🧪 Lab-Grown Treats, Longer-Living Dogs & Storm Prep

Good morning, weekend warriors & wagging tails.
It’s Sunday, and your dog’s tail isn’t the only thing wagging—our inbox is too.

Quick warm-up:
What’s the weirdest thing your pet has ever brought you as a “gift”?

Reply with your story—gross, sweet, or straight-up bizarre. We’ll feature a few in next week’s edition.

The Big Picture:

(Sources: Best Friends Animal Society¹ , Business Wire², Best Friends Veterinary Capacity Playbook³)

Why these numbers matter: Adoptions are sagging while shelter intake rises—creating overcrowded kennels just as biotech promises longer, healthier pet lives. But without enough veterinarians in the pipeline, even game-changing treatments (and basic care) could bottleneck.

Translation: solving the vet-shortage puzzle is as critical as any moon-shot longevity breakthrough.

Pet Tech & Innovation

🧪 Lab-Grown Scooby Snacks Hit the Shelves

London biotech Meatly just teamed with vegan dog-food brand THE PACK to launch “Chick Bites,” the world’s first dog treats made with cultivated chicken cells—now on sale at a Pets at Home store in Brentford. The Guardian reports the bite-sized nuggets are grown from a single egg-cell sample, then blended with plant ingredients—no barns, beaks, or CO₂-heavy feedlots required.

Why it matters: Pet food hoovers up an estimated 25% of all meat produced in the US, making our four-legged friends accidental climate offenders. Swapping even a sliver of that demand for lab-grown protein could slash land use, water waste, and greenhouse gases—while letting Fido keep his carnivore street cred.

If early taste-tests (read: enthusiastic tail whips) are any clue, dogs can’t tell the difference—meaning the eco-upgrade might be as simple as a new treat bag in your cupboard.

Animal Industry

🏥 Retail Meets Rehab: Big Brands Double-Down on Vet Care

Chewy steps out from the browser and into the exam room.
The e-commerce giant just filed permits for its fourth Atlanta-area Chewy Vet Care clinic, planting a paw print at 811 Peachtree Street NE and adding to new builds in Florida, Texas, and Colorado.

The brick-and-mortar outposts promise routine check-ups, urgent care, and even surgery—all bookable from the same app you use to reorder kibble.

What Now Atlanta has the scoop on the Midtown location, slated to open later this year.

Meanwhile, candy-bar powerhouse Mars keeps hoarding the X-ray machines.
Its Petcare division just closed the deal on Cerba Vet and ANTAGENE, two French diagnostics labs it says will supercharge in-clinic testing across Europe —think faster blood panels and genetic screens without shipping samples overseas. Mars announced the acquisition in July 2024.

Why it matters:
With online retailers building hospitals and the world’s largest chocolate maker owning thousands of clinics (Banfield, VCA, BluePearl) plus the lab equipment, vet care is consolidating faster than you can say “sit.”

Expect snappier service and deeper data—but also stiffer competition for independent practices trying to keep their heads—and stethoscopes—above water.

Pet Stat-Of-The-Day

🐓 Coop-craze confirmed. APPA’s fresh 2025 State of the Industry report says 11 million U.S. households now keep backyard chickens—a clucking 28% jump since 2023. Looks like the eggs really are sunnyside-up. Source: APPA

🐇 Rabbit reality check. A new 2025 roundup pegs America’s bunny population at ≈ 2.2 million pets, cementing rabbits as the nation’s #3 companion animal—cute, but brace for those exotic-vet price tags. Source: Hepper

🐈 Lost-and-found math. An MDPI-summarized analysis shows 75% of missing cats are found within a third of a mile of home, yet only 34 % return in the first week. Microchips nearly triple reunion odds—so chip it and keep the info current. Source: Dogster

Veterinarian’s Daily Pick

🌪️ Hurricane Kit, Hold the Panic

NOAA just warned that the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be “above-normal,” with up to 19 named storms on deck —prime time for wind, rain, and frantic last-minute dashes to the store for batteries (and chew sticks). Source: Reuters

Before the season officially kicks off on June 1, give your disaster plan a tune-up:

• 👜 Pack the “go-bag” now, not during landfall. AVMA says three days’ worth of food, meds, and printed vaccine records should live in a waterproof tote by the door.

• 📍 Microchip + tag = reunion insurance. Lost-pet data show chips triple the odds of getting Rover back after an evacuation. Verify your contact info is current before the power’s out.

• 🏨 Scope pet-friendly shelters today. Many county shelters still turn animals away; AAHA suggests bookmarking hotels and evacuation centers that welcome four-legged evacuees in advance.

Bottom line: Storm season doesn’t have to be all doom and Cat-5 gloom. A stocked tote, updated microchip, and pre-mapped escape route turn a potential scramble into a well-rehearsed drill—so when the forecast gets spicy, you and your pets can ride out the chaos like seasoned storm chasers (minus the flying debris).

Tails End: Breed of the Week

Introducing: The Chihuahua

Welcome to Breed of the Week—your quick pit stop on the Knowledge Kennel racetrack. Each issue we’ll spotlight one fur-covered over-achiever and drop three snack-size facts so you can sound like the resident breed geek at the dog park. Ready? Set? Chihuahua!

🌶️ Pocket-size, history XXL: DNA analysis shows Chihuahuas share ~70% ancestry with the pre-Columbian Techichi dogs cherished by Toltec and Aztec nobles—basically the original lap-royalty long before royal corgis were a thing.

⚡ Hummingbird heart: Their resting heart rate zooms at 100–180 bpm (about double a Lab’s), and the trademark shiver often isn’t cold—it’s a tiny engine idling at high RPM. Vets dose anesthesia with jeweler’s precision.

🧢 Mind the molera: Up to 80% of Chihuahuas keep a soft fontanelle (“molera”) on top of the skull into adulthood. Translation: helmets off the toy box and gentle head pats only—toddlers with Tonka trucks need not apply.

Paws and reflect: Got a question you want our vets to tackle? Hit reply. Until then, keep the treats crunchy and the walks adventurous—see you Wednesday!

— The Knowledge Kennel Team 🐾