I had an exceptional day at work yesterday. Too bad it was of the impressively depressing kind. Three diabetics––all very sick––made it through my door. All three made it back out...as their owners picked them back up and took them to the internal medicine specialist’s place for more intensive care than I could provide. 

So you know, I’m happy to treat diabetics in my hospital. But by the...

Today is National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. It’s a special day on which we recognize the immense rotundity of America’s household creatures with an eye towards alleviating their unnecessary suffering.

But this needn’t be a national day of mourning. As we ponder the debilitations of arthritis, the cardiac risks and the diabetic leanings we’ve subjected our pets to by way of “treat-itis” and...

Today over on PetMD’s DailyVet, I’ve penned a post on the subject of declawing and the debate that rages within veterinary medicine over its legal status. As if the issue wasn’t contentious enough, California’s inner battles have served to highlight the divisions among our ranks with respect to the procedure’s appropriateness in our surgical arsenal...or lack thereof.

Personally, I detest...

I tend to talk a lot about kibble-feeding in cats. As in, play catch with the kibble by throwing it across the floor. If you do this often enough, it’ll help whittle away her sagging waistline, I say.

Recently, some of you have reprimanded me: “You’re recommending ‘kitty crack’! Everyone knows dry food is bad for cats!” But is it really?

Pound-for-pound, kibble has always out-sold canned cat...

I have the best luck. My veterinary surgeon boyfriend holds a rarefied kind of certification human and veterinary surgeons share. It grants him the ability to perform research and lecture on all kinds of fiddly limb deformity-fixing techniques. Yesterday his talents came in very handy.

Slumdog is the newest addition to my family. Every bit of this puppymill pug mix signals that he’s worthy of...

Conde Nast has got me pegged. I’ve been a subscriber to Gourmet Magazine on and off for the last twenty years. Vogue is the only fashion rag I’ll actually spend money on. And if I had the time, I’d read Wired and The New Yorker cover to cover. Most other magazines are far more worthy of my recycling bin than my attention.

Yet Conde Nast (publisher of all my faves) has recently decided that...

It never fails. I write a column that mentions a product––no matter how innocently––and the corporations inevitably come out to get me.

This time I happened to address the obvious: Carrying a Taser stun gun to prevent dog attacks in puppy park settings is a bad idea. Dogs have been known to die. Unfortunately, I phrased it like this: “Though [Tasers are] considered relatively safe for humans,...

You’ve heard about the new blogger rules, right?

According to the Wall Street Journal...

“Under revised rules announced Monday, the FTC will require bloggers and celebrities to clearly state when they receive cash or "payment in kind" for endorsing a company's products or services.”

As a blogger, you might think I’d chafe at the concept of anything that restricts my current freedoms, but...

No, your pet does not have a hang-up about his burgeoning mirror image. She does not hide at home in embarrassment when she could saunter saucily down the street in all her Rubenesque glory. Nor will he shrink under your critical gaze as you consider his striking resemblance to that ottoman you saw at Pottery Barn.

No, pets are not like us. They do not suffer the slings and arrows launched by...

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on a case pertaining to the First Amendment as it applies to animals. And that’s a good thing. When the highest court in the land is willing to review a legal matter that affects animals directly, it speaks to the growing concern for their welfare in all sectors of society.

At issue is that, according to court watchers, the Supreme Court is likely to rule...