Got an oily animal problem? Above all others, Dawn is my go-to product.

I spent the eighties and early nineties washing oil-spilled seabirds in dilute Dawn solutions. The tar glopped feet of gulls, pelicans, herons and plovers (among others) always emerged from the goo after repeated rinses in the light blue magic waters.

When cats and dogs come in covered with motor oil (reference a recent...

It’s a huge issue. So big it fuels a sizable niche industry created specifically to meet the needs of pets who won’t––or can’t––tolerate drugs and supplements designed to treat and/or prevent their ills.

It’s nearly every day we access our favorite compounding pharmacy’s expertise in the formulation of new versions of the same-old drugs that line our shelves. After all, pets can be picky...

One of suburbia’s dubious delights involves the long vistas of manicured lawns through which my neighbors seemingly compete on the basis of their greenness and unbroken blandness. Which inevitably means chemicals: pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and parasite-killers.

Even if your lawn is free of such nasties, your nearest neighbors’ likely aren’t. So whether you spray or not, your...

It’s getting towards the end of the year. That means lots of top ten lists and product reccs in advance of the holidays. This list, over at FastCompany magazine’s website, took things a little further by including whiz-bang veterinary products and services along with pricey niceties like GPS collars and pet-dedicated flights. Nestled among these was Vet-Stem’s product: stem cell therapy for...

Zyrtec (cetirizine) is an antihistamine approved for use in humans to treat allergy symptoms. In veterinary medicine it’s used in both cats and dogs for the same indication...and more.

For dogs, I’ll turn to Zyrtec when Benadryl (diphenhydramine) fails. Usually, these are the itchy dogs: the hot spot-ridden, flea allergic, food allergic and/or atopic (inhalant allergic). Except in older dogs...

Here’s an issue for you: Ever been to the veterinary hospital to pick up some heartworm medication and been told it’s time for a test before they can sell it to you or script it out? Been denied by the online pharmacy based on your veterinarian’s unwillingness to offer a prescription until she sees you again?

It happens all the time. Owners want a prescription product so they can responsibly...

In this week’s post on my Slumdog’s recent need for sedation, the tranquilizer known as acepromazine was addressed in response to a round of questions. As in––Why wouldn’t you use this tried and true veterinary drug on your own dog?

When I offered my answer, I received a comment urging me to be more clear about “ace” so that pet owners wouldn’t get a one-sided view of this popular drug. In...

I tend to talk a lot about kibble-feeding in cats. As in, play catch with the kibble by throwing it across the floor. If you do this often enough, it’ll help whittle away her sagging waistline, I say.

Recently, some of you have reprimanded me: “You’re recommending ‘kitty crack’! Everyone knows dry food is bad for cats!” But is it really?

Pound-for-pound, kibble has always out-sold canned cat...

No, it’s not a typo. “Prebiotics” are distinct from the “probiotic” dietary supplements we’ve treated here before. But they’re not altogether different. They still work at the level of the small intestine where swarms of bacterial colonies reside and feed happily on your pets’ Gi goo.

But instead of supplying “good” bacteria directly (usually in a probiotic chewie or powder), prebiotics...

If you’re a regular Dolittler reader you’ll know I’m a big proponent of routine rabies vaccination. I’ll even go so far as to raise the gruesome specter of the disease’s dreaded symptoms and universal fatality to get you to comply. I’m also not above using guilt along with scare tactics. Anything goes when it comes to mitigating the public health risk of rabies.

Why? Because I’ve had more...