FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — More than 20 years ago, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” descended on movie theaters, with Jim Carrey portraying the cartoonish, wisecracking south Florida private investigator specializing in finding missing animals. A couple of Thursdays ago, Jamie Katz, a decidedly serious-minded south Florida private investigator specializing in finding missing animals, sat in her […]
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Animal Tales: Groomer on the go
AUBURN — Margaret Betts tried repeatedly to brush out Wren’s thick, matted undercoat, to no avail. The 5-year-old border collie hated it and Betts realized she needed a professional’s help. It turned out she needed Pixie Willow’s Mobile Pet Spa. Groomer Darleen LaFontaine founded Pixie Willow’s — named after her family’s own dog — last […]
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Can we ever really know the mysterious mind of a cat?
The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions By Thomas McNamee Hachette. 278 pp. $35 People have theories about cats (and the people who love them). Some think, for example, that cats know their names. As someone who’s had four cats, one at a time, over 50 years, I’ve […]
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First responders save pets with oxygen masks, CPR. But doing so can be illegal.
First responders often save pets with oxygen masks and CPR. But doing so can be illegal. The cat wasn’t breathing when firefighters with the Pikesville, Maryland, Volunteer Fire Company pulled it out of a raging apartment blaze earlier this year. So medics strapped on a special pet-sized oxygen mask, got the kitty inhaling and exhaling […]
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Hotels that offer over-the-top amenities — for your pets
On a recent trip to Huntington Beach, California, Jen Reeder chose a hotel for one very specific reason: the room-service menu. For dogs. “It was called a ‘Yappy Hour’ menu,” says Reeder, who is president of the Dog Writers Association of America and frequently travels with her dog, Rio, a 6-year-old Labrador retriever mix. She […]
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People are breeding bunnies with flat faces — and possibly terrible health
Among the most popular dog breeds in the United States are bulldogs and French bulldogs. In 2016, the American Kennel Club announced this week, bulldogs were the fourth most registered breed, and Frenchies came in sixth. (Labrador retrievers, as usual, topped the list.) Bulldogs’ big eyes and large heads give them an endearing, almost babylike […]
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You can train your cat to use the toilet. Just don’t expect it to flush.
The apartment Daniel Freudberg shares with his girlfriend has two bathrooms. One is used by the couple and visitors. The other is used by their 7-month-old kitten, Kal, who does all his business in there — on the toilet. “We never bought an actual litter box,” said Freudberg, 27, an Arlington, Virginia, retail store manager […]
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Animal Tales: New homes for old dogs
Tyson, a senior Great Dane, yawns as Lisa Perkins pets him. When Perkins learned of him almost a year ago, Tyson had a host of health problems, including a mouth full of abscesses from gum disease. He’d doing much better now thanks to Old Dogs New Digs, a nonprofit group that started a year ago […]
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More people are adopting dogs — really old dogs
When a German Shepherd rescue organization posted Elmo’s photo online last fall, it made no effort to mask the dog’s problems. He wore a cone around his neck to prevent him from licking the large open sore on his hip. His fungus-ridden feet were swollen. His graying, 11-year-old face held a pathetic, ears-to-the-ground gaze. Steve […]
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Why losing a dog can be harder than losing a relative or friend
Recently, my wife and I went through one of the more excruciating experiences of our lives — the euthanasia of our beloved dog, Murphy. I remember making eye contact with Murphy moments before she took her last breath — she flashed me a look that was an endearing blend of confusion and the reassurance that […]