Is the customer always right? When it comes to pet parents and the veterinarian, the answer is a resounding no. Though your vet, or the vet tech, might now always say anything, there are plenty of times they think you’re in the wrong. Veterinarians want the best for our pets, just as much as we do. But sometimes we, the pet owners, make their jobs harder than they need to be. Keeping It Pawsome spoke with several veterinarians and vet techs to hear what they wish pet owners wouldn’t do. Here are the top 11 things pet owners do that bother veterinarians the most. 1. Overfeeding our pets Most of ..read more

Guinea pigs are adorable – tubby little ovals of fur with soft eyes and almost no tail. But cute looks aside, are guinea pigs good pets? Too often considered “starter” pets, we believe guinea pigs deserve better because GP love is genuinely rewarded. Sensitive creatures, they’re aware of their surroundings and capable of bonding with their human caregivers, even squealing when they hear their people’s voices. With proper care, guinea pigs can live five to eight years, enhancing our lives with their presence. Add to that the fact that these cute little cavies* require less daily care and vet at ..read more

Perhaps you already know that ticks carry Lyme Disease, a dangerous tick-borne illness that affects humans and pets alike. But Lyme isn’t the only disease ticks can infect your furry best friend with. Other tick-borne diseases that can affect your dog or cat include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Tularemia, Babesiosis, and Cytauxzoonosis. Not all of these diseases are a danger to both cats and dogs. Lyme Disease is pretty much restricted to dogs and only cats can be infected by Cytauxzoonosis. But all have the potential to cause major physical or neurological issues ..read more

(Keeping It Pawsome received a complimentary WOpet Boost Automatic Feeder to review.) Bottom Line Tired of having to fill up your dog or cat’s food bowl every few hours? I know I find it tedious. And, when I don’t get to it soon enough, one of our cats is always ready with a reminder. Often, at an inopportune time. Like when I’m on a Zoom call. Or at 3 in the morning. The WOpet Boost Automatic Feeder provides automatic feedings up to four times a day so your pets never have to go five minutes without food again. Unless you have six cats like we do. Or, perhaps, a 125-pound dog – the feeder is ..read more

When you first adopt a dog from an animal shelter or rescue it may seem like your rescue dog is scared of everything. It sure felt that way with Sylvie when we first got her. She just wouldn’t settle. A sweet brown lab, she paced the length of our living room like a prisoner measuring her cell. She ignored the chew toy perched invitingly on the corner of her bed and refused offers to join my husband and me on the sofa. It was her first day with us after a month with a foster family. And while we knew she wouldn’t feel comfortable right away, it was still hard to see how anxious she was. It’s n ..read more

If you’re a dog parent, chances are you’ve experienced that awful helplessness of watching your dog pace or listening to him whine during fireworks or a thunderstorm. The stress-inducing effects of thunder and fireworks are well-known. But what you may not realize is that there are plenty of other noises, many daily occurring, that are causing similar levels of discomfort in your pup. Keeping It Pawsome chatted with Pet Acoustics CEO and founder Janet Marlow about what dogs hear and how sound influences our dogs’ behaviors. And what we can do to alleviate any problems. How Sounds Only Dogs Can ..read more

The study of feline genetics is a relatively small field. Cat owners, historically, have been less interested in finding out about the history of their kitties, but that is changing. And Basepaws is at the forefront of this research. But the results aren’t as straight forward as you may be hoping for. Basepaws Breed + Health: What Is It The Basepaws DNA test is the number one cat DNA kit on the market. It allows you to determine which breeds your cat shares genetic similarities with, but does not assign a breed. The reason results do not — or rather cannot — assign a breed is simple. Like dog ..read more

(Keeping It Pawsome received a complimentary Air Naturalizer to review.) CritterZone Air Naturalizer: What Is It A powerful odor neutralizer and air purifier gizmo (in looks, it’s simply a little white box) that uses special technology to bring outdoor-quality-air inside. It has a range of 800 square feet. The science behind the CritterZone is complex, partly because the science behind outdoor air is complex. Thanks to the power of the wind and sun, outside air is “charged.” As a result, the molecules and atoms in the air are continuously mixing. It’s the same as when a carbon molecule meets a ..read more

What Is It The Purrs Hare Squidly Didly is a wand attachment toy designed to look like a squirrel’s tail. A hunting toy — ie your cats are meant to chase it, not chew on it — it’s made from long strips of wild hare fur and natural feathers. (All the materials used to create the toy are ethically sourced in Europe and are a by-product of the food industry and would otherwise go into a landfill.) It can be attached to any wand or pole that has a clip on the end. The Benefits of Playing with Your Cat How We Use It We break out our “squirrel tail” a few times a week to give our cats some exercise ..read more

We already know our favorite pooches and pups descended long ago from wolves, but the timeline of that evolution has always been murky. A 2020 study, however, has shed some light on the evolution of the modern dog, revealing that there were already at least five different types of dogs more than 11,000 years ago, in the time period immediately after the last Ice Age. What’s more most dogs today are related to, even if just faintly, at least one of these breeds. Leading the Pack To reach their findings, a research team gathered bones from 27 dogs, some of which lived up to nearly 11,000 years a ..read more