Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our cats are sensory creatures, but we often overlook their acute sense of smell. Using scent to enrich their environment offers inexpensive, effective, and fun ways to keep your cats happy, stress free, and healthy. Why Enrichment Matters An outdoor cat can chase butterflies, climb and claw trees, munch grass and mark territory, stalk critters, […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Even those of us who love dogs don’t love the sound of constant barking. One effective way to get dogs to bark their heads off is to leave them outside in a yard alone. Maybe you have a neighbor who does this, but maybe you even do it yourself, because you think your dog loves […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Valentine’s Day is the sweetest of the holidays. It’s overflowing with boxes of chocolate and other sweet treats exchanged between lovers. While we don’t typically send Valentine’s cards or gifts to our dogs, cats or other animals, there’s no doubt that they hold a special place in our hearts. What doesn’t hold a special place […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes We love our dogs and cats. Mine are as much members of the family as my wife and children and my granddaughter Reagan. But do they love us back? I think so, and I think they show us that love—and we show it to them–in myriad ways individual to each pet and person. Body language […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes The idea of dressing up your pet may seem silly, eccentric, or just something novel to do for a couple of moments during the holiday season. But putting clothes on your dog or cat, and acclimating them to it, may be useful for a number of reasons. Take, for instance, the situation Paula G. found […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes My 10-year-old daughter Reagan has experienced a lot of pet loss in the past year. Our 12-year-old black Pug, Willy, died suddenly and unexpectedly while my husband and I were out of the country, leaving Reagan and my mother Teresa to face his loss together. Then my parents’ 16-year-old canine cocktail Quixote passed away. At […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes When you have a killer resume, elite skills, a lifetime of experience that requires no on-the-job training, yet you’re not people-oriented, where do you look for work? If you’re of the feline persuasion, look no further than “working cat” or “barn cat” programs. They help save lives of unadoptable cats by finding them alternative placements […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes My dog Rio, a friendly Lab mix and former therapy dog, has been attacked numerous times over the years by other dogs – both leashed and unleashed. Once, we even had a dog jump out a car window to try to bite Rio. Panicked, I screamed while Rio defended himself before the owner came running […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Is getting—and staying—in shape one of your New Year’s resolutions? Include your dogs, too; it’s good for their physical and mental health. But before you haul them out on a five-mile run, talk to your veterinarian about their current condition and the best ways to make sure they don’t suffer from weekend warrior syndrome—the aches […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When Karma-Kat showed up on our back patio, the 8-month-old kitten had been on his own for some time. Starved for attention, and for food, he ate anything and everything. Karma chewed through the dog food bag to munch kibble and practiced snatch-and-grab attacks to gobble food from our dinner plates. Our last dog, Magic […]