Imagine a world without shelters. We do. We imagine them out of business, closed tight, the grounds and buildings put to an entirely different use that has nothing to do with animals being housed until they find homes. And it’s not because we don’t like and partner with shelters or want the staff who dedicate their lives to animals to...Read More
Pain is one of the fundamental aspects of how we interact with the world, and with our own bodies. As humans, we are generally capable of saying NO OUCH NO or something similar when we feel pain (or yelling, or crying, or tossing out a few choice curse words). When we feel internal pain, we say something about it: to...Read More
A lot of people don’t know what a heartworm is, but the truth is that it’s exactly what it sounds like: a type of parasite that takes up residence in your pet’s heart, doing damage all the while. And though that kind of infestation seems like the type of thing that would be pretty evident, often you don’t see the...Read More
This is a story about perspective. It’s about loss and pain and struggle. But what stands out is that it’s also a story about unconditional love. And that friendship really matters. What doesn’t matter is how many legs those friends happen to have. … I first met John sitting in our waiting room. Ramona, our community cat and resource coordinator,...Read More
Nine a.m. arrives relatively quietly on this Wednesday. Surgery check-in goes until 8:30, and there aren’t too many people running late, so we’re actually a little quiet in the waiting area. One man is already waiting, though. James has two pups, Finnley and Veda, and he’s an eager pup dad, not super familiar with puppies and a little nervous, but...Read More
(or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Hiding Poisons from my Pet) As humans, we have the ability to read a package and say, “Oh hey, this is poison. I won’t eat it.” Our pets aren’t so lucky, as much as we may want them to be able to read our favorite novel because we’re absolutely sure they’d...Read More
After Gary lost his last dog, Frank, he wasn’t in a place to even think about getting another dog. In fact, he thinks Frank’s passing is why he had a stroke on the same day. There was no way he was going through that again, he thought. Enter Bear Gary is a disabled veteran. That’s why he has a housekeeper...Read More
I have two dogs of questionable character. One is now a 10-year-old cattle dog mix. The other, an 8-year-old Border Collie mix. Despite their advanced dog years, they have two speeds: turbocharged and faster. Hard, hour-long walks barely put a dent in their desire to go, go, go. When the weather turns (and I don’t want to get out in...Read More
We know; your pets are your family. You want to share everything with them. But some things are off limits; certain human foods, for example. Today we’re going to take a look at some common foods that are off limits for your pets! Chocolate This is one that people often know and hear the most. Theobromine is a stimulant found...Read More
