But hiking with a dog involves a little more than just heading to a park with a leash. There’s some prep work that can help make an outdoor trek run more smoothly.

For starters, not all trails are dog-friendly. And if this is your first time hiking with your dog, you’ll need to consider how much he or she can handle. Also, there are safety considerations including wildlife, pests and potentially dangerous plants.

“Some things I try to keep in mind when selecting a spot to hike with dogs are opportunities for shade and water; access, popularity and likelihood of crowds; the width of the trail; and the terrain,” says Marjorie Anderson, store manager at REI in Woodland Hills. “While some dogs can tackle just about anything, my most recent experience is hiking with a senior dog and a 9-month-old puppy — very different energies, and both require a little more thought in location when it comes to hiking.”

SoCal dog hikes

Anderson has her own personal favorite hiking locations, depending on the situation; all the locales can be found with a little help from online search engines.

If you don’t mind getting wet, she says that Switzer Falls off Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest in Tujunga, near Pasadena, is a great hike that includes many stream crossings along the way to keep your pup cool.

“This trail can be very popular, so I recommend going first thing in the morning to get a parking spot,” she advises. “If you’d prefer to not be in solitude or are just getting used to hiking with your dog, this is a great transitional hike where your dog can meet others while still being in the great outdoors.”

A popular trail like this also means a lesser likelihood of having to worry about things like snakes and other trouble your dog may accidentally find on the side of the trail, she says. “Foot traffic usually keeps them farther away, and the trail is very well maintained.”

In the Santa Monica Mountains, Solstice Canyon off Corral Canyon Road and the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, is another favorite for Anderson. There are informational posts with historical facts along this hike, and much of it also follows a stream.

“While part of the hike is exposed, the remainder near the stream is shaded,” she says. “This trail offers a great medium between an exposed challenge and a nice stroll in the shade with sounds of water.”

If you have a very active, experienced dog and consider yourself ready for something a little more intense, traveling north of Riverside to the Icehouse Canyon Trail at Mount Baldy offers a great physical challenge with amazing views as a payoff.

This trek can lead to multiple areas depending on the adventure you choose. Several mountain peaks are accessible from this trailhead, or you can decide to simply head up to shorter mileage at Cedar Glen Camp — a little backpacking camp where you will often find the place to yourself. Or head to the Icehouse Canyon Saddle, which offers great views without having to go farther uphill.

“You can see the amazing sight of Mount Baldy from many of these spots,” she says. “This area can be exposed at times and does not offer the benefits of streams and water, so it’s incredibly important to make sure you carry enough water for yourself and your dog while you tackle some challenging inclines here. Keep in mind, this means you will be carrying extra weight on some steep inclines.

“The trails are also narrower,” she adds. “If you are just starting out with your dog or have an older/younger dog, I recommend beginning with a few of the other hikes mentioned and work your way up to this area’s [trails].”

Moriah Quinn, a sales specialist at REI in Woodland Hills who hikes with Siberian husky Ranger, says her favorite Southern California hikes are generally less crowded.

“I find many popular dog hikes are heavily trafficked with many hikers and dogs, which is awesome, but what my dog and I love best is enjoying the peace of nature together,” says Quinn.

One of Quinn’s top hiking spots is Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains, which has many different trail options to choose your own adventure each time.

“It is also very low-key and we usually only see one or two other groups of visitors around,” Quinn says. “This means we see more wildlife and explore the beautiful views in solitude. It is in Agoura Hills and only 10 minutes away from the 101 Freeway, but once in the park, you feel completely isolated in the lush hills, rolling creaks and singing birds.”

Ash Miner, a dog trainer and behaviorist in Orange County (IntuitiveChoiceK9.com), has been hiking with her own dogs in Southern California since 2010 and professionally since 2011. She offers Nature Venture Training Hikes to her dog training clients.

“We go to local regional parks to work on decompression walks, loose-leash walking, socializing and general manners in public if reactivity is a concern,” she explains.

Her favorite hiking spots are O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon, Irvine Regional Park and Santiago Oaks Regional Park in Orange, Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest and Black Star Canyon in Silverado. She also likes the Cleveland National Forest, especially the Maple Springs Trailhead in Silverado, and Morgan Trailhead and San Juan Loop Trail in Lake Elsinore.

“I tend to stay away from Cleveland National Forest once spring hits because of the ticks, but it’s fabulous in the cooler months,” she says. “I really enjoy these parks because they’re dog-friendly, have lots of space in case the dogs I’m working with are reactive, great critter trails for sniffing/chasing/enrichment, and, in the rainy seasons, there’s a creek running through for the dogs to play in.”

Keeping dogs safe

Once you’ve figured out where to go, there are things to keep in mind for safety’s sake.

Miner notes that the trails she frequents often allow horses and bikers.

“While the trail signs say everyone should yield to horses, and bikers should yield to hikers, it doesn’t actually work that way in reality, in my experience,” she says. “Allow bikers and horses to pass by keeping to the right, and practice a sit-stay while rewarding good behavior with some yummy treats.”

