The Magic of a Mother’s Touch

After giving birth to twins, Australians Kate and David Ogg were told what no parents want to hear: Their baby girl was fine, but after 20 minutes ot trying to get their baby boy to breathe, the doctors had declared him clinically dead.

Kate insisted on holding her baby boy, who she named Jamie. The nurse handed her the tiny, limp body wrapped in a blanket. Kate unwrapped the blanket and pressed Jamie’s skin against hers, skin-to-skin, while cuddling and stroking him. She talked to Jamie, and she told him that  his twin sister Emily was fine.

After two hours, a miracle occurred: Jamie began gasping. Doctors told the parents not to get their hopes up, that the gasping was just a reflex. But the gasping continued and the gasps became more regular. A short time later, Jamie opened his eyes.

Kate put breast milk on her fingertip and pressed it to Jamie’s lips….and Baby Jamie started sucking.  In SHOCK, the doctor kept repeating, “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it!”

In Australia, the magic of a mother’s touch is well known: It’s called Kangaroo Care. But this wonderful story raises it to a whole new level, when a mother’s touch brought her son back to life.

The Magic of a Mother’s Touch botl was shared by WhodaThunkIt, a member of the Botl Community  since February 2012 with a collection of over 500 trivia-themed botls. To open the botl, click here or click the baby bottle on the right.

 

Smart Cat Feeder Uses Facial Recognition Technology!

A startup company has launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the development of Bistro, an automated cat feeder…that recognizes your cat’s FACE!

Facial recognition technology is commonplace with humans, but this appears to be a novel application with animals. Novel and quite popular!

The fundraising campaign sought $100,000 for development, but quickly eclipsed that goal. They are currently approaching $250,000 in donations.  And if they reach THAT goal, they are adding a cam & speaker to the automated cat feeder so that you can see and talk to your cat from where you are when it comes to the automated feeder.

What a brilliant concept – and what a great success story for crowdfunding! To see Bistro’s Indiegogo campaign, click here.

This great discovery was shared in a botl from FunFacts, a member of the Botl community since January 2013. Trivia Lovers, be sure to explore the 500+ FunFacts botls!

Music for a Monday: Four-Year-Old Piano Prodigy

Botl member Patricia Gonzalez-Powell (@pgpowell) shared this treasure in her Music for a Monday botl.  Prepare to be AMAZED:  The four-year-old performer plays like a Piano Master….after only three months of lessons! It’s easy to see why his performance has been viewed almost 6 million times.

Bravo! No wonder he’s received over 60,000 LIKES.

If you enjoyed this botl, be sure to check out the other 1,200 great botls in Patricia’s collections! You’ll find an incredible variety of content in her botls, including dog-themed and cat-themed media, great quotations, and gems like this video of a piano prodigy.

A multilingual world-traveler with a love of animals and commitment to rescue, Patricia has been a member of the Botl community since December 2011, sharing botls from her homes in Houston, Texas, and Santiago, Chile.

Tissue Time: “Friends Are Waiting”

You’ll be amazed at how powerful of a message can be conveyed in just one minute! Friends Are Waiting is part of Budweiser’s “responsible drinking” campaign, and in a word, it’s EFFECTIVE.

No spoiler alerts … other than to tell you to get out the tissue, especially if you’re like me in believing pets are part of the family.

Friends Are Waiting is sure to tug at the heartstrings of every animal lover. Hats off to Budweiser for tackling a serious matter so beautifully and in such a positive, compelling way.

Click on the tiny beer bottle on the right to open the Friends Are Waiting botl.

After you enjoy the heartwarming “movie,” please take a few minutes to explore Botl, the “message in a bottle” social network. You’ll find a TON of great images, GIFs and videos to explore, and you’ll discover what sets Botl apart from other content-sharing sites.

Log in to Botl online at botl.com, or download Botl’s free mobile apps on iTunes and GooglePlay.

Tiny Hamster vs Kobayashi: Hot-Dog Eating Contest!

Are you ready for an epic showdown? KOBAYASHI has challenged TINY HAMSTER to a hot-dog eating contest. Who do you think will win?

If you’ve never seen the “Tiny Hamster” videos before, you’re in for a treat.  There’s something adorable about a furry little hamster eating a teenie-tiny burrito or birthday cake. Or as in this video, a hot dog!

This little treasure was shared in a botl from CuteAnimals. If you enjoyed Tiny Hamster vs. Kobayashi, be sure to check out the other great botls in CuteAnimals’ collection, where you’ll find hundreds of images, animated GIFs and videos of CUTE ANIMALS!

 

 

Tip for Sharing YouTube Videos

To share a YouTube video on Botl, just follow these three easy steps:

1. Click the SHARE button under the video’s title.

2. YouTube will display several share options, including a URL/share link.  If the playlist box is checked, be sure to uncheck it. Otherwise, there will be a problem with the botl’s shelf display.

3. After you have unchecked the playlist box, a shorter URL/share link will appear in that field and you should no longer see ?list= anywhere in the link.  Do a right-mouse click to copy the link.  (If that does not capture the whole link, then do a left-mouse click at the beginning of the link and drag your cursor across the entire link. Then after the link has been highlighted, do a right-mouse click to copy it.) Also, remember that you always have the option of selecting the start time for videos by checking the Start box and entering the desired start time in minutes and seconds.

