OK, so here’s the obligatory year-end review post on the largest pet food recall in history and what its angry public aftermath ultimately means for you and your pets.

In a couple of words?…not much.

Naughty, nasty companies. Let’s punish ‘em good. Never buy their food again. Make sure they shrivel up and die for what they did to our babies—or might have done.

One year later, though, I’m still...

Every year, fleas and ticks headline the pet news. In the vet news, it typically begins in April with stories on what to expect from this year’s parasite season. Which diseases to look out for, what kind of new bugs might be in our midst, where they might be headed. It reminds me of the hurricane season reports that hit the southeastern US at the start of the season. And the reports are never...

“When our pets are sick, they can't describe their symptoms, so we depend on veterinarians to tell us what's wrong. But are some vets are going too far, and taking advantage of helpless pets and their owners?”

Such is investigative reporter Ana Garcia’s intro for the “Vet Investigation” series undertaken by Los Angeles’ local NBC affiliate. Predictably, it’s generating significant consumer...

A new article in last week’s Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) reported on the epidemiology of dog bites in Multnomah County, Oregon as tallied by its Animal Services department. The paper pinpointed those most at risk (5 to 9 year-old boys) and the profiles of the most frequent offenders (unneutered purebred males owned by lower-than median income households).

I...

The trajectory of the mandatory sterilization movement informed us months ago that something like Los Angeles’ drive to limit pet breeding was imminent. Despite vocal opposition from a reported majority of veterinarians unsure as to the enforceability and advisability of such laws, L.A. went ahead with their legislation requiring spay and neuter of owned pets by four months of age.

It’s been a...

Lola went to the vet hospital after refusing food and becoming progressively more lethargic over the course of the previous evening. When her blood was drawn, she barely moved. Within an hour, it was clear her kidneys were shutting down. Lola was euthanized almost immediately. She was a calico domestic shorthair cat. And she was only sixteen months old.

Her vet immediately began wondering about...