Horse manure can also be lethal if the horses were just dewormed, so keep your dog away from it.

“All of these areas are on-leash only, by law, so don’t let your dog off-leash and especially don’t let them approach other on-leash dogs,” she says. “Don’t feed the wildlife, but bring lots of water and a collapsible bowl. I love to hike with a hands-free leash belt.”

Also, watch out for rattlesnakes, especially in sunny areas. If you see one, don’t approach and give it a wide area to pass. (This may seem obvious, but just in case: If it coils, it’s going to strike. If it ignores you, you’re OK.) Miner advises that gopher, racer and king snakes are generally fairly docile and harmless, but give them space for their own safety from your dog.

For your own safety learn how to identify poison oak and do not touch the leaves or branches. In winter, the sticks can be free of leaves but still produce a reaction.

“Dogs are mostly immune, so don’t worry if the dogs sniff it or touch it,” she says.

The same isn’t true for sago palms, often used in landscaping.

“Do not let dogs even chew on anything from a sago palm,” she says. “Those can be lethal just from saliva contact, not even outright ingesting.”

Miner advises using a towel to wipe everyone down before getting back in the car to avoid bringing ticks home. Look for ticks on the towel and shake it, then place the towel in its own plastic bag.

Also, watch for signs of heatstroke or overheating by monitoring your dog’s tongue for swelling and curling, panting speed and intensity, gum color fading, water intake and eye squinting for stress.

“Dogs on the edge [of heatstroke] may become wobbly, insist on laying down or try to dig a nest in a shady space to cool off,” she says.

Dr. Ilana Halperin, chief of service for Community Medicine at UC Davis Veterinary Medicine, says dogs don’t regulate their temperatures as well as humans do — so even in conditions where we feel hot but are OK, dogs may be at risk.

“This is a higher risk for overweight dogs, dogs who are not used to this level of physical activity and brachycephalic breeds,” she says. (Brachycephalic breeds have broad skulls and short noses, like pugs and bulldogs.)

Heatstroke can be fatal, so she advises these precautions: Bring plenty of water. Take lots of breaks. Walk in the shade whenever possible. See if a cooling vest or bandana is a good fit for your dog. And consider not hiking on hot days. Try to go out in the early morning or evening hours when it is cooler out.

It’s also a good idea to check your dog for foxtails after hikes. Foxtails have grass seeds that are pointed on the end and have small barbs covering the outside. This means they can pierce skin with the pointed end and the barbs make them stick.

“They can advance through the skin and travel through tissues, bringing bacteria with them and causing infection,” Halperin says.

Something else to keep in mind: Your pup’s paws. Halperin warns that hiking on rough surfaces can cause lacerations or blisters and abrasions on paw pads. Consider training your dog to wear well-fitted dog booties and check your dog’s paws regularly.

“Benefits to hiking include physical activity, mental stimulation and bonding time between human and dog,” Halperin says. “If you are aware of and take steps to manage potential risks, hiking is a wonderful activity to do with your dog.”

These anxiety-inducing plants are the portion of a weedy grass that contains the grass seed. These weeds grow mostly in the west, southwest and central areas of the country in all kinds of environments, including in our yards and cracks in the sidewalk.

“Because they are pointed on the end, they can pierce skin with the pointed end and the barbs on the outside of the seed pod make them very sticky. They will not fall out and will advance forward through the skin and travel through tissues, bringing bacteria with them and causing pain and infection,” says Dr. Ilana Halperin, chief of service for Community Medicine at UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. “They can also enter any body opening — eyes, nose, ears, prepuce, vagina and mouth. They are painful and will cause tissue damage and infection. They can travel deep into tissues, even entering the lungs and other internal organs.”

What you should know

There are multiple species of grass that form what we call foxtails, so they don’t all look exactly the same. Look for arrow-shaped grass awns.

Foxtails are most dangerous when the plant matures and the seeds begin to fall off the plant — generally the grass is yellow at this time and partially or completely dried out, says Halperin. Green foxtails (before the plant dries out) are also dangerous, but are more flexible and less likely to pierce skin.

Dogs seem to be more susceptible to foxtails than humans or cats. Halperin says most humans will feel the “prick” of a foxtail and pull it off, and generally we aren’t at risk of getting them in our noses, eyes or ears since we generally don’t have our heads in the grass the way dogs and cats do.

“Cats are pretty good at grooming off foxtails that land on their fur, so we see far fewer foxtails penetrating the skin of cats, but they can get in the nose, eyes and ears,” she notes.

Dealing with foxtails

Dr. Jacqueline Brister, a veterinarian and consultant for Embrace Pet Insurance, says that while summer seems to be the most common time that pets have issues with foxtails, it can happen at any time of the year that is warm.

