Pet Health

I am planning to adopt an eight week old kitten soon.  She will be my first pet ever and I am wondering how I go about litter training her?  I helped with the toilet training of my kids when they were toddlers and I know how stressful it can be. I don’t want to make any mistakes.

It’s that time of year again and we are receiving scary emails about all the things that can go wrong over the holidays. Why do people feel such a need to do that?  We often wonder.  Nevertheless, we are now gong to do it ourselves!  One common warning is about holiday plants and their dangerousness for pets. But they are not always accurate.

We’re listening to the weather report today and want to remind you about the New York statute concerning shelter for dogs. We’re assuming, of course, that if you are reading this column your own personal dog(s) is (or are) curled up inside on the couch with you. But you still need to know about this law because many dogs are not so lucky.

I called one of the local cat rescue organizations to inquire about adopting a cat for my kids for the holidays and was told they don’t allow adoptions as gifts. They also will not approve any adoption to take place for the two weeks before Christmas.

Once again, we need your help about an important issue. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been actively investigating consumer complaints about jerky pet treats made in China which are causing illness in dogs and in some cats.

My six-year-old female cat, Sophie, has been with me since she was a kitten. Her best buddy, Squiggles, passed away last year at the age of nineteen and I don’t think that Sophie has really gotten over it. Do cats “grieve?” As much as I adore her, I am just not home that much because I work during the day and I worry that she is now bored and lonely

It’s almost that time of year again when “grown” adults dress up in ridiculous costumes and go roaming around, with or without children as an excuse, begging for candy. We are here to remind you that this holiday is probably not all that amusing for your pets. In fact, having hordes of weird looking strangers coming to the door, or even worse, having to roam around with you meeting hordes of weird looking strangers might be downright terrifying.

We have written to you before about the problem of the New York animal cruelty laws being buried in the Agriculture & Markets Law instead of the Penal Code where they belong. Now, Fred “Fritz” Scherz Jr., a councilman on the Verona Town Board in Oneida County has called on the New York State Legislature to fix this idiosyncrasy.

All of my pets are spayed or neutered because I am a firm believer in the importance of having that done. But I know people who have not had it done and when I nag them about it, which I do all the time without apology, they sometimes tell me that the only thing keeping them from getting it done is the cost.