otters_raft

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The last type of chemotherapy that David Easton tried in his five-year fight against prostate cancer left him living a life that was really no life at all.

The retired Ontario autoworker slept 20 hours a day. His little time awake was spent hunched on or over the toilet at his home in Ayton, a small community about two hours northwest of Toronto.

He and his wife, Ann Easton, decided in February of 2024 that he would stop chemotherapy, even though he had exhausted all other treatments and very much wanted to live.

Then, about a year later, Mr. Easton was presented with a new option: a radioactive drug delivered by IV that would target his cancer and spare his healthy cells, unlike chemotherapy. “The nurse said that chemo was like being hit with a sledgehammer,” Ms. Easton said, “and this stuff is like being tickled with a feather.”

The only catch was that the 73-year-old would have to limit time with his wife and grandchildren for a few days after the drug was injected into his bloodstream because he would be radioactive.

The radiopharmaceutical that Mr. Easton received at London Health Sciences Centre on March 20 is called Pluvicto, and it is part of a new class of treatments that proponents predict will soon be a fourth pillar of cancer care, alongside surgery, chemotherapy and traditional radiation.

The last type of chemotherapy that David Easton tried in his five-year fight against prostate cancer left him living a life that was really no life at all.

The retired Ontario autoworker slept 20 hours a day. His little time awake was spent hunched on or over the toilet at his home in Ayton, a small community about two hours northwest of Toronto.

He and his wife, Ann Easton, decided in February of 2024 that he would stop chemotherapy, even though he had exhausted all other treatments and very much wanted to live.

Then, about a year later, Mr. Easton was presented with a new option: a radioactive drug delivered by IV that would target his cancer and spare his healthy cells, unlike chemotherapy. “The nurse said that chemo was like being hit with a sledgehammer,” Ms. Easton said, “and this stuff is like being tickled with a feather.”

The only catch was that the 73-year-old would have to limit time with his wife and grandchildren for a few days after the drug was injected into his bloodstream because he would be radioactive.

The radiopharmaceutical that Mr. Easton received at London Health Sciences Centre on March 20 is called Pluvicto, and it is part of a new class of treatments that proponents predict will soon be a fourth pillar of cancer care, alongside surgery, chemotherapy and traditional radiation.

Humans have made the world less hospitable for birds in many ways. One obvious and intentional example of this can be found in towns and cities worldwide: anti-bird spikes. The pointy wires you might see attached to roofs, ledges, and light poles are meant to deter urban species like pigeons from landing, pooping, and even nesting where people don’t want them to. But in an avian act of poetic justice, a handful of European birds have struck back.

Apparently Carrion Crows and Eurasian Magpies are stealing and repurposing the spikes as a nest-building material. Nests featuring the deterrent were documented in a study published Tuesday in the Dutch journal Deinsea, an online periodical from the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.

Location: "Newton Area of Surrey, BC" (from a youtube video on their channel)

RAPS is engaged in one of the largest operations we have ever undertaken — rescuing scores of kittens and cats from a disastrous hoarding situation.

“We were called by a family member to intervene in a situation where a person with some significant issues had been hoarding cats and kittens in a large townhouse,” says Valerie Wilson, manager of the RAPS Cat Sanctuary and RAPS Adoption Center. “What we discovered was unlike anything most of us had seen in decades of animal welfare work.”

When the rescuers arrived at the home, dozens of cats and kittens scattered like insects. Opening bathroom cupboards, drawers and looking behind appliances, there were kittens and cats everywhere throughout the house. The entire house was festering with urine and feces everywhere and the stench was unbearable. The home has almost no furniture and the frightened kittens were scampering under urine-soaked blankets to hide from the human “intruders.” When our team cold called unannounced, there were no litter boxes and most of the cats were locked in a room with no furniture, surrounded by feces and urine.

“One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that not one, but two, animal rescue organizations had intervened in the past, but had not addressed the underlying hoarding situation,” says Wilson. “In both instances, the organizations had removed cats from the premises but left intact cats, resulting in further reproduction and this near-catastrophic situation that has ballooned into dozens of cats and kittens.”

RAPS has already removed about 15 kittens, as well as a nursing mom.

The nursing mom was so unhealthy she couldn’t care for her kittens. One of those kittens was initially thought to have a brain condition, which was discovered to be merely severely low blood sugar. Through bottle-feeding, that kitten is regaining its strength. The mother is under medical care at the RAPS Animal Hospital and we hope for the best.

As RAPS continues this rescue operation, we anticipate upwards of 10 or more pregnant females and as many as 50 or more cats and kittens in total, most of them unsocialized kittens. And RAPS anticipates at least another 20 to 30 kittens to be born, bringing the overall total to upwards of 80.

RAPS has set up a special fund to support these animals and the ongoing rescue operation. They are calling on the community to support this major undertaking.

RAPS is also seeking experienced cat and kitten fosterers.

Location: "Newton Area of Surrey, BC" (from a youtube video on their channel)

RAPS is engaged in one of the largest operations we have ever undertaken — rescuing scores of kittens and cats from a disastrous hoarding situation.

“We were called by a family member to intervene in a situation where a person with some significant issues had been hoarding cats and kittens in a large townhouse,” says Valerie Wilson, manager of the RAPS Cat Sanctuary and RAPS Adoption Center. “What we discovered was unlike anything most of us had seen in decades of animal welfare work.”

When the rescuers arrived at the home, dozens of cats and kittens scattered like insects. Opening bathroom cupboards, drawers and looking behind appliances, there were kittens and cats everywhere throughout the house. The entire house was festering with urine and feces everywhere and the stench was unbearable. The home has almost no furniture and the frightened kittens were scampering under urine-soaked blankets to hide from the human “intruders.” When our team cold called unannounced, there were no litter boxes and most of the cats were locked in a room with no furniture, surrounded by feces and urine.

“One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that not one, but two, animal rescue organizations had intervened in the past, but had not addressed the underlying hoarding situation,” says Wilson. “In both instances, the organizations had removed cats from the premises but left intact cats, resulting in further reproduction and this near-catastrophic situation that has ballooned into dozens of cats and kittens.”

RAPS has already removed about 15 kittens, as well as a nursing mom.

The nursing mom was so unhealthy she couldn’t care for her kittens. One of those kittens was initially thought to have a brain condition, which was discovered to be merely severely low blood sugar. Through bottle-feeding, that kitten is regaining its strength. The mother is under medical care at the RAPS Animal Hospital and we hope for the best.

As RAPS continues this rescue operation, we anticipate upwards of 10 or more pregnant females and as many as 50 or more cats and kittens in total, most of them unsocialized kittens. And RAPS anticipates at least another 20 to 30 kittens to be born, bringing the overall total to upwards of 80.

RAPS has set up a special fund to support these animals and the ongoing rescue operation. They are calling on the community to support this major undertaking.

RAPS is also seeking experienced cat and kitten fosterers.