As we gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving and the coming winter holidays, the polar invasion is taking hold of much of the country and plunging temperatures. Just because Mother Nature is throwing around her frigid weight doesn't mean that outdoor excitement with your canine must come to an end. With a little preparation, the right equipment and a helping of common sense, you and your dog can stay active while hiking and exploring during the cold weather months. In this episode of Pet Talk, Dr. Sarah and her trusty sidekick Alma show you how to remain safe while trekking through winter wilderness areas … especially in places where hunters might be present. With loads of great tips, Pet Talk will help make your outdoor adventures an arctic blast!

Happy Halloween! If you’re like many pet parents, you love celebrating howlidays with your companion animals. No matter how you get your All Hallows’ Eve groove on, it’s always a good idea to take some precautions to ensure that your pet kid stays purrfectly safe.

Animal hoarding is not just a complicated psychological disorder, it’s a public health danger.Dogs and cats aren’t the only species ‘collected’ … reptiles, rabbits, birds, rodents, even farm animals may be accumulated by hoarders.

Did you know that when you make simple changes to enrich your cat's life you reap the benefits as well? From eliminating outside the litter box to aggression, even inappropriate scratching, these and other behavioral disorders of indoor cats can be treated simply by making improvements to your cat's environment. In this month's episode of Pet Talk, Dr. Sarah shares her surprisingly simple tips that you can implement at home, all to help your feline feel purringly content. Which makes everyone in the home a little bit happier.

With advances in veterinary medicine in the past 30 years, we now have more tools than ever before to treat disease. As a consequence, dogs and cats are living longer, which means plenty of visits to the vet’s office.

Recently, I read an article about dogs and cats that are considered “less adoptable” due to their age, breed or traits. This item was written in connection with Petfinder's “Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week”, which is celebrated the last week of September. I was surprised to find out that black cats are still considered less adoptable mainly due to superstition; hard to believe considering it’s 2014. My husband and I have shared our home with a black cat for 15 years. Lucky Boy is not only handsome with his dark fur and big green eyes, but he’s funny and playful … a complete joy. So it occurred to me that our readers have had similar positive experiences with their supposed “less adoptable” companion animals. By sharing our stories, together we can help increase the adoption rates of less fortunate animals and encourage more families to experience the delight of sharing their lives with pets that may not be considered perfect but have so much love and appreciation to give.

Many pet parents are unaware that their canine companions have expertly turned them into unsuspecting human vending machines: one poke of the paw delivers a delicious treat or a toy. If you've ever been scratched by a rambunctious canine pawing to get your attention, then you know just how much of a pain pawing behavior can be … literally!

What do you think are the most common pet poisonings? Rat poison? Insecticides? The Pet Poison Hotline publishes a list of most common poisonings reported in dogs and cats - many of these items are non-toxic to humans but can be deadly to fur babies. In this month’s post, we’ll be taking a look at some of the dangers lurking in your home and how to best to protect your pet kids.

It’s the height of summer, which means that mountain trails, bucolic meadows and forested thickets are beckoning your dog to romp and explore. This impulse may be at odds with concerns about new research on Lyme disease, which may have you more inclined to restrict your canine companion’s activities to the Great Indoors. Before you put the kibosh on outdoor fun, make sure you know all the facts about canine Lyme disease.