Animals Unfolded

Cats love to have fun, and it's nice to indulge them in their quest to seek opportunities to engage in play, no matter their play style.  As I've previously discussed , felines are pretty good at playing independently or getting another pet or a human on board to interact. Though they'd be ecstatic if we were available 24/7 to entertain them, it's just not possible.  One new product, the Obi, is a toy designed to help keep cats happy by satiating their love of chasing lasers, and no humans need be in the room. With a sleek, minimalist design, Obi can easily notch into any decor seamlessly – and can fit on a shelf or even a small table.  The compact unit transmits a red laser, which can be activated and then controlled via iPhone in the manual mode, or it can be programmed to turn on at a specified time (when a sound will emit from the unit to let your cat know it's time to play). In the latter case, a boundary can be programmed in to restrict ...

How many times have you had a prescription filled, and for whatever reason there's a partial amount leftover?  Things happen: the antibiotic didn't work; only a portion of the steroid cream that your doctor prescribed for you was needed; those allergy eye drops expired; you had far more pain pills after an outpatient procedure than you really needed. The same situations avail themselves with the medications that your veterinarian prescribes for your pet.  In fact, many of the same drugs are used for humans and companion animals, but the end result is the same – you're left with unused bottles, tubes, blister packs and loaded needleless syringes of prescription or over-the-counter meds in your cabinet. Hanging on to them, we realize that the possibility that our all-too-curious kids and pets could ingest them and become a victim of poisoning (in the latter case, a leading cause of veterinary emergency room visit s each year). Of course, the reasons we don...

"My cat is going to need prescription medication for the rest of their life. How am I going to manage things if that's the case?"  This is a common refrain that passes the lips of clients – existing and prospective ones – not to mention pet owners that need reassurance. It's daunting, right – realizing that your pet is ill and then having a firm diagnosis, or having routine bloodwork come back indicating that there is something going on? The good news is that things have come a long way with treating disease in the years that I've been caring for pets. Advances in diagnostics and treatment have expedited the sometimes muddled path between "there's-something-going-on to here's-the-solution". That's especially true when it comes to treatment, especially with prescription medicines.  That brings me to an important facet of treating disease: if the option is there, you want to make that as easy and low-stress as possible on th...