Story archive

Unseen aggression between family dogs Behavioral research shows that 75% of dogs are anxious in veterinary clinics. We’re ethically bound not to make it any harder for them.  I quietly…

Insomnia – It’s complicated A big, older girl with a gentle soul was having a hard time sleeping. She laid down during the night but popped back up after a…

I’ve always loved pets. I remember watching Lassie and Rin Tin Tin on TV, enthralled with the loyal bond between these dogs and their children. By age 8, I just had to have one of my own. Making it happen was a long shot.

Karen and Richard loved “Larry” and Curley”, a couple of fuzzy BFFs who’d shared their home with them since kittenhood, eight years earlier. Everybody snuggled. It was feline nirvana. Then…

Stop Fighting! Quizzes are fun when I know the answers. Fights between family dogs are caused by: a) Dominance b) Resource guarding c) Jealousy d) Bad juju e) Sometimes a)…

Early in my career my veterinary clinic had a feed store as a next-door neighbor. Being a backyard poultry farmer, I visited often for chicks (baby chickens, that is) and lay pellets. I lived the life of North valley chic. The only thing missing was the chic.

Gas Abuse; Paw Pain Frustrations come with every job. I’ve been lucky. The problems I have faced that have risked baldness, you know – tearing out my hair – have…

We were just wrapping up a routine day of limping, itching, and diarrhea (ah, my patients, not me) when Jamie arrived. She’d been frolicking in the pasture with the neighbor…