Purr: What Does It Take to Make Your Cat Happy?
Location. Location. Location. Or, perhaps, environment, environment, environment. That's one of the keys to making your cat(s) truly happy, as author Zazie Todd, PhD, told me in an interview we did last week about her excellent new book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. In a way, it's simple: Understand cats, and act accordingly. Cats need some quiet, safe spaces--which could be cave-like or high up, access to "multiple and separated resources," and plenty of opportunities to use their bodies and their brains as they were intended. They also need to be at a healthy weight, and living with people who understand something about how cats communicate. And yet, cats are so often Read More
Camera Lenses, and Other Threats to a Dog’s Safety
This week's post is a repeat from four years ago. I thought of it recently when trying to take a photo of a friend's dog, who kept turning his head away from the camera lens. I love this example of how understanding ethology helps us understand the behavior of other animals. (Full disclosure: It also made me mushy seeing photos of Willie. Miss him.) I was just going to get some casual shots of the BCs lying in the sun, when I noticed a trend. Here’s the first photo: Followed by the next two: Can’t miss it, can you? No matter what I did, clicking or smooching or waving my fingers, Maggie would not look at the camera lens. And no wonder. Here I was, down on my Read More
Autism in Dogs?
Not long ago I asked readers to tell me what they'd like to talk about, and got a plethora of great ideas. One of them that hit home was the question of whether dogs could "be autistic." (Best described as on ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, which effects social communication, learning, and behavior.) I've met a few dogs that got me wondering myself, and it brings up so many issues that I thought it would be interesting for us to talk about. Let me start with a story, if you'll indulge me, not about ASD, but about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), because ADHD and ASD are neurodevelopmental disorders that often co-occur. Early in my career a couple brought in an Old Read More