Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Recently, Oklahoma approved “medical marijuana” for people. I live in neighboring Texas, and the news has prompted debate not only over the purported benefits for humans, but also for our pets. Besides the potential for physical benefits, it’s thought that these products may help anxious and fearful pets during veterinary visits or other scary, angst-producing […]
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 Last fall, my husband and I lost our 11-year-old German Shepherd Magical-Dawg in September, and Seren-Kitty in December just shy of her 22nd birthday. The sadness ambushed our emotions for weeks and months. It also haunted Karma-Kat, and he slept with Magic’s collar for a week between bouts of crying, increased clawing, and other attention-seeking […]
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 While the pet dog is snoozing on the couch after a meal, a walk, and a game of fetch, the service dog is on duty. She is always ready to work, even in the middle of night. Because of the nature of the work — looking for something amiss, something dangerous — these working dogs […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many years ago, my therapist friend, Anita, agreed to take care of my dog, Dexter, while my husband and I went on a trip. Anita had a great idea. Instead of leaving Dexter home while she saw her patients, she had asked each how they would feel about having a dog in the room during […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tank, my Lab, and I returned from our weekly agility class and plopped down in the living room to relax. Two hours later, I noticed that Tank was still panting as if he had just exercised. That didn’t seem right. I watched him carefully the next day and saw he was panting heavily even after […]