible health benefits experienced through the bond of pet ownership might also be experienced from a virtual pets environment? We hear from users all the time about how they consider their FooPets a part of the family and how much they enjoy caring for them.

Given the lack of current scientific studies incorporating virtual pets experiences into research, it could be a very long time before we know for sure whether the same kinds of health benefits can be derived from online interaction with virtual pets compared to real pets.

We do know this information as a starting point, though. Several of our users have shared their personal experiences with FooPets and the emotional benefits they have received. We have been contacted by parents/grandparents teaching their kids about pets; people who are bedridden due to illness or injuries; parents who are caring for children with disabilities; people who live alone or feel isolated; and even people who can’t have real pets because their living arrangements won’t allow for them.

Regardless of the specific situation, the response to FooPets from these users is very similar. They express how much they enjoy their FooPets, how happy their pets make them, and how much they love to see them at feeding or play time. In some cases, we’ve been told that FooPets give something to look forward to, something to help cure blues, or something positive at the end of a tough day. This kind of feedback is especially rewarding for the FooCrew and we’re very thankful our users have shared their stories with us.

I think most would agree we don’t necessarily need scientific research to tell us that a lot of satisfaction and joy comes from caring for our pets. Whether real or virtual, the wag/swish of a tail, sound of a playful bark/meow, or an enthusiastic chase of a favorite toy can be all it takes to make any day a little brighter.

FooCrew Lynne

You can now buy an Ultimate Game Card in $10 and $20 face values at thousands of retails stores – including all 7-11s, Rite-Aids, and Toys-R-Us locations – and redeem them in our FooBank for FooDollars. For every $1 USD on your card, we will give you 10 FooDollars in exchange. For more information on Ultimate Game Cards, click here.

With all the ideas come in, we’ve got a lot of cool new features in the works. Thanks to everyone for helping us out and please keep the suggestions coming in!

FooCrew Lynne