Best Friends - by Malcolm Riordon DVM
2009 Columns
December, 2009 Hiding in Plain Sight
"He's just slowing down." "Oh, she's just getting older." In tossing out these blanket clichés, you might be turning your older dog out to pasture years before their time! Lessening activity, slowness, stiffness, reluctance to/or difficulty getting up can be signs of arthritis.
November, 2009 Scraps for Dogs and Cats / Hybrid Vigor
It's OK and fun to give your pets table scraps! This may sound like heresy or rogue advice, but a few important caveats are in order here. In pleasing our pets with table scraps you must avoid giving them too many total calories, unbalancing their diets, upsetting their stomachs, or causing poor behavior patterns.
October, 2009 Surgical "Enhancement" For Your Pets?
Surgical "enhancement" for your pets? You bet! Marked enhancements in health and longevity are achieved for your pets by having them spayed or neutered! The simple fact is that spaying and neutering can greatly increase both the lifespan and quality of life for your pet. Why would this be?
September, 2009 How to Elicit a Dog Bite -
A 2009 study by The Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs reviewed over 2,000 incidents in which dogs had bitten people. It made for some interesting reading and conclusions.
August, 2009 Like a Puppy Pile -
There have been other times when she has cried and said things to me, snuggled in all close and warm. Her face buried wet and salty into mine. Damp soft sobs. Breathing. Murmuring words. I’ve never minded. In fact, I like it.
July, 2009 Pet owners! We have been analyzed!
Why do pet owners do what they do? Well the folks in the business of marketing and consumer research are interested in that too. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research organizes reasons for pet ownership into six categories. Of course these can overlap
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