PETA’s at it again. Though I’ve tried desperately to ignore the subject, forgoing posts on the Presidential fly-swatting fiasco and the Seattle fish market kerfuffle, I finally broke down and the result is this...

PETA has a point. There. I said it. 

For once I’m finding myself thinking PETA’s on the right side of an issue. Though let me be clear: If nothing else, PETA has a knack for...

At the risk of raising another firestorm on Dolittler (remember my last post on Mr. Millan?), here’s a topic that’s got vets hopping mad. 

Seems vaccine, drug and flea product manufacturer Merial (the behemoth behind Frontline) and celebrity dog trainer Cesar Millan (of Dog Whisperer fame) hosted a wedding––theirs––to which none of us were invited. 

I, for one, wish they’d at least sent a...

Ever noticed your dog slink away after you’ve discovered she’s decimated a shoe?...left you a present on the Oriental rug?...stolen another dog’s biscuit? “I’m such a bad, bad dog and I deserve to go to my crate.”

How about when you feed one of your cats a larger amount than another and notice the despondency in the eyes of one who’s looking all hangdog over the inequity? “Hey, why’d she get...

Broken bones happen every day. Whether it’s a toe, tibia or rib, injuries like this are among veterinary medicine’s most typical traumas. 

That’s why Veterinary Pet Insurance has decided to put its database of pet health claims to good use by cataloging the most common reasons pets break their bones. Sourced from 5,000 claims from 2008, here’s the skinny: 

#1 The “HBC”: Not surprisingly,...

Someone’s been killing cats in Miami. But it’s not the kind of shelter-style slaughter, tainted kibble death or antifreeze poisoning our culture’s grown so jaded to. No, this time it’s a bona-fide serial killer out for blood, skin, relics and pain. 

Please discontinue reading this RIGHT NOW if you can’t stand the thought of a post on how a classically psychopathic individual develops a taste...

You’ve always sympathized with the plight of shelter pets. In fact, you often campaign on their behalf. You may even volunteer to care for them. But, if you’re like most American pet owners, your pets didn’t come from shelters or rescues. You either paid for them or found some other way to acquire them (a gift, perhaps? a wandering stray kitten? a backyard mis-mating placement?). Shelters,...

How much is your pet worth to you? Should he die, be lost or stolen, what does his untimely departure really cost you?

The Miami Herald reports today that a judge in Broward County, Florida (next door to me) has just awarded an owner $30,000 for the loss of her Rottweiler after a kennel failed to seek appropriate medical attention for the respiratory condition that afflicted him and her other...

Topical pet pesticides. You may know them as Frontline, Advantage, Advantix and Promeris, among others. Perhaps you also use Adams brand flea and tick shampoo and occasionally defer to a Sergeant’s supermarket brand spot-on flea and tick killer when your veterinarian is closed (or when you’re tight on money, as so many of us currently are). 

In case US pet owners didn’t know this, our FDA...

Bad things happen. But you expect them to happen less often to the horses that play the Polo Club circuit. Living with in-house masseuses, fancy veterinarians, frequent hydrotherapy, and first-class flight accommodations––while boasting an asking price of $200K––has something to do with it. Never mind that they’re treated like celebrities wherever they go.

That’s probably why yesterday’s

Keep a ferret? For many, a ferret is every bit as lovable and bond-worthy a pet as any cat or dog, despite the naysayers (who’ve obviously never met a well-raised ferret). How about a Cockatiel? I never knew a more lovable bird than my first male Cockatiel, “Sydney.”

Now enter the US government with its proposed stipulations on who can own what kind of animal. Its H.R. 669, the Nonnative...