I’ve been stewing the last few days about a discussion that I became involved in on a veterinary blog. No point naming names. It’s a vet for whom I have a great deal of respect — which is why I read her site daily. In this particular case, I felt that she had conflated canine…
The scoop on poop eating
Frankie just came in from the back yard with a satisfied look on his face — and a little piece of dog poop caught in the fur around his mouth. This made me very unhappy for a variety of reasons, but not for the most obvious one: the fact that he was feasting on his…
Pet Insurance, Part 2: Jasmine’s story
Today I’m turning my blog over to Susanne Fritz, my Aussie pal who takes care of the lovely Jasmine. I’ve introduced Jasmine before; she’s the pup who is “diabetic and loving it.” As I’ve mentioned, with 20-20 hindsight, I wish I had insured Frankie when he was young and before he was diagnosed with diabetes.…
Health Insurance for Pets? Hell, Yes!
Pet health insurance is one of those topics that pushes buttons with people who think that pets are overindulged — you know, like the executors of Leona Helmsley’s estate who decided that they knew better where her money should go after she died than she did. Human health insurance is a hot button topic these…
The Dog Food Debate: Opening Up a Can of Worms
I don’t mean the title of this post literally, though fresh worms would be an improvement over the ingredients contained in some dog food. But a discussion on Twitter — if you can call a series of 140-character bursts a discussion — spurred me to venture into the arena. When it comes to dog food,…
Cleanliness: Next to Dog-liness?
Frankie is lucky. I’m not overly obsessed with housecleaning. Many people think that my home must be spotless, what with it doubling as my office and all, but when I want to avoid writing, clutter and dust never seem to demand my attention (my refrigerator, on the hand, practically grabs me by the throat). However,…
Diabetic and loving it? Yes, says an Alaskan malamute
At first, she seemed like just another Twitter dog; great looking, I’ll grant, and with an exotic home base in Australia, but not otherwise distinguishable from the pack of tweeting pooches. She was a dog without a blog, unaffiliated with either a pet business or rescue organization. But a phrase in the short biography of…
Why Not to Tell Absolutely Everyone Your Dog Is Sick
I admit it. When Frankie was first diagnosed with diabetes I couldn’t shut up about it. Part of it was the fact that, until he got regulated, it was the only thing on my mind. When I wasn’t at the vet getting glucose curves, I was on line browsing canine diabetes sites that predicted imminent…
He’s a dog, not a disease
I really didn’t want to blog about canine diabetes. Specifically, I didn’t want to create a site where people only came to discuss illness. I was terrified of having a comments section where all the avatars wore angel wings, and where the Rainbow Bridge was the most popular travel destination. And I especially didn’t want…