For the last two decades, I’ve been telling myself that when I retire from veterinary practice, I’m going to open a fat farm for dogs. Here’s why: It all started nearly twenty years ago, during my first week in practice. I picked up my first patient’s file. “Sandy, five-year-old, female, spayed beagle,” read the medical record. “Here for a routine check-up.” I scanned her file. “Vaccines current. On heartworm prevention. Weight, 65 pounds.” Wait a sec — 65 pounds? Surely that was a mistake. No beagle could get that big. She must be a beagle cross. I entered the room.

       Play Dead/Bang2     Step 1: Start with a tasty semi-moist treat shaped such that you can let her gnaw little bits off. Or use a series of small tasty hard treats that you can give sequentially. Hold the treat right up to her nose in a position that causes here to turn her head slightly. Once she’s finished with the treat, remove your hand and start again.     Play Dead/Bang3       Step 2: Once she will consistently turn her head to get the treat while remaining lying down, place the treat a little further back such

If you have problems imagining that your kitty’s suddenly become super-clean or really just likes his new comfy toilet spot on the carpet better, you may be right. There are some medical reasons for a cat’s poor potty behavior, too. Here’s one example. “I’ve found that many cats who start pooping (but not urinating) outside the box have impacted anal sacs,” said veterinarian Dr. Melanie Thompson. “They return happily to their boxes after treatment,” she said. Unlike dogs with anal glands that fail to empty — they sit straight-legged and scooch their itchy bottoms along the carpet — in cats

What do you do when your kitty is leaving little landmines around the house—a.k.a. pooping outside the box? Follow these tips to a T and your cat will once again poop in his litter box regularly.

This week newspapers and television news have splashed an alarming headline for those pet owners who love to share their bed with their pet. The headlines warn that sleeping with your pet can make you sick and even prove life-threatening in a few rare cases. These headlines are based on an upcoming February 2011 article in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases entitled “Zoonoses in the Bedroom.” In this peer-reviewed article, the authors, veterinarians Bruno B. Chomel, a professor of zoonoses at the University of California, Davis, and Ben Sun, the state public health veterinarian for the California Department of Health,

Trainers often debate about the use of electronic shock collars. Some trainers find these collars unethical and unsafe. The pro-collar camp takes a different stance. Some say it just distracts the dog, calling it “tap technology” and others say it may be painful at the instant but then the dog learns to behave and there are no lasting negative effects. In 2003, researchers from the Netherlands, Matthijs Schilder and Joanne van der Borg assessed the short and long-term behavioral effects of dog training with the help of shock collars. They wanted to know three things: Do shock collars cause pain