Pet Monologues

Is pet insurance a good idea? First, the good news: veterinarians can do more for your pet than ever before. State-of-the-art medical procedures — from open-heart surgery to kidney transplants — are now available to help prolong an animal’s life. Cats receive dialysis, and even ducks are getting cataract surgery. My own Labrador, Duke, developed a heart condition and had a pacemaker implanted at age 12. He lived a year beyond his natural life expectancy, and I cherished every extra minute I had with him. [RK] Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the Big Deal?
Ah, the pitter patter of four-legged feet as they whip through your living room at overclocked speeds or uproot your prize gladiolas with manic fervor. But Snookiepuss and Mrs. Fluffypants are practically family, right?

So why should they settle for anything less than top drawer when their health and wellbeing are at stake? Throw the planet a bone while you’re at it; we’ve got the goods on how to reduce your pets’ carbon paw prints—without making your wallet roll over and play dead. Read the rest of this entry »

If you have pets, you may have wondered whether they know what you’re thinking. Perhaps your cat hides when you start planning a trip to the vet. Or maybe your dog runs in circles when you think about going out to play. Both of these events can have logical explanations. Your cat might have heard you pull the carrier off the shelf; your dog must have seen you glance at a favorite ball. Read the rest of this entry »

I just read your sidebar article “Worried owners cooking for pets” What’s with the pet-food scare? I’ve always fed my dogs dry dog food and my most recent (standard poodle, doberman, weinmaraner) were active, taut, and silky coated.

Yet millions of people feed their pets ‘designer’ foods and now, with the pet-food scare, some are going farther….feeding them home-made dog-food. While spending a few days with a friend recently, I noticed a large bowl of hamburger meat and freshly chopped veggies on the kitchen counter. I thought we must be having meat loaf for dinner! Instead it was a week’s worth of food for a black lab! I’m not sure these type of rich home-cooked meals are even good for our pets. But even so, as a pet owner all my life, I’ve always drawn a line between pet-food and people-food for a garden-variety of reasons. So what is the best for us and our pets? Canned, processed food? Dry processed food? Home-cooked food?