Fear Free Happy Homes
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: 4 minutes Kittens are born with an amazing ability to seek and pounce—but not right out of the womb. That aptitude develops in partnership with physiological changes as they grow. At first, they are helpless, fully dependent on their mother. Their only focus is staying warm, finding their mother’s teats, and sleeping. Their mother’s licking not only […]
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: 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 […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Peter Cohen of Santa Barbara, California, has made feline infectious peritonitis his personal cause, having lost two kittens to the dread disease. He now has a third, Smokey, who is a survivor. Cohen’s first experience with FIP, a fatal viral disease in young cats, was in 2012 when he adopted a pair of litter mates, […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Do you have a fear of going to the doctor or the dentist? How does that make you feel? Or perhaps you know someone who gets anxious just thinking about going to the doctor or dentist? Your pet may feel the same way about going to the veterinary clinic. If your dog shakes, pants, acts […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes We probably all remember Aesop’s fable about Androcles removing a thorn from a lion’s paw and being rewarded later on when the lion saves his life. But do animals really come to us when they’re hurting? The answer is often yes, although we don’t always realize it. I have to admit, I was blind to […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Want your cat to be healthier, more active, live longer, and interact more with you? There is a “magic formula” for that—a healthy weight. Fat cat memes are pretty funny, but feline obesity is no joke. Depending on which study you read, somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of housecats in the United States are […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes The holidays are filled with family, friends, food, and fun, but they can also pose threats to your pets and cause fear, anxiety, and stress. From poisonous plant decorations to not-so-safe sweets, the holidays can be a challenging time for furry family members. Follow these tips to help your furry friend safely enjoy all the […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes On one of my first trips to the Pacific Northwest I noticed a highway marker on I-5 just north of Salem, Oregon, that reads: “45th Parallel Halfway Between the Equator and North Pole.” Hailing from the sunny climes of the Southwest, I pondered what that meant. On average, the 45th parallel north gets just over […]