Brister says medical treatment with anti-inflammatories and antibiotics is generally ineffective until the foxtail is found and removed. This can be difficult in some cases, requiring endoscopy, ultrasonography and possibly even CT scans to find the seed cluster. Surgery is sometimes needed to remove foxtails that are inside body cavities or under the skin.

To help keep pets safe at home, experts recommend keeping lawns mowed and yards maintained. While on walks, avoid areas with foxtails when possible  — especially during the summer months. Keep your pet’s fur trimmed and check your pet over carefully after going outside. Check the fur, between the toes, inside the webbing of the paw, under the chin, near and in the ears.

“If it’s ‘foxtail season’ and your dog or cat develops a swollen, oozing lump under the skin, a swollen, oozing sore between the toes, swelling around one eye, or they start shaking their head and scratching at one of their ears, take them in for a checkup,” Brister says. “Foxtails are much easier to deal with when they are caught before they migrate.”

It’s a coyote.

If you spend any time on social media, whether it’s your neighborhood’s Facebook page or NextDoor.com, it seems like coyote sightings have increased exponentially in the last few years. Not only that, but the canids, many claim, are multiplying by the day, and some areas are being overrun, threatening public safety.

But is that really the case?

• See related: 5 ways to coyote-proof your yard and protect your home

“No,” says Seth Riley, chief wildlife ecologist for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which is part of the National Park Service. “I’ve been hearing that exact same thing over 23 years.”

Riley’s NPS colleague, Jeffrey Brown, who also is a wildlife ecologist and has been studying coyotes recently, says the uptick in sightings is likely related to the fact that so many people have doorbell cameras nowadays.

“It just seems they’re noticing the wildlife more, because they’re able to see them,” Brown says, adding that the cameras also record during the night, which means even more sightings.

The fact is, coyotes are a native species that lived here long before humans moved in. Brown pointed out that scientists have found fossilized remains of what they believe are coyote ancestors from the Pleistocene Era in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Both Riley and Brown, however, concede that hard data on how many coyotes actually live in the state is elusive. The California Department of Fish and Game claims there are between 250,000 and 750,000 — not exactly a precise number.

“It’s incredibly hard to census wildlife in general, especially animals like coyotes,” Riley explains, adding that it’s taken about 20 years to get an accurate idea of how many mountain lions there are in the Santa Monica Mountains, and they’re scarce compared to coyotes. But, he added, it is definitely possible to get more precise in certain areas.

One of those areas is San Francisco, which has about 100 coyotes, local wildlife experts say. How do they know? During the second half of the 20th century, coyotes were all but eradicated from the city. Some were trapped and removed, but more succumbed to a poison called Compound 1080. Compound 1080 was banned in 1972, and in 2002, a coyote was spotted in the Presidio.

How coyotes returned to the city is still being debated, with some claiming it was a natural migration, while others say they got help from humans.

Janet Kessler, an amateur naturalist known fondly as San Francisco’s “Coyote Lady,” has been studying the animals for almost 20 years, and sharing her findings on the website coyoteyipps.com. According to Kessler, the city’s coyotes are divided into 17 to 18 family groupings, including an alpha male and alpha female (who mate for life), and their offspring. Some of the offspring are yearlings, the coyote equivalent of teens almost ready to go off on their own, while others are recently born.

“These territories range in size between 1.5 and 2.5 square miles,” Kessler said in an online interview. “So, unless a new territory has been carved into an area, the population will not have increased. The one family living there will increase in size during the pupping season, and then soon shrink back down to just the alpha-parents as the yearlings disperse.”

But even if we are not being overrun by coyotes, as claimed, there have been some alarming interactions with humans over the last few years. Two years ago in San Francisco, a coyote in Golden Gate Park lunged at children in broad daylight. In Moraga, another coyote was linked to five attacks, including two on children, between 2020 and 2021. Both animals were captured, DNA tested to make sure they were the culprits, and euthanized.

In both cases, authorities said, it seemed the coyotes, who are usually not so aggressive, had lost their fear of humans because people had been feeding them. In 2021, San Francisco Animal Care and Control officials even released photos of a woman feeding coyotes meat from a plate in Bernal Heights Park. That same year in Oakland Hills, neighbors united to stop a resident from putting out dog food and water for coyotes.

Not feeding coyotes, Kessler, Riley and Brown agree, is incredibly important, and may seem obvious. But it is possible to feed them involuntarily, they say. For example, leaving your pet’s food and water bowls in the backyard is a bad idea. So is leaving fruit on the ground that has fallen from your trees. Also, bird feeders full of seed attract rodents, a common coyote snack. And speaking of favorite coyote food, keep your pets inside, particularly overnight.

Cats, all the experts say, are safest inside overall, avoiding not just coyotes, but also being hit by cars (a common cause of urban coyote fatalities, Riley pointed out). And cats, while beloved, are notorious for decimating the bird and small reptile population. If your cats absolutely need to be out, build them a catio, Brown said.

