Remembering Familiar Faces at Pet Camp
Masai was the world’s greatest cat for 17 years. He ruled Pet Camp, living mostly in the lobby but occasionally passing through the dog campsites (partly for his own amusement and partly just to show the dogs that he could). He greeted every client, both human and pet. He climbed into purses, snuggled into dog…
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California Insurance Commissioner Goes to the Dogs, and the Cats, and the …
For many years California’s Insurance Commissioner has been tasked with reviewing both the cost and implementation of insurance policies sold to California residents. Traditionally this has focused on those mundane insurance things like auto, home & health – well if A.B. 2056 is signed into law by the Governor, the Insurance Commission will also have the…
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Declawing Cats Finally Called Amputation
Declawing cats has been illegal in San Francisco since 2009. The last time I even had a serious conversation about declawing a cat was during the height of the AIDs epidemic when some of my friends argued that it was the only way they would be able to keep a cat in their lives. That said, it remains…
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Resource Guarding in Dogs
I use the term resource guarding all the time at San Francisco’s Pet Camp to refer to a dog who “guards” its food or belongings from people or other dogs and who reacts when you try and take those objects away. I thought this is what the term meant and how pretty much everyone used it…
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Fear Factor
I was reading this month’s DVM360 magazine’s article on the need for veterinarians to prioritize the emotional wellbeing of their patients, and it said some things about stress in pets that took me aback. Frankly, I was really surprised by both the content and tone of the article and here’s why. Dogs and cats have…
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Biotech Drugs for Pets
August is National Pet Immunization month and while we’re all familiar with the standard vaccines, according to a recent article in The New York Times, pet medications may be entering a brave new world. Traditionally pet vaccines and medications have been developed by big pharmaceutical companies who first focus on developing products for livestock and then…
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