Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Mandatory Spay Neuter Laws and Pet Health Issues

I've written in support of mandatory spay and neuter laws in the past. I know they have some problems with enforceability and they may affect less affluent people more than others. I've seen some solutions that address those issues too, but my main issue is pet health. We surely need to consider special circumstances where laws may have an adverse impact on pet health. 

There are well known health reasons given for spaying and neutering dogs and cats. Spayed females have zero risk for uterine cancer and a much lower risk for mammary gland cancer. They will never get pyometra either. Neutered males will never get testicular cancer and the may have less prostatic disease. They won't get into trouble wandering around looking for a female in heat. There are behavior issues that respond well to neutering too.

Wordless Wednesday: Chester the Dog Comes to Stay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Talk to a Veterinarian

Communication is a two way street. I think most people would agree with that, but in some cases two people talking does not result in actual communication. When it comes to your pet's health, good communication is essential, and you, the pet owner, can be the best advocate for your pet's health.

That's the point of the award winning book "Speaking For Spot" by Dr Nancy Kay. Nancy and I were participants in a panel discussion on Social Media and Veterinary Medicine at the recent Blog Paws conference in Denver. Dr Kay is an internal medicine specialist and an expert on communication between veterinarians and their clients.

Flying with your dog

Dr. Nancy Kay, who writes the fab blog, Speaking for Spot's Blog (named after her also fab book and website, Speaking for Spot), has a good blog post on flying with your dog. She's got a far better title - "Dogs That Fly" - but, the essence is good advice on how to deal with the issue of traveling by air with your dog.

Here's why I am sharing this post with you - too many dogs perish when stuck in the cargo area of a plane. We pet people want to bring our dogs with us everywhere because they're part of the family. I always hated leaving Carmie behind when I traveled, but I was assured that she was fine because my son lived with us and he took good care of her. Had that not been the case, I would have hired a good pet sitter. No, I would not kennel her. Well, maybe at PetSmart. They have fab kennels and great help.

Nutritional Needs for Cats: A Scratchings & Sniffings Out Loud

Great Scratchings & Sniffings podcast with Dr. Larry and Dr. Grace on feline nutritional needs. I'm often struck by the notion some folks have that our cats can eat dog food - or, that dogs are fine eating cat food. Or, that both can eat people food. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most good pet people know this. But, some folks still cling to the idea that any food is okay, as long as it's food.

I hope this little podcast can shed some light on the true nutritional needs of cats because our cats deserve as much attention as our dogs, but often don't get it. I, especially, was paying attention because I plan on having the Grumpy Old Lady around for many more years beyond this 18th year of her life. And, nutrition plays a huge part in that. Listen up... (you'll notice Dr. Larry and I have new pics! I'll see if we can get updated pics of Dr. Grace)

Must See Dog Training TV

Not everything on TV is worthless. Granted about 98% of it is mindless electronic prozac, but occasionally I run across something interesting.

It's Me or the Dog is a dog training show I can get behind. It's insightful, realistic and pretty darn funny at times. Best of all, Victoria Stillwell, the star and dog trainer, knows what she is talking about.

She understands dog behavior and she practices rewards based training to get results. She helps dog lovers understand why their dogs are behaving the way they are. She also helps them understand that their reactions to certain behaviors are often part of the problem.

The Grumpy Old Lady on Wordless Wednesday

(just for the record, she did this on her own; empty glass...milk...you get the drift)

Travel with Pets Made Easy

We just got back from a month on the road with Miles. While it's great to be home, we had a great time on our travels. We stayed with friends most of the time and only spent four nights in motels. Good thing our friends are pet friendly. 

If we had met Amy and Rod Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com before the trip we probably would have had an easier time of it. We ran into them at Blog Paws and they are a wealth of information. They even have a cool tricked out Winnebago to travel in style.

We traveled in a Subaru Outback, the last third of which was devoted to all things Miles. We had to cram all our camping, fishing and biking gear into the remaining cubic feet. I was really envious of the travel trailer Amy, Rod and their two dogs kick around in.

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Challenge

Over at BlogPaws, the Be the Change for Pets focus is on less adoptable pets, this week. Less adoptable pets would be any pet that is a bit older (you can judge on what that means; sometimes people feel that  3 years old is 'old', othertimes, it's 7 or 8 or above, that dictates 'old'), or has medical needs, or is just a bit shy and hard to place.

Here's how the Be the Change for Pets challenge works - the idea is for bloggers to write a blog post about this challenge. It could be a success story of howa special, less adoptable pet was adopted, or it could be a suggestion on the topic, or it could be information on your local shelter and the less adoptable pets there.

The Grumpy Old Lady Attends BlogPaws

Yes, I was there. This picture proves it. Mom and Tom took me to BlogPaws. They do not have a picture of me giving them my evil stare - when they put me in the "cat carrier", but I did give it to them, trust me!

My cat carrier is okay - I can see out of the top of it. But, somehow, this time, I couldn't see Mom. There was so much other stuff on the seat with me, and I was turned the wrong way...which made my view all blurry. Looking out the top of my carrier just showed me the sky.

So, I told her. Over and over, I told her. But, it didn't help. She didn't let me out for a long, long time. Then, we were in a big place that was pretty strange.

BlogPaws was noisy. Mom thinks I didn't see all the dogs, but I did. Mostly dogs don't bother me - but I wasn't sure what all those dogs were doing, and why I had to be carried around that big room full of dogs, when I was happy in the room with the nice bed.