Even with these precautions, it can be hard to keep coyotes out of your yard.

“If you don’t want them in your yard, chase them off,” said Riley, but added that such behavior, known as hazing, may only work for a short while. “Coyotes are super smart.”

“A 6-foot fence with rollers is supposed to keep them out,” Kessler said. “But this requires that no gaps exist at gateways, and that the fence is buried at least a foot underground to keep coyotes from digging under the fence. The best practice of all is to always supervise your pet when you are out of doors.”

Which brings us back to that walk you were taking with your dog. You spot a coyote, and instead of running away, it saunters closer. What do you do?

Putting, and keeping, your dog on a leash, so it won’t go after the coyote, is the first step. If it’s a smaller dog, Kessler said, it’s not a bad idea to pick it up if you can. Then, walk away, keeping an eye on the coyote and staying calm.

And, don’t run! Running away from a coyote will only make it chase you.

What if the coyote follows you? Stay calm, Kessler said. Coyotes are protective of their territories, and may just be “escorting” you away.

What if the coyote lunges at you, or bites? This is still a rare occurrence, but canid aggression can vary according to season, and when coyotes are breeding, they are protective of their dens.

Being cautious on nature trails between March and September, Brown said, is a good idea, and paying attention to any signage is vital. The Presidio, in fact, closed two large trails to dog walkers (and only dog walkers) in March, and plans to keep them closed until fall.

“It is a wise move. It would be nice if the city followed suit,” Kessler says, noting that the Presidio is run by the National Park Service.

Whatever the reason for the aggression, remember that you can always contact your local animal control agency and make a report. If the coyote turns out to be a repeat offender, it will be euthanized.

Above all, try not to let that one bad interaction sour you on these animals, because we’re more alike than you think.

“Our coyotes lead much richer lives than most folks are aware of,” Kessler writes on her website. “Their lives are full of emotion — really the same emotions we experience — and full of family life, the amazingly similar family life we enjoy.”

He’d lift his head, fighting for air, his flanks heaving like furry white bellows. Our 16-year-old husky mix dog Sirius White was nearing the end.

Nine weeks earlier, the vet and I had huddled outside the clinic in the rain because they were only doing drop-offs.

Our dog’s increasingly hoarse bark and panting wasn’t something lodged in his throat. The x-ray showed inoperable lung tumors.

Two months, the vet said. But there are things we can try. Chemo, radiation.

But he was so old. I wanted his last days to be peaceful.

The vet rattled off medications we could try. Steroids, gabapentin, CBD oil, Chinese herbs. I ordered them all.

My father had died of emphysema, gasping for breath in the hospital. Now the anguished memory of watching a loved one die this way roared back.

Did the vet do home euthanasia visits?

She shook her head. Too busy.

She went back inside to get my dog and I stared at the curtain of cold gray rain that suddenly mirrored the landscape in my heart.

“I couldn’t help but overhear, I’m so sorry,” said a lady I’d been chatting with. “I rescue cats and sometimes when they’re old and sick, I know a vet who comes to the house.”

Numbly, I got out my phone.

They’re very kind, she added.

And so I pecked the words Gifts of Peace into my phone, glad for the raindrops on my face.

***

Dr. Robin Holmes graduated from North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine and spent 20 years in general practice in Southern California. When her mother fell terminally ill and wanted to die at home, Holmes nursed her through hospice care and emerged from that searing experience with a newfound appreciation for a peaceful end.

“This is what we all want, to die at home surrounded by our loved ones, but so few of us get that,” she says.

Holmes had read about at-home pet euthanasia and was looking for change and more flexibility in her job. She decided this was what she wanted to do.

“It’s something I feel very strongly about, to have dignity and a choice and have it peaceful,” she told me.

When she started Gifts of Peace 12 years ago, Holmes, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley,  advertised and visited clinics to introduce her practice. Today, she relies on referrals and word of mouth. After so many years, she even has repeat clients.

The business is just her and a bookkeeper and a veterinary phone service in the Midwest staffed by compassionate receptionists she’s never met.

Holmes treats mostly dogs and cats, with the occasional hamster and rabbit. As a dog owner herself, she understands and empathizes with what her clients face. Her demeanor is calm, gentle and professional. She listens and takes her time. Her mantra: “Whenever you’re ready.”

***

For the next month, Dr. Holmes’ number sat like a trapped genie inside my phone, an ominous but also strangely comforting vision as our dog’s breathing grew worse. When his pain and distress overrode quality of life, I’d call.

At first, the medications seemed to help. Sirius ate like a champ and still enjoyed walking around the block. Sitting at the head of our driveway, he and our cats basked in the winter sun. But he slept more. He panted a lot. Despite the winter weather, he wanted to be outside, chest and belly pressed against the cold ground.

