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Cat owners Skype their pets
ginger cat on laptop
Men are more likely to Skype their cat than women.
Survey finds more than a third of owners Skype with their cat

More than a third of cat owners use FaceTime and Skype to check in on their feline friends, according to a new survey.

The poll of 1,000 cat owners, conducted by card retailer Hallmark, unveiled a number of other bizarre findings.

Men were found to be more likely to spend time on Skype and FaceTime with their cat than women (23 per cent), while more than a fifth of people said they would take their cat on holiday.

Nearly 37 per cent of men had also tried to teach their cat tricks, with many believing their feline was talented enough to enter Britain's Got Talent.

A further 15 per cent of owners confessed to serving their cat a specially-made meal every day.

Perhaps the oddest of the findings was the 12 per cent of men who claimed they chose to own a cat because they couldn't have a lion or a tiger and a cat is the next best thing.

Rachel Goodman, Hallmark, said: "We conducted the report as we wanted as much insight as possible into just how much we love our feline friends; it's clear that cats are a pet passion in the UK."

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Strangles survey seeks views of horse owners

News Story 1
 With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.

The survey, which has been designed by Dechra, aims to raise awareness of Strangles and promote best practices to prevent its transmission. It includes questions about horse owners' experiences of strangles, together with preventative measures and vaccination.

Respondents to the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win two VIP tickets to Your Horse Live 2025. To access the survey, click here 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
DAERA to reduce BVD 'grace period'

DAERA has reminded herd keepers of an upcoming reduction to the 'grace period' to avoid BVD herd restrictions.

From 1 May 2025, herd keepers will have seven days to cull any BVD positive or inconclusive animals to avoid restrictions being applied to their herd.

It follows legislation introduced on 1 February, as DAERA introduces herd movement restrictions through a phased approach. Herd keepers originally had 28 days to cull BVD positive or inconclusive animals.

DAERA says that, providing herd keepers use the seven-day grace period, no herds should be restricted within the first year of these measures.

Additional measures, which will target herds with animals over 30 days old that haven't been tested for BVD, will be introduced from 1 June 2025.

More information is available on the DAERA website.