Pet Monologues

Of all cat behavior problems, these are the ones owners complain about the most—and with good reason. Besides the mess and damage, inappropriate elimination is unsanitary and creates an unpleasant (and often malodorous) atmosphere in the home.

Cats have an instinct to dig in loose materials and bury their urine and feces, and many of them adapt this instinct to the litter box with few problems. But it’s still something they have to learn, and they often need help to get the lesson right.

Boxes, boxes everywhere. Litter boxes and litter should be the first things you buy when you decide to get a cat. Get them set up before the cat sets a single paw in your home. Make sure they are clean, easy to find, and numerous enough.

Many cats dislike using a box that another cat has recently used (even if that other cat is herself), so the rule of thumb is: The number of litter boxes in the house should equal the number of cats in the house plus one. Thus, if you have two cats, you should have at least three litter boxes; even households with just one cat should have at least two boxes. Read the rest of this entry »

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When kids go back to school, pets can get lonely.

With children all over the area heading back to school, what happens to pets once their playmates are gone for the day? Read the rest of this entry »

Training a dog to stop barking.

Mostly, problem barkers bark because they are bored. Read the rest of this entry »

Interpreting dog barks and noise.

Body language is generally a silent method of communication (with the exception of the play bow), but dogs use their voices, too. Read the rest of this entry »

Ringling Brothers will stand trial for elephant abuse.

WASHINGTON—Today, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the federal district court in Washington D.C. issued a major ruling rejecting the last-ditch attempt of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to avoid trial over charges that the circus abuses its Asian elephants in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Read the rest of this entry »

Stopping a dog from jumping.

Whether it’s a body slam from a bubbly big breed or the frenzied hind-leg ballet of a toy pooch, jumping up is a universal trait—and problem—in our canine companions. Read the rest of this entry »

Dog training tips.

These tips are for dogs with basic behavioral problems (i.e. barking a lot, getting overly excited, etc) and not extreme problems (biting). Read the rest of this entry »

by Odessa (?)

Hi my Friend,

Oreo, I’m so sad to have to tell you this: Barney, one of our pet apple snails, died this Christmas eve. We were all very sad. Mom even cried. Barney and Mom were very close you know.

After Mom removed Barney from her home aquarium and put her to rest, Mom dried her eyes, pulled up a chair and started to tell us all about Barney’s life.

It was not a sad story Mom told us, Oreo, and it wasn’t not only about Barney’s life. This story of Barney’s life could be the story of millions of other pet apple snail lives all rolled into one story. I decided that I wanted to shareher story with you Oreo as I know you will be as interested init as I and my mates were.

Barney’s life was not at all like our lives. Barney was an amphibious snail. Where as you and I will live all our life on dry land, amphibious snails like Barney live their lives in water but they must come up to the surface of their aquariums, streams or ponds to breathe. They also lay their eggs just above the water’s surface. The rest of the time they spend under water. Read the rest of this entry »

Company sinks teeth into dog time shares.

“It prevents dogs from being adopted and then returned to the shelter by people who realize it wasn’t a good fit.”

From the state that popularized purse puppies, drive-thru dog washes and gourmet dog food delivery comes the latest in canine convenience _ a company that contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time. Read the rest of this entry »