He was already 3 when we’d brought him home 13 years earlier from the Baldwin Park shelter. Our kids named him Sirius White, in homage to Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black, who turned into a big black dog. Celestially, Sirius is also the dog star, and our dog was a definite star, a goodwill ambassador who liked other dogs, cats, and people — even the mailman, who’d pet him through the gate. With his pale blue eyes, he set aflutter the hearts of every little girl in the neighborhood, who’d pet him and coo “you’re so pretty.”

He was an enthusiastic companion to our two boys, loping alongside bikes, Rollerblades and skateboards, gleefully shredding mail packages, and trotting down the sidewalk, tail high, with a giant palm frond in his mouth like it was the biggest and best bone ever.

Sirius was also my trail-running buddy. With a 70-pound dog at my side, I felt confident traversing remote canyons and secluded regions of Griffith Park and the Verdugo Mountains.

But now as winter wound down, Sirius did too. He’d flop down beside me and his breathing was more akin to finishing a marathon than padding across the house. But like us all, he had good days and bad.

One night, our older son woke us up at midnight. “Mom, Sirius is really bad. I think you better call that vet first thing tomorrow.”

We raced outside with more Gabapentin and CBD oil, then woke to the jingle of Sirius licking out his food bowl, eager for breakfast. As we walked him around the block, he sniffed deeply and mindfully at every shrub and I thought, how can I put down a dog that still enjoys life?

Still, that day, I made an exploratory call to Gifts of Peace.

If compassion can flow through phone lines, this voice did. The woman at the other end listened and murmured soothing things, gracefully ignoring the cracks in my voice.

Then came the deets: Dr. Holmes preferred 24-hour notice but could sometimes do a same-day visit depending on her workload. She’d administer two shots — one to bring on twilight sleep, and then the coup de grâce. She’d take the body away if we wanted. Fees varied from $3-$600, depending on the size of your pet and the aftercare option you chose (urn with ashes, communal cremation, removal of body, etc.) (Most municipalities prohibit backyard burials, so check local laws).

How would I know when the time was right? The receptionist ticked off the same symptoms the vet had given me: not eating, immobility, reduced bodily functions, obvious distress and pain.

He’s not ready yet, I confessed, and neither are we.

You call back when you are, she soothed.

Several more times, I picked up the phone and spoke to this disembodied voice. I think it will be the day after tomorrow. I think it will be this weekend. But each time, I couldn’t commit.

“Look at his eyes following us, it’s like he’s pleading with us to help him, to do something,” I told my husband.

“What if the vet comes out and says, ‘I can’t put this dog to sleep, he isn’t ready,’” my husband said.

And so we wrung our hands and went round and round.

***

The night had been bad. I called Gifts of Peace one last time. I called neighbors who loved Sirius and they came to say goodbye. Again, it was cold and raining.

Dr. Holmes arrived promptly and immediately put us at ease. And, even a cynical journalist like me, who’d rolled my eyes at the euphemisms of this industry which could evoke an Evelyn Waugh novel, relaxed.

She carried a pillow and a blanket, which I knew were for Sirius. She was patient. She indulged our overwhelming need to tell her what a good dog he was and the funniest things he’d done.

We did the paperwork and paid. For the young girl up the street who loved him, Holmes gave us a list of children’s books that addressed the death of a beloved pet.

Once we were ready, she tucked the pillow under his head and gave the first shot. Sirius drifted into unconsciousness.

Dr. Robin said that for dogs with respiratory diseases, sedation is often enough to put them over. But Sirius breathed on. He was old and terribly sick, but he wanted to pull that sled into eternity.

As my husband and I petted Sirius and waited, I bemoaned the gloomy weather. But Dr. Robin said it was a perfect day for a husky impervious to the wet and cold and we all laughed because she was right.

After checking that we were ready, she gave the shot to put Sirius to sleep, then tucked the blanket over him and went out to her car to give us some time. I couldn’t pinpoint the moment he died, his breathing was so shallow by then, but Holmes said it only takes moments. After final goodbyes, we called Dr. Robin back and she checked with a stethoscope to make sure he was gone. She and my husband loaded our dog into her car.

I couldn’t watch that part. Cold and shivering, I went to take a hot shower, crying.

****

A week later, I caught up with Dr. Robin in a less fraught setting. While I mourned my dog, I was also curious to know how she handled what must be a psychologically grueling job.

“People tell me, you have the hardest job in the world,” Holmes said, “but I tell them that they  do. I’m there to support them and make it as smooth as possible. I’m empathetic. But crying along with them is not what they need. I’m there to keep everybody together.”

Jane Murphy of Altadena called Holmes when the end came for her beloved Italian greyhound, who had renal failure and a tumor.

“I have deep gratitude, I think it’s a very merciful way to take your dog out of a very painful situation,” Murphy says. “It was a very loving experience. She’s so sensitive and has a soft presence at a time of great grief for families.”

Holmes says the easiest appointments are when everybody knows it’s time and people start to tell stories and there’s laughter interspersed with tears.

Has she ever refused to euthanize an animal?

