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Question: My 2 year old cat has separation anxiety. When he sees me getting dressed he starts crying and follows me, holding my leg, and when I get to the door his legs shake. Dr. Nichol: I’m sad just reading about your kitty’s angst. It could be worse. Most cats with separation anxiety give themselves away by urine soiling when home alone. Others cry or over-groom, resulting in bald patches. Quit your job? There’s a better way. Cats are hard-wired to stalk and hunt helpless rodents. Yours isn’t bored; he needs to engage his brain and athletic body rather than wringing his little paws when you’re gone. Remember Wild Kingdom? I don’t either. Outdoor surveillance video will reveal freak-out factors like visiting neighbor cats or wild animals. Your boy could be stressed because he can’t escape or chase those scary beasts to the county line. Humane booby traps would send…
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Have you ever wanted to pick the puppy who best fit your life? I’ll take you to Animal Humane NM and show you how it’s done.
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Last in a series
Ignore bad behavior? Am I crazy? Sally and Raymond, like a lot of us, loved their dog like a little person in a furry suit. In many ways, that’s healthy for pets and for us but different species have different behavioral genetics.
I also came upon this little reptile during my hike in the Weminuche Wilderness of Southern Colorado. Was this a horny toad? I’d call them that in the past but when I took the time to identify this little devil I found out that they aren’t toads at all but Greater Short Horned Lizards. They’re found from Saskatchewan, Canada in the north to Nevada in the west, and from Texas to Mexico. They’re called “sit-and-wait” predators who eat ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. Being so well camouflaged, the hapless bugs they call lunch might never even see what ate them. Apparently I did not arrive at lunchtime.
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Fourth in a series
By calling Brandi and rewarding her with a treat Sally was able to preempt this big hound’s fear-driven assaults on Raymond. Her good man could now walk around the house without igniting a barrage of canine invective and hostility. Our patient had become somewhat more manageable but her people were getting tired of constant constable duty.
I encountered this lovely creature while hiking in the Weminuche Wilderness in Southern Colorado. This female dusky grouse was trying to mind her own business while I stalked her. I’d hoped she wouldn’t notice but if you listen carefully you can hear her complaining. Now I know how she got her name.
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Third in a series – I felt bad for Raymond, assaulted through no fault of his own, but it was Brandi the big hound who spent nearly every waking moment on the edge of hysteria. She watched Raymond with one eye, anticipating that this kindly Dr. Jekyll’s might transform into the murderous Mr. Hyde at any moment. But there was more going on in that confused canine cabeza.
Read MoreTiger Mama Needs Babies
In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after, recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health. Although physically she was fine the veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother’s cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care…
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Second in a series If a saber toothed tiger is charging at you, an adrenalin surge is well justified. But Brandi, the 3 year old hound recently adopted by Sally and Raymond, had no logical cause for fear. Raymond treated her well since the moment she’d arrived in her new home. Studies show that most women carry themselves more gracefully, speaking with quieter, more evenly modulated voices than men – who crash around like bulls in a china shop. (Who’s ever heard of a cow in a china shop?) A well-adjusted pet can accept these differences but Brandi struggled to adapt. She was immediately hypervigilant, ready for any threat that lurked around the next corner. Raymond was a quiet man but tall and quick in his movements. His demeanor was enough to establish him as an axe murderer, well, at least in Brandi’s eyes. Most canine anxiety disorders are genetically…
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