I am waiting on hold for my vet and hear a loop message, over and over: “Is your cat or dog obese? Ask us about the signs of diabetes.” This makes me crazy. Unlike cats, dogs don’t get diabetes because they’re fat. The Obesity-Canine Diabetes Myth Almost all* canine diabetes is akin to Type 1…
Traveling With Pet Insulin & Why I Can’t Go to BlogPaws
As I reported here earlier, Frankie and I had a successful trip to San Diego, where we flew together for the first time. The insulin I carried with me apparently didn’t fare quite as well. We had no problems during the trip, but the week following our return… Well, this requires a bit of background.…
First-Aid for Pets — and Empowerment for Caretakers
Coulda, woulda, shoulda — how many of us second guess ourselves, especially when it comes to the health of our pets? It’s bad enough to be confronted with an emergency situation that has an unfortunate outcome. It’s worse to think you could have done something to change it. According to the American Animal Hospital Association…
“America’s Veterinarian” Shares Pet Care Tips
Dr. Marty Becker is a media star who has sold 8 million books and often appears on Good Morning America and the Dr. Oz Show. This naturally made me dubious about the claim on the cover of his new book, Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual, that he has “hundreds of secrets, surprises and solutions for…
Healthy & Economical Dog Treats: Not-So-Wordless Wednesday
I recently got an email from a blog follower, Renee Bedford, who wrote: “In past years we used to feed our dogs a combination of table scraps and commercial dog food without taking note of their nutrient requirements. Thankfully, regular trips to the vet opened our eyes to the dangers of an improper diet and…
Pet Danger: Common Home & Garden Poisons
We just got past one of the prime pet poisoning holidays: Easter. Canine consumption of chocolate eggs raised the number of phone calls to the Pet Poison Help Line a whopping 190%, according to Dr. Justine Lee, the help line’s Director of Veterinary Services. And then there are the cat-killing Easter lilies. The pollen alone…
Pet Food Confidential: What’s in Your Dog’s Bowl?
Susan Thixton had the bad luck to have a dog who got cancer as a result of ingesting ethoxyquin, a preservative used in the popular national brand she was feeding her. She had the good luck to have a vet who recognized the dangers of chemicals in the most common pet foods. And we pet…
The promised rant against UPS (but not the FDA & Intervet/Schering Plough…yet)
Last week I deferred my desire to rant against various bureaucracies — both governmental and industrial; I’m an equal opportunity ranter — that were keeping Frankie and his diabetes drugs apart in order to provide some background, which I did here. The Search for Insulin Begins This brings us to about three weeks ago when…
Behind the Scenes with a High-Quality Pet Food Purveyor
I admit it. I tend to be a stickler about language precision. Yet the title of this post is ambiguous. Reading it, you might wonder whether it is the pet food or the purveyor that is high quality. My answer would be: Both! Anthony Holloway and his company, K9Cuisine.com, are two class acts. As Dr.…
I Hate UPS, the FDA and Intervet/Schering-Plough (But Love Doggie Stylish)
Did you ever want to start a rant and then realize you have far too many things to explain in order for people to properly understand what you are ranting about? That’s what just happened to me. After working up a good head of steam and venting in this post title, I suddenly understood that,…