“Usually when I go to people’s homes, they’ve talked to my receptionist or they’ve called me and we’ve talked it through, and I’ve reviewed bloodwork. Ninety percent of the time, their vets have already given them guidance.”

Only twice has she arrived and counseled against euthanasia. One was for a cat with a thyroid condition and the other an arthritic dog. In both cases, Holmes convinced the owners to try medication first.

But some visits just break her heart.

“There was an old man, and it was his wife’s poodle, and the wife had died. He told me, ‘I’m not getting another dog, I’m too old.’ On those days, I just go sit outside in my yard when I get home and watch nature for a long time.”

Other visits remind her of the mortality of her own elderly dogs, ages 14 and 15. “I saw a poodle the other day that reminded me of my guy,” Holmes says. “I’m kind of on this path myself.”

Holmes was part of an early wave of vets who specialized in home pet euthanasia. The field has grown exponentially since 2011, when 32 vets attended the newly formed International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care, says executive director Coleen A. Ellis. Today, the association has 2,026 members and its 2021 conference drew 275 attendees, with 70% of them new to the industry, Ellis says.

***

We still see our ghost dog everywhere. Each time I pull into the driveway, I’m shocked he isn’t prancing at the gate, ready to nip at the grocery bags as he escorts me inside. There is no one to eat the kitchen scraps. No one nuzzles my arm as I sit and read. And it feels so strange to walk the neighborhood without him.

But he lived long. And this is the end I would have given him. Not in a building full of nervous dogs and the smell of fear and disinfectant.

Dr. Holmes made that possible.

She also has a knack for catching pooches in their most uninhibited moments and leaves some of those outtakes in the batch of images that she shows clients.

“I leave in blinking eyes, anything super funny and quirky and silly that is going to really show the personality of the dog,” says Journigan.

At the end of a session, and if the dog can eat it, there might be a peanut butter treat too, which produces some of the cutest photos. “Every dog makes this hilarious face that is in between licking where their lips are pouted,” she says, “and it usually only happens when we give them peanut butter.”

What prompted you to focus on pet photography?

I was doing wedding photography for about 12 years. Nine years ago, I got my dog Captain. He’s a silver Labrador. I was photographing him a ton. Then, I had all these newly married couples that hadn’t had children yet, but had puppies that they were getting. They kept seeing my work and saying, “When are you going to photograph dogs?”

What’s the most enjoyable thing about photographing dogs?

I’m such an animal lover and they definitely can lift my day at any point in time. Getting to see all their different personalities and quirks, and getting them in front of the camera and seeing the uniqueness of each dog, is definitely the best part of my job.

The outtakes on your website are hysterical. What have been some of the funniest moments you’ve had in photoshoots?

I’ve had so many dogs poop during their photoshoot. It’s too funny. I’m like, it’s not the first, it won’t be the last. … I had one dog that was so excited, and would not stop wagging his tail, he ripped an entire 9-foot seamless backdrop paper with his excited tail. Just tore the whole thing down.

Why do you think people want portraits of their pets?

Unfortunately, I feel like dogs — and pets in general — just don’t live long enough. Most of [the clients], they want to have that portrait and that family member up on their wall. We really advocate getting artwork to put up and not letting everything live digitally. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. I shoot outdoor and lifestyle stuff, too, but our portraiture is really to show the personality and the individual quirks of a dog, so when you see that photo, you just remember their soul and who they are.

People like to take candid shots of their pets at home. What are some things that people should keep in mind when they’re doing that?

If you’re doing it at home on your own, I think that having a good source of light is number one. It’s technical, but having them face a window or be evenly lit outside. If they’re using their phone, portrait mode is super handy and great. You can now do portrait mode with selfie, which is so cute for you and your pet. I think getting your dog in an environment where they’re definitely going to be completely themselves is a nice one. [There are] lots of different tips and tricks if you want them looking at you. I like to squeeze empty water bottles and red Solo cups that make clicking noises. Obviously, holding treats up, little dog squeaky toys, all of that to get them looking at you. I do find that dogs become a little bit more smiley on a hotter day, when they’re panting a little bit.

To any and all dog owners, the mobile app Sniffspot offers a private experience akin to an Airbnb of dog parks. Pet owners find a spot, book it for a fee (the average cost is $9-$15 an hour) and take their pet to play by themselves, with a friend or friends, or even work on some training or sport.

David Adams began Sniffspot in 2018 after he was inspired by his then-girlfriend, now-wife, who was traveling with her dog and wished for an app where she could find places to let him off-leash safely.

“The mission of Sniffspot is to make the world a more dog-friendly place,” says Adams. “And we are doing that by adding as many spots as possible. We want to have a spot on every block.”

They currently have locations in all 50 states and even outside the United States. More than 20,000 hosts have joined Sniffspot to date across the country in 3,600 cities.

It’s particularly well-suited for reactive dogs in need of more private spaces.

