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Cats Life at Home New Pets Senior Pets

Adopting a Senior Cat? Help Them Feel at Home

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes When senior cats end up in shelters, it’s often because their elderly owners have passed away and there’s no one to care for them. The good news is that they are ideal housemates for everyone: millennial singles, empty nesters, and of course, human seniors. November is Adopt a Senior Pet month. Give a senior cat […]

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Cats Uncategorized

Real-Life Cats Inspire Fictional Counterparts

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes Cozy mystery authors have found that a furry friend for their main characters can be useful in solving crime. As in real life, the level of help cats provide will vary.

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Dogs Fears & Anxieties Training & Grooming

The Snarling Side of Fear

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes “CAN HE HAVE CHICKEN?” I yelled, projecting over the commotion of the terrier barking and growling at me. He was safely behind a baby gate, something I had arranged ahead of time with my client. This was our first meeting. “SURE!” the client yelled back. I tossed a piece of freeze-dried chicken over the baby […]

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Dogs Training & Grooming

Dog Pulling on Leash? Fear Free Ways to Fix It

Article

Reading Time: < 1 minutes With training, management, and some “quick fix” strategies,
you can be walking smoothly with your dog in no time.

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Dogs Veterinary Care

Prep School: Help Dogs Get Ready for Blood Draws

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes By training your dog to accept the handling used by veterinary staff to draw blood, you can help to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress.

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Cats Life at Home Veterinary Care

What Your Cat’s Hairballs Tell You

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes I remember a cat-loving friend telling me once that her cat Bradshaw had vomited a hairball. There was something off about the hairball – perhaps it was the appearance, or texture — that made my friend investigate further. She smelled the hairball, and it had a uniquely foul odor. My friend rushed her cat to […]

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Dogs Travel & Safety

Have Dog, Will Travel: Tips for Flights

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Adopting my first small dog – a 9-pound Poodle named Peach – brought many pleasant surprises, including the chance to travel with a dog on an airplane. When I bought our first plane tickets to visit my parents, I made sure to buy a nonstop flight to keep our travel time as short as possible. […]

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Dogs Shelters & Fostering

9 Ways to Help Shelter Dogs

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes October is National Adopt a Dog Month and a wonderful excuse to celebrate your dogs with extra hugs, toys, and treats. After all, they are loyal best friends and awesome companions. However, spare a thought for the thousands of dogs in shelters, patiently waiting for a forever home and a family to love. There are […]

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Equines Shelters & Fostering Travel & Safety

10 Reasons to Microchip Your Horse

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes For over 20 years, rescue groups, breeders, and pet owners have been microchipping dogs and cats to help ensure lost pets make their way home. Now the horse industry is catching up. Although a horse is rarely “lost” in the sense that you’d find a runaway clip-clopping down your street, there are other important reasons […]

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Cats Fears & Anxieties Training & Grooming

Conquer Your Cat’s Fear of the Big, Bad Vacuum

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes When I pull out the vacuum, Mollie disappears. Fortunately, our house is large enough that she has plenty of “safe” places to hide – often the linen closet upstairs or inside a kitchen cabinet. There’s a name for this fear: Zuigerphobia. It’s a specific phobia, which is an irrational, yet excessive fear of a particular […]