veterinarian.

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 ...

Anna Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife, Anna, adopted as a puppy in late 2009. We wrote last year about the trouble we had with Pippi's first vet. She seemed to make quick, unfounded diagnoses, and attempt to prescribe everything under the sun. Our new veterinarian is much improved, but we still had an upsetting experience recently when we boarded her there. Anna and I were vacationing in Florida for six days. In fact, we were sitting on a beach about to go kayaking when I got the call -- Pippi had become extremely anxious, someone from the vet's office said, and was vomiting and had bloody diarrhea. Her ...

Anna Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009. Can you believe it? "The Doggie Diaries" is a year old. This column kicked off last October, just a couple of weeks before Anna and I got married. Back then we lived in a tiny apartment in Hoboken, and Anna wanted a dog with all her heart. I was on board with the plan, though a bit nervous that it would chew up our possessions, poop all over the place, and require a lot of walking. Most of that came to pass. But guess what? These days I count myself as a dog lover, and if Anna is to be believed, Pippi has taken quite a shine to me. (She's ...

Ben Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009, and the first dog Ben's ever had. Back in April, Anna wrote about her trying experience meeting Pippi's first vet. Not only did this woman lack a decent bedside manner (implying Pippi had behavioral issues. As if!), but she pushed to prescribe Pippi a bunch of pointless medicines and treatments, including an unnecessary antibiotic and a preventative lyme-disease treatment (despite the fact that she already had a recent negative lyme-disease test). The experience left Anna exasperated, and many of you readers commiserated with us. After ...

Getty In an age where all of your pet's necessities can be purchased online, it only seems natural that its medication should be available through the click of a mouse. While a multitude of online pharmacies provide a convenient and often inexpensive way to obtain prescriptions you'd normally purchase at the vet's office, many veterinarians warn against using them. Risk #1: Pharmacy Could be Selling Counterfeit or Inferior Medicine A major concern for most veterinarians is the source of the medications sold by online pharmacies. "Many online pharmacies are not well regulated," said Dr. Michael Farber, Practice Owner and Chief of Staff at West Chelsea Veterinary. "Not all of these sites ...

Illustration by Sandra Macdermott for Vet Confidential If you've just moved to a new town or if you've recently adopted a pet, one of the first things you'll want to do is to find a veterinarian you can trust to care for your animal's health. But how is the best way to do that? Paw Nation asks Louise Murray, D.V.M., Vice President of the ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York City and author of "Vet Confidential: An Insider's Guide to Protecting Your Pet's Health," for advice on finding the right doctor for your pet. Start by seeking recommendations from friends, animal-shelter workers or neighbors in the dog park. Use the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) website ...