“A misconception people have about dogs is that reactivity is not the norm. Actually, our research and third-party research shows that 75 percent of dogs are reactive in some way,” says Adams.

He said the bulk of users are dog parents looking for safe exercise for their dogs, but there are all kinds of Sniffspot users.

“Some want to avoid public dog parks,” he says. “But we have a lot of other user types, too. We have dog meet-ups, like breed-specific meet-ups. Rescues use us for meet-and-greets. Trainers use us for training sessions. People use us for dog sports, like lure coursing, etc.”

Spots also vary widely — from small yards to multi-acre spots and even some that are hundreds of acres.

Melissa Schneider of Los Angeles has been a Sniffspot host for several months. She has three dogs that get very excited to check out all the new smells that canine guests leave behind.

“I know I’m super lucky to have a big backyard and I want to share it with all the dogs and their humans,” she says, adding that most dogs come to play and some to work.

“We get all types of people and their dogs: individual owners, dog trainers, dogs from rescues. We even have dog parties here.”

Schneider gets a lot of repeat guests, including members who return weekly. She uses the money she makes monthly from Sniffspot to add fun features — including, recently, a doggie pool and a ball pit.

“Sniffspot enables the dogs and the owners to feel free in a safe place,” she says. “It can be overwhelming for an owner to find a safe place for their dog to be a dog, especially if they live in an apartment. And this is L.A., most dog owners can’t afford to buy a house.”

People buy pet insurance for peace of mind. But in truth, insurance coverage comes with so many variations from so many different providers that you can’t sign on any old dotted line and assume all will be well.

True, insurance can cover things like emergency care, cancer treatments, some surgeries and prescriptions. But the devil is always in the details: Some policies exclude specific breeds. Regular exams — which can run into hundreds of dollars with tests and vaccinations — usually aren’t covered. Reimbursement might be capped per year or per diagnosis. And the list goes on.

The Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego’s Sorrento Valley sums up the situation in a blog post: “Research shows that owners with pets who are generally healthy throughout their life will pay more in premiums than they will receive in claims. However, there’s no way to know if you are getting the puppy or kitten that is going to be perfectly healthy. You could get the one that is going to eat his toys, roll with the porcupines, develop kidney disease, or help himself to your favorite chocolate bar.”

And therein lies the dilemma: To insure or not to insure?

Heather Pendley, who lives just north of San Diego, currently has insurance on her two dogs. But she has waffled over the years. She described having had a cat that used up its nine lives, each with an expensive vet visit. When she looked into insurance for it, she couldn’t find a policy that would cover everything she wanted.

Then the family took out insurance when they got a puppy, and it helped with one surgery, but as the dog aged, the premiums became cost prohibitive.

But she’s decided insurance is worth it. She pays $70 a month for her two dogs, aged 3 1/2 and 9. She says she compared two or three companies and chose Figo. Pendley also has a premium Petco Vital Care membership. For $19.99 a month, a member gets unlimited routine vet exams at all Vetco Total Care locations or $20 Vital Care Rewards for exams at non-Petco vets.

We love our pets, but they are expensive. And, according to a Forbes Advisor survey in 2022, 42 percent of pet owners said they can’t cover a surprise vet bill of $999 or less. Maybe that’s why there was, according to data from the North American Pet Insurance Association, more than a 22 percent increase in the number of owners insuring their pets in 2022.

The organization also reports that since 2018 the average annual growth rate of insured pets is 22.5 percent, with dogs making up the vast majority of insured pets.

This could get messy

Linda Chavez encourages people to compare policies from various companies. Based in Los Angeles, Chavez is the founder and CEO of Seniors Life Insurance. “Shopping around and making sure you get the best policy at the best price is essential for any insurance purchase,” she advises. “And read the fine print.”

Ask your vet for advice and talk with pet-loving friends about their experience. Also check online information and reviews. Pet Insurance Review, for example, corrals information from 17 companies. Pawlicy Advisor is another resource. Pricing for insurance takes into consideration:

• A pet’s age (older is more expensive)
• Breed (some have hereditary factors that make them prone to illness)
• Location (California is one of the more expensive states, unfortunately)
• Preexisting conditions
• If more than one pet will be covered

Also, pricing is a balancing act of premium (what you pay each month), deductible (how much you pay before insurance kicks in), and benefit caps (the total an insurance company will pay).

“Insurance providers often offer customizable plans, allowing pet owners to choose coverage that best fits their needs and budget,” notes Michael Thompson, founder and lead veterinarian at Pets Food Safety. But you need to grit your teeth and do the math. The higher costs of wellness care, for instance, can offset any savings.

One of the best things about pet insurance, Thompson believes, is that it gives pet owners “the financial confidence to make the best decisions for their pets.”

Start young

Experts agree that taking out a pet insurance policy for pets when they’re young and healthy can pay off if they run into complicated injuries or illnesses.

