pets

Think Your Doctor Bills Are High? Check Your Pooch’s

Posted on 11/3/2011 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & Family | Personal HealthThey may be man’s (and woman’s) best friends, but their health care expenses are soaring right along with ours. Over the last 10 years, pet care bills have climbed steadily higher at almost the same rate as human health-care costs. According to the American Pet Products Association, total pet-related expenditures by the end of 2011 are expected to top $50 billion — half of that for vet care and over-the-counter medicine and supplies — compared to $48 billion last year …

Gadgets Gone Wild: Do I Really Need to LoJack My Dog?

Posted on 10/13/2011 by Patti Shea | Home & Family blogger | Comments

Home & Family | Technology | Your LifeAfter reading this entry from the Smithsonian’s Innvoations blog I feel way too analog when it comes to my dogs. I love my gadgets, don’t get me wrong, but never in a million years would I dream of having a LoJack on my critter. Ask anyone who knows me, I love my two beagles. They roll their eyes and cringe when they hear a sentence that begins with “Blarney did the funniest thing today” or “Did I tell you the …

Feeding Jackson

Posted on 05/12/2011 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | RelationshipsMy Dad has always had a way with animals. When he was a kid, he always wanted a dog but his mother worked and wouldn’t allow it. When he and Mom married, they brought their first dog into the family, and ever since then we’ve almost always had at least one four-legged family member…including dogs, cats, horses, cows – oh and the chickens. Dad could hold those Banty chickens in his arms and pet them like cats. I found Jackson, a “Schnoodle,” …

Who Will Be Top Dog?

Posted on 02/14/2011 by Patti Shea | Home & Family blogger | Comments

RelationshipsAnd good night … catch up with your tomorrow night for round two and naming of the Top Dog! Good on the Shar-Pei … 9:16 – We’re rooting for the bulldog here. Let’s see which one will win. Did you ever read our interview with Stump, the Sussex spaniel and oldest ever winner of Westminster? http://aarp.us/iaCf6p Photo on the right. 8:57 – Best name of the night, hands down from the Chow Chow: Liontamer’s Dial 1-800-Hotstuff 8:53 – Boston terrier: …

“No grandchildren, but I have three granddogs!”

Posted on 11/1/2010 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

RelationshipsI’ve got pets on the brain with the recent additions to my family pictured here: meet Nelson and Riley, my new aunt and uncle! Well, they are my grandparents’ new cats, so what else would that make them? It may sound strange, but I came across this article today from Newsweek – and making pets part of the family is not so strange at all! Particularly, it is extremely common for folks to have “granddogs.” The article is very interesting, …

Pet Insurance: Is it Worth It?

Posted on 09/9/2010 by Correy Robertson | Archived Contributor | Comments

Home & FamilyAARP gets into the yays and nays of getting pet insurance in a Bulletin piece today. Any pet owner knows that while paying a monthly dues for pet insurance is less than appealing, trips to the vet can often be an obscene amount of money — even sometimes more expensive than your own doc’s visits: This year, pet owners will spend nearly $13 billion on veterinary care, the American Pet Products Association estimates. That’s up from about $8 billion in …