Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes When I was in college, several members of the football team lived in my dorm. I’m five feet tall, and whenever I walked down their hallway, one of those huge guys would pick me up, give me a big hug, and tell me how cute and tiny I was. I know they didn’t intend to […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you’ve ever had a massage, you know how relaxing it can be. There’s something about the touch of a massage therapist that can make stress melt away. Turns out the soothing aspects of massage are not just for humans. Your pet can get relief from stress through massage too. According to the American Massage […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Recently I volunteered with my husband and two nieces at a special place: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It’s the largest no-kill animal refuge in the United States, spanning nearly 3,700 acres of red rock canyon near Kanab, Utah. Hundreds of employees care for roughly 1,600 dogs, cats, horses, pigs, bunnies, parrots, and “wild friends.” Most […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you waggle a feather for your kitten, toss her a catnip mouse, or encourage her to chase a wand type toy, you’re doing a lot more than having fun with her. Play is exercise, stress reduction, and motor skill training all in one. For kittens, play is also an important part of social bonding, […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Increasingly people are keeping cats indoors only. More than 65 percent of the feline population never goes outside, according to the American Pet Products Association. But that still leaves millions of cats who go outdoors, and cats being cats, some will climb trees in search of the highest vantage point in the neighborhood, to escape […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When my late Greyhound, Savanna, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, her oncologist advised amputation of her rear leg and chemotherapy. My husband and I were anxious about how our 10-and-a-half-year-old dog would respond to losing a leg, but we decided to give surgery a chance to save her life. It was the right choice. Savanna had […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes The feline nose is the cute-as-a-button spot we love to “boop” and is of course responsible for the sense of smell, but a cat’s nose is also an important part of feline communication. Besides sniffing out food or danger, one of the most important tasks it performs is to help cats feel comfortable with humans. […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes In 2014, my husband and I moved cross-country from the Midwest to New England, a trip that involved transporting our five indoor housecats, a newly trapped feral cat, and our older dog. I planned ahead to try to ensure that this trip would be as stress-free as possible for the animals. We had a successful […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Outgoing. Confident. Friendly. Those three words size up Casey, my four-year-old orange tabby. I often say that Casey has yet to meet a stranger or feel as if he is in a strange place. But even though Casey assists me in our veterinarian-approved pet first aid/CPR classes and travels nicely inside his carrier on road […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes My beautiful 12-year-old black cat Rama has always taken life seriously. We know nothing about his background prior to adopting him nine years ago, but I clearly remember the shelter staff trying to steer me away from him. Rama moved like a small panther in the wild–nervous, with a bit of insecurity, and not open […]