Surprisingly, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal dedicated a slice of its weekly Health section to the use of aromatherapy in pets. Though it could have elected a less cheeky tone, the author of "A Scent to De-Stress Pets" actually did the topic some justice, citing literature instead of pointing to the potential silliness of a subject that, on the surface, sounds as if it would treat doggie spa...

Yesterday’s email inbox ding-dinged repeatedly with email alerts from a variety of sources, all urging me to look into the recent American Veterinary Medical Association advisory on H1N1. The Internet is abuzz with the news: One Iowa cat was confirmed to have been infected with H1N1.

Here’s the content of the AVMA’s message:

November 4, 2009 – A 13-year old cat in Iowa developed signs of a...

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on a case pertaining to the First Amendment as it applies to animals. And that’s a good thing. When the highest court in the land is willing to review a legal matter that affects animals directly, it speaks to the growing concern for their welfare in all sectors of society.

At issue is that, according to court watchers, the Supreme Court is likely to rule...

You’ll all be pleased to hear that this week’s string of public policy-related animal rants has come to a close. You’ll have to forgive me as sometimes my mind goes on a tear and there’s no way to rein it in until it’s expended itself (and I’m pretty sure it has).

This post will hopefully make up for some of the stress with a couple of interesting tidbits you may have missed in the world of...

Not having owned a television in 10 years, I’m feeling pretty pop culture deprived lately. So when I heard about a woman who lost her dog to a coyote in the Hollywood Hills, I had no idea this had become something of a gossip rag sensation. After all, coyotes take small pets all the time, right?

Jessica Simpson––whom I’m told is something of a poster child for quintessential blonde stupidity...

It’s popular to report the news as a Friday variety show. Tired as the format might be, this week was so chock-full of news on the animal/veterinary front I figured it would be a shame to let any of it slide by unnoticed.

To that end, Dolittler will run with the wolves this week and offer you a round-up of things playing out in the veterinary arena. Here goes...

Beware blue-green algae––it...

Yesterday’s telephone call from a major online pet pharmacy was totally unexpected. When I heard it was on the phone, I figured I’d get treated to a sales pitch. The last thing I expected was a contentious phone call over a request for “language clarification.”

It was the pet pharmacy’s in-house legal peeps, calling over last week’s USA Today column. Here’s the “objectionable”...

Pet friendly? I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means. That’s what happens when you live in Miami. Except for a small enclave on South Beach, pets get nowhere near their due––not compared to Portland, anyway.

Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Portland, Oregon’s neo-urban Pearl District has trouble keeping its pet owners out of the Safeways and the Whole Foods. When Oregon’s food...

You’ve all heard of cancer-detecting dogs and seizure alerters. But here’s one I hadn’t been aware of since very recently: Dogs with the ability to sniff out hypoglycemia.They call this class of dogs bio-detectors, a perfectly reasonable moniker for what it is they do. Somehow, they can use their thousand-times more sensitive sense of smell to sniff out  pathology...sometimes well in advance...

There’s a storm brewing in Washington D.C., and it’s nothing to do with the hurly-burly town hall meetings on healthcare reform. While the battle rages in congressional circles on the merits and pitfalls of revamping how we bring modern medicine to the masses, legislation to minimize antimicrobial use in industrial animals soldiers on.

Though it’s happening mostly under the average American's...