A preview of your selected video will appear after you have pasted the YouTube URL/share link into the botlr and clicked the preview button. Add a title and tags, and click Botl It! to complete your botl.

BULLDOGS ARE AWESOME!

Enjoy BULLDOGS ARE AWESOME, a great video compilation shared by Botl member ADog’sLife. You’ll see pudgy little bulldogs playing, trying to “talk,” riding a toboggan in the snow, and so many other entertaining things.

My favorite part is when an enthusiastic bulldog plays on a trampoline! Which segment is your favorite?

BULLDOG TRIVIA:

• Bulldogs are the 6th most popular breed in the United States.
• Many celebrities own bulldogs, including Hugh Jackman, David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Reese Witherspoon,  Ashley Olsen,  Zac Efron, and Martha Stewart.
• Because their heads are so large, most bulldogs are delivered by  Cesarean section (“C Section”).
• Bulldogs are a very common mascot for high schools and universities.
• Bulldogs are believed to be the result of breeding mastiffs with pugs in the 1500’s in England.
• The part of Stella, the adorable dog in the popular TV series Modern Family, is played by a bulldog named Brigitte.
• President Warren G. Harding had a bulldog named Oh Boy, the only bulldog to ever live in The White House.

What’s more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys? A Scottie Pinwheel!

Meet Matthew, Mark, Luke, John….and Nigel & Anneliese! These six Scottish Terrier puppies do something pretty amazing when presented with a saucer of goat’s milk! It’s easy to see why this short video has been a hit on YouTube, receiving over 3.6 million views!

Click here to open the Scottie Pinwheel botl from Angie Saxon.  I promise it’ll be the most entertaining minute and a half of your day!

Angie is a part-time student and full-time vet tech with three dogs and two cats, and she has been a member of the Botl community since May 2013.  After watching Scottie Pinwheel, be sure to check out the other botls in Angie’s collection – She has almost a thousand! And it should come as no surprise that most of them contain great pics, animated GIFs and videos of cats, dogs, rabbits and other cute animals.

Baby Elephant Masters the Art of Ribbon Dancing

Faa Mai, a  rescued baby elephant now living at the Elephant Nature Park Sanctuary in Northern Thailand, uses the giant blue ribbon she found to beautifully demonstrates the “Lost Art of Ribbon Dancing, Baby Elephant Style.”  Well, maybe it’s not art, or not even dancing…but this playful ballet is the expression of PURE HAPPINESS, and you’re sure to smile when watching!

Tourists at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang May, Thailand witnessed a baby elephant having the time of his life while exploring his surroundings. According to Nick M., “At first we thought the baby was being bad getting dirty, but we learned that the elephant was actually having fun with a giant elastic ribbon.” 

The elephants at the sanctuary know how to have a good time. They play with tires, they play with each other in the rain and they play with just about anything they can find … like this plastic ribbon that baby elephant Faa Mai nabbed from the field for her impromptu ribbon dance.

This wonderful little treasure was shared by CuteAnimals, a member of the Botl Community since December 2011. To view the “Art of Ribbon Dancing – Baby Elephant Style” botl, click here. And be sure to check out the 400+ animal-themed botls in CuteAnimals’ collections while you’re there.  I promise you’ll find an incredible selection of “cute animal” images, animated GIFs and videos to enjoy!

Also, please join us in pledging never to buy new or vintage ivory products — which include narwhal, walrus and hippo ivory — to help save the world’s animals from poaching. The ivory trade drives a brutal campaign of international poaching, resulting in the killing of  22,000 elephants in 2012 alone, despite a global ban on the sale of ivory.

For more information, contact Save Elephant Foundation.

Sure, You’ve Seen Dogs Perform Tricks…But Never Like THIS!

Jilli Dog, an adorable 5-pound Yorkie, is the World’s Only Poker-Playing Dog! Nine years ago, Rick Caran found this precious little girl wandering the streets, hungry and dirty, and without a collar or tags. Since then, the two have been inseparable!

As a rescue herself, Jilli Dog was the perfect choice for Goodwill Ambassador for the Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue.

And it turns out this spunky little yorkie is sharp as a tack. In addition to learning to play poker and basketball, she can perform some amazing tricks, which has made her world-famous, with television appearances as far away as Japan and Australia, and even a feature in one episode of Disney’s “Johnny and the Sprites”!  She’s come a long way since being rescued by Rick nine years ago.

It’s impressive enough when a dog learns basic commands like “sit,” “stay” and “heel,” but what you’re about to see Jilli Dog do is nothing short of AMAZING: Right before your eyes, she’ll perform a magic card trick!

Botl User FunDogPix shared this great video and information about Jillie Dog in a botl earlier today. What a great find! To open that botl, click here.  While you’re there, be sure to check out the other 400+ botls in the FunDogPix collections. If you enjoy Jilli Dog’s magic card trick, I  promise you’ll enjoy the other great dog-themed images, animated GIFs and videos, too!

It should come as no surprise that Jilli Dog is a certified therapy dog. She definitely spreads happiness everywhere she goes.

For more information about Jilli Dog, visit her website, and to view her Magic Card Trick and other videos on YouTube, click here.