Weekly Pet News Round Up Dec 11, 2023

Frenchie wins big at National Dog Show

Purina’s 21st Annual National Dog Show awarded first place to a French Bulldog named Winston, making him the first Frenchie to ever win!

According to an article published by CNN, Winston competed against hundreds of other amazing dogs for first place on Thursday.

“They have cornered the market on energy, enthusiasm and just pure spunk,” show host John O’Hurley said, referring to Winston and his handler, Perry Payson.

This dog show airs every Thanksgiving in the United States after the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Hosted by The Kennel Club of Philadelphia, it is the most-watched show throughout the United States and some of the participants will train for years to try and win.

Claire the Scottish Deerhound was last year’s winner. This lucky pooch made history as the first dog to get first place for two years in a row.

The competition sees dogs of the same breed compete for best in breed. Once that is done, all of the winners will compete again in the group stage which includes Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding.

Each winner from these seven categories will then compete for best in show – the final competition.

Two newly recognized breeds made their way into this year’s competition, including the Mudi and Russian Toy.

As for the winning dog Winston, he also competed earlier this year in the Westminster Dog Show.

Meet Flossie – the world’s oldest cat

Flossie the cat is almost 27 years old which makes her the oldest living cat in the world according to Guinness World Records.

This sweet British feline doesn’t look or act like a senior! She enjoys playing around like she’s still a kitten.

At her age, she is roughly 120 years old in cat years! Despite being deaf and somewhat blind, she is quite healthy.

Flossie is blessed with a gorgeous black and brown coat and she loves cuddling and eating food.

Throughout her long life, she has been kept by various owners including Vicki, her current owner.

According to her, Flossie is very curious and playful. She doesn’t let her inability to hear things or see things bother her and she’s very adaptable.

“She never turns her nose up at the chance of a good meal,” Vicki says, adding that she’s usually curled up next to her purring and napping on her favourite yellow blanket.

Guinness World Records became aware of Flossie’s age after she was taken into the UK’s Cats Protection charity in August 2022.

“We were flabbergasted when we saw that Flossie’s vet records showed her to be 27 years old,” said Cats Protection’s branch coordinator Naomi Rosling.

Flossie had become homeless in 2022 after spending 26 years of her life with various owners.

“She’s the oldest cat I’ve ever met – around 120 in human years,” said Naomi.

And because most people look to adopt young cats, the probability that Flossie would live the rest of her years in Cats Protection was high.

However, staff were proven wrong when Flossie found Vicki who she is now spending her next chapter with.

Looking back, Flossie has had a very interesting life dating back to December 1995 when she was adopted as a feral kitten by a worker at Merseyside hospital.

She had been living with a group of cats near the hospital when some workers decided they wanted to adopt them.

She got to live with this owner for 10 years until they sadly passed away.

Following this, she was taken in by that owner’s sister who she spent the next 14 years with until they too passed away.

By the age of 24, she went into the care of that previous owner’s son who cared for her until he couldn’t.
Three years later, she was given to The Cats Protection.

“It’s always heart-breaking to say goodbye to a family pet, but he realized that he couldn’t tend to Flossie’s needs and made the responsible choice to entrust her to the care of a charity that could, truly and completely, give the kitty the care, attention and companionship she required as an elderly cat,” read a press release from Guinness World Records.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Naomi.

“He sought our help when it was in Flossie’s best interests. Responsible cat ownership is when someone thinks about an animal’s needs above their feelings.”

That is when Flossie met Vicki Green who is now her current owner.

“She was loud for the first few nights because she can’t see in the dark and was a bit confused in her new surroundings, but she sleeps through the night now, snuggled on the bed with me,” explained Vicki.

“If I’m in such good shape when I’m her age with someone who does what’s best for me when I need it most, I shall be a very happy lady.”

“Our new life together already feels like home for Flossie, which makes me so happy. I knew from the start that Flossie was a special cat, but I didn’t imagine I’d share my home with a world record holder.”

“She’s so affectionate and playful, especially sweet when you remember how old she is. I’m immensely proud that Cats Protection matched me with such an amazing cat.”

Vicki wants her story to inspire others who are looking to adopt a cat to consider senior cats.

“I’ve always wanted to give older cats a comfortable later life,” Vicki said.

“She (Flossie) sometimes misses her litter box or needs help grooming herself, but I can help with all of that. We’re in this together.”

Stolen dog has been found injured

A dog that went missing after a break and enter last week in Calgary has been found.

According to Calgary police, the dog went missing on Monday after suspects broke into a home.

The dog whose name is King is a St. Bernard and Mastiff mix. Thankfully he was found in Mountain View County.

“We can confirm the dog was found injured and is being assessed and cared for by veterinarians. The dog’s condition is part of the overall break-and-enter investigation. We are investigating all parts of the incident,” a CPS spokesperson said in an email to Global News.

The community is rallying behind King who has a long road to recovery.