vet visit.

Getty Images Amy D. Shojai is a certified animal behavior consultant and the award-winning author of 23 pet care books, including "Complete Kitten Care" and "Pet Care in the New Century: Cutting-Edge Medicine for Dogs & Cats." Cats get the short end of the health care stick. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, cats visit the vet much less frequently than dogs. It's not that felines are healthier (although cats do hide illness better) but many cats hate the vet so much their owners find it easier to just skip it. But even healthy cats need well exams once or twice a year. Cats are adept at protecting themselves from stranger danger. What's familiar is safe, while ...

Paul Bridgewater, Flickr A Rhode Island man who performed surgery on his own dog to remove a cyst on the aging Lab mix's leg is facing animal cruelty charges. So why does Alan MacQuattie blame it all on the economy? The Vietnam vet told TV station WPRI he didn't have the money to pay a vet for the dog's care, but he didn't want 14-year-old Nakita to suffer. Using what he says was training from the Army, MacQuattie injected the dog with Lanacane to numb her pain and got to work removing a cyst on her hind leg. When animal control and representatives of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA) received reports of the at-home surgery, they showed up at ...