Articles: pets

Happy Thanksgiving to the entire family, even those with four legs (and feathers and scales). Here are five Thanksgiving Day pet safety tips: Too much human food and/or fat or skin on the food can cause GI upset or worse, potentially dangerous pancreatitis Bones can cause an obstruction and require potentially life-saving surgery. Behind a…

Decoding the Fearful Dog is a Sound Beginning Program on December 9 to communicate the latest animal behavior news. The speakers are John Ciribassi DVM, DAVB (co-editor of the book Decoding Your Dog, authored by members of the American College of Veterinary Behavior; Steve Dale, CABC (also co-editor Decoding Your Dog)  and Steve Frost, KPA CTP, SBA,…

What’s marketing and what’s true about our pet foods? I talk with veterinary nutritionist Dr. Lisa Freeman, professor of clinical nutrition at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show about pet food misinformation. Freeman says there’s SO much misinformation, often deriving from the Internet. And this can be…

While TV cable news stations are primarily covering the angered politics on both sides of the aisle, thousands of families are once again losing their homes due to California wildfires.  And in my view not enough attention is being focused on this absolute tragedy. Despite efforts over the years to allow for more places for…

  A girl in Chicago recently died of Lyme; tick disease is real. And dogs are a sentinel for tick disease, including Lyme disease, agrees veterinary parasitologist Dr. Byron Blagburn, distinguished professor department of pathobiology, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. I speak with Dr. Blagburn on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show:…

A chain pet store selling puppies was considering a move into the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills but rebuffed (clearly the Trustees and the Mayor/President Roger Byrne have done their homework on this topic), and changed their course following push back. At least for now. A wave of cities across American and Canada and the…

Here’s what happened when Quirky walked into WGN radio hoping to be adopted on October 22: He was mauled with love. WGN employees ran out of their offices to see Quirky. And Quirky responded by literally rolling over with joy. However, despite that fact that he is a walking party, filled with love to give,…

Dr. Marty Becker pioneered the initiative to minimize fear, anxiety and stress in pets called Fear Free. Listen HERE to our conversation on Steve Dale’s Pet World, WGN radio.  Dr. Becker offers examples of what Fear Free is all about – pets in the veterinary exam room, most cats and likely more than half of…

No one’s perfect. True and not so true. Cat Friendly Practices are as close as you can get to perfect. receiving a 99 percent satisfaction rate, according to the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) results of its 2017 Cat Friendly Practice (CFP) Survey. CFP is a collaboration of feline experts who provide guidelines to…

Anxious pets on Halloween and Halloween safety are the topics of my discussion on the Jam on WCIU-TV with Carly Henderson and Felicia Lawrence. Because SO many pets are lost on Halloween, it may be best to keep the them behind a closed door – even if they don’t get stressed by seeing all those…