ArcaMax

Dear Cathy,

Our five-year-old dog barks at everything and even things my husband and I can’t hear, which makes me think it’s anxiety. Lately, he will start to bark, then it goes higher in pitch, and then ends with high pitch loud howling. At first, we were scolding him by yelling at him and then decided to ignore it and he eventually would ...Read more

When a beloved pet dies or a cherished human companion passes away, the household changes instantly. Routines shift, familiar sounds disappear, and shared spaces feel strangely empty. People experience these absences as grief, often in ways that are immediate and overwhelming.

But what about the animals left behind?

For many years, popular ...Read more

Valentine’s Day tends to come with a lot of expectations.

There are the cards. The flowers. The chocolates. The pressure to plan something meaningful, romantic, and ideally Instagram-worthy. But if you live with pets, you already know something important: You wake up every day with a creature who thinks you are the greatest love of their life...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- A North Minneapolis woman taking in a sudden influx of stray animals in crisis needed help, especially after a rescued dog in her care unexpectedly gave birth to a litter of puppies.

A small rescue already at capacity referred the case to Jeanne Weigum of Pooches United with People (PUP), who called the woman to get more ...Read more

Dear Cathy,

My newspaper recently started running your column. You had a question about how to teach a puppy not to bite by using butter on your fingers. Do you have any advice on how to teach a 12-year-old cat to stop biting? You would think they would understand that biting hurts! She was already declawed when I got her.

—Carey, Chicago, ...Read more

Much of modern dog culture revolves around training. Obedience classes, agility courses, service certifications, and working titles all reinforce the idea that a dog’s value lies in what it is taught to do. Yet in homes across the country, dogs perform quiet, consistent labor without ever being trained for it—and without being recognized as ...Read more

Aging in dogs is often framed as a slow narrowing of life: less energy, fewer adventures, quieter days. Yet many dog owners report a puzzling shift as their companions enter their later years. The once composed adult dog becomes sillier, clingier, more expressive, sometimes more anxious, sometimes more joyful. Old toys are rediscovered. Play ...Read more

Dogs look at us in ways that feel almost intrusive. They watch as we speak, track our expressions as we move, and sometimes react before we understand what we are feeling ourselves. This attentiveness is often described as intuition or loyalty, but it is rooted in something more concrete.

Dogs read human faces.

Not metaphorically, not ...Read more

They appear at your heel when you stand. They pause outside the bathroom door. They move rooms with you as if connected by an invisible thread. For many dog owners, the experience is so familiar it fades into background noise: the dog who follows everywhere.

This behavior is often described casually as “clingy,” “needy,” or “over-...Read more

Cats are often described as aloof observers of human life—present but uninvolved, affectionate on their own terms, indifferent to our daily concerns. Yet anyone who has lived closely with a cat during illness, grief, conflict, or stress knows this description falls short. Cats notice. They adjust. Sometimes, they react before we do.

Cats ...Read more

Cats have a reputation for living entirely in the present. They nap, they eat, they observe, and they move on. When something unpleasant happens—a vet visit, a loud noise, an awkward encounter with a visitor—it is often assumed that a cat simply forgets once calm returns.

This assumption is wrong.

Cats possess long, selective memories ...Read more

Anyone who lives with a cat has experienced the familiar scene. You settle into a chair or onto the couch, hoping for companionship. Your cat approaches, pauses, and then—rather than curling up in your lap—chooses a spot just out of reach. Close enough to share space, far enough to remain untouched.

To many people, this feels like rejection...Read more

Indoor cats live among us like quiet roommates. They nap in sunlit rectangles, request meals with impeccable timing, and observe human activity with a level of judgment normally reserved for Victorian aunts. Because so much of their day appears uneventful, it is easy to assume that indoor cats live small, repetitive lives—safe, yes, but dull. ...Read more