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Sep 28, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
Everyone who owns a cat wants to make sure the pet does its business in a litter box. With so many models and features in the market, how does one know which type is the best? Let’s start with the mechanical, so-called “self-cleaning” litter boxes. These litter boxes are enclosed and some feature essentially a box within a box. They are not geometric boxes but are more ovoid sort of like a cement mixer shape.
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Sep 21, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
If cared for properly, pet dogs and cats can be significantly more expensive than many owners realize. The key to the statement is “if cared for properly.” The problem is, this somewhat separates pet owners into distinct groups. There are, of course, exceptions, overlaps, and over time, some pet owners change their minds. First, there are a group of pet owners who think they simply can’t spend enough to make their pet happy and healthy. The numbers mean nothing to them. They pay it.
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Sep 20, 2024 | 
dnews.com | Charlie Powell
If cared for properly, pet dogs and cats can be significantly more expensive than many owners realize. The key to the statement is “if cared for properly.” The problem is, this somewhat separates pet owners into distinct groups. There are, of course, exceptions, overlaps, and over time, some pet owners change their minds. First, there are a group of pet owners who think they simply can’t spend enough to make their pet happy and healthy. The numbers mean nothing to them. They pay it.
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Sep 14, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
Thank the deity of your choice that last Sunday, the HBO docuseries, “Chimp Crazy,” wrapped its four-part run. It was another exploitive example of people who collect, treat like children and hide illegal animals in their homes — in this case nonhuman primates. Any docuseries about wild animals kept as pets is a mess looking for a flat rock to splat on. Oh, of course those who produce such things argue that they are informative, letting people make up their own minds.
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Sep 13, 2024 | 
dnews.com | Charlie Powell
Thank the deity of your choice that last Sunday, the HBO docuseries, “Chimp Crazy,” wrapped its four-part run. It was another exploitive example of people who collect, treat like children and hide illegal animals in their homes — in this case nonhuman primates. Any docuseries about wild animals kept as pets is a mess looking for a flat rock to splat on. Oh, of course those who produce such things argue that they are informative, letting people make up their own minds.
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Sep 7, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
This week’s column will offer a quick scan of important pet and pet product news. At the top of the list is the American Red Cross’ online First Aid for Pets classes. Having worked as a deputy sheriff, a paraprofessional in human medicine and then adding some 34 years at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine means I have seen my share of desperate people. There is nothing more desperate than an untrained pet owner watching a first aid crisis unfold with one of their pets.
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Sep 6, 2024 | 
dnews.com | Charlie Powell
This week’s column will offer a quick scan of important pet and pet product news. At the top of the list is the American Red Cross’ online First Aid for Pets classes. Having worked as a deputy sheriff, a paraprofessional in human medicine and then adding some 34 years at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine means I have seen my share of desperate people. There is nothing more desperate than an untrained pet owner watching a first aid crisis unfold with one of their pets.
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Aug 31, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
There aren’t too many adults in the U.S. that at some time or other experienced joy from either owning or watching goldfish. We may have gotten them at the long extinct five-and-dime variety store. Or maybe they were handed to us in a clear plastic bag at the local fair. Most of us got them as children because they can exist in a simple bowl of water with the poorest oxygen saturation and parents didn’t have to do much to keep them alive. A nearby toilet became a dumping spot for the dead.
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Aug 30, 2024 | 
dnews.com | Charlie Powell
There aren’t too many adults in the U.S. that at some time or other experienced joy from either owning or watching goldfish. We may have gotten them at the long extinct five-and-dime variety store. Or maybe they were handed to us in a clear plastic bag at the local fair. Most of us got them as children because they can exist in a simple bowl of water with the poorest oxygen saturation and parents didn’t have to do much to keep them alive. A nearby toilet became a dumping spot for the dead.
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Aug 24, 2024 | 
lmtribune.com | Charlie Powell
It certainly seems like pets will grieve the loss of another they have lived with, but is it really grief as we know it? Grief in humans is defined by various sources as a natural response to loss, such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness or the end of a relationship. Grief is known to trigger a range of difficult emotions and even disrupt physical health, when it is hard to sleep, eat or concentrate. For this writer, I find this to be accurate personally.