Mallory Crusta, brand manager of Cats.com, says, “Treatment for swallowed string, for instance, can bring you vet bills in the thousands of dollars, and a long-term condition like diabetes may go into the tens of thousands. This is where pet insurance can help you the most.”

Premiums are lower for younger animals, and odds are there are no preexisting conditions that would exclude payments down the line.

For high-earning people who have a good savings cushion, it might make more fiscal sense to skip insurance and keep adding to an account earmarked for emergency pet care.

But for most of us, the bottom line is that pet insurance is like any other insurance: You wish you didn’t have the premiums, but if you’ve chosen the right coverage you’ll be relieved you paid them if faced with the price of the unexpected.

Resources

American Veterinary Medical Association

Pawlicy Advisor

Pet Insurance Review

Simon, a hairstylist, was in the relationship for six years. But toward the end, she worried about who would get custody of Murphy if they split up.

“I was actually scared he wouldn’t let me take the dog, so I probably stayed in the relationship a lot longer than I should have,” says Simon, of Costa Mesa. “I needed Murphy for my mental health, he was my baby. … I am glad that my ex let me take the pup without giving me trouble. If he had given me trouble, I’m not sure what I would’ve done.”

It’s probably not something most of us like to ponder too much in our own relationships, but who gets custody of pets in a divorce?

Pet parents will be happy to know that California made some improvements in laws pertaining to pets during divorce that puts care of the animal front and center.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 2274 on Sept. 27, 2018. It empowered California courts to consider “the care of the pet animal” in cases of divorce or legal separation. Before this, California law generally required that courts divide all community property — property acquired during the marriage, including companion animals — equally.

“Animals were treated no differently than inanimate objects like televisions, cars and furniture,” explains Kathleen Schatzmann, strategic legislative affairs manager at the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Pets, divorce and the law

The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and allows courts to create shared custody agreements for companion animals, as well as to enter an order requiring a party to care for the animal before the final decision of ownership is made, Schatzmann says.

“California’s law provides important guidance distinguishing companion animals from other forms of property, where before there was none,” Schatzmann says.

The original version of AB 2274 was worded more strongly to address the well-being (rather than care) of the pet and to require (rather than authorize) courts to take this into account, with the imperative “shall” replaced in the final version with the more permissive “may.” But it is still an important law, she says.

“Treating animals like mere personal property can lead to poor outcomes for the animals because custody is aligned with ownership formalities rather than the interest of the animal,” she says. “By taking into account the unique relationship companion animals have with each of their guardians and their needs, it is more likely that the end result will be better for both humans and companion animals.”

Schatzmann says comparable legislation passed in Alaska and Illinois in 2016 and 2017. Since then, New Hampshire, Maine and New York have enacted similar companion animal custody laws, and there are currently similar bills pending in Delaware and Rhode Island.

What it all means

Attorney Anthony Lai, a certified family law specialist based in Los Angeles, said the law acknowledges the special place pets hold in our lives and recognizes their importance as cherished family members.

“While the default remains that the court is imbued with the duty to divide community assets in dissolution of marriages, the court can now enforce custody and visitation arrangements agreed upon by the parties with pet animals, in the same manner that schedules may be created for sharing custody of minor children of the marriage,” says Lai. “The law shifts the focus from ownership to the best interests of the pet. The new law promotes cooperative discussions and encourages divorcing couples to work together to develop mutually agreeable custody arrangements for their furry friends.”

He says California leads most states in the country on the issue of enforcement of custody agreements pertaining to pet animals. In the majority of states, pets are still considered property under the law — meaning they are subject to the same principles of property division as other assets and possessions owned by the divorcing couple. Pets may be classified as community property, subject to equal division, or as separate property if one spouse acquired the pet before the marriage — which means that the only thing that the court may order is whether the animal is sold or purchased at fair market value by one of the parties.

“Overall, California’s new pet custody law is a significant step forward in recognizing the importance of pets in our lives and their well-being during divorce proceedings,” he notes. “It promotes a more compassionate and considerate approach to resolving pet custody disputes, resulting in happier pets and more satisfied pet owners.”

He says he has already seen the law impact divorce cases. He worked on a case where his client owned a dog prior to his marriage. But during the marriage, the spouse developed a very strong bond with the dog and took the dog with her when she moved out of the home.

“We had to go to court to get an order that his separate property animal be returned to him,” Lai tells. “The case settled shortly after we obtained the order with the parties agreeing on a custody arrangement for the dog.”

He said that anecdotally about one in five contested divorce cases involve some issue of custody of a pet.

Attorney Kathy Minella, a certified family law specialist in San Diego, says now courts can do a “best interests of the dog” analysis, which is very similar to the “best interests of the child” analysis used in child custody and visitation cases.

“It focuses on who feeds and walks the dog, who primarily cares for the dog, who takes it to the vet, etc.,” she explains. “Courts also no longer have to ‘award’ the dog to one party. Instead, courts can actually arrange a custody and visitation schedule and award both parties custody and visitation of the dog.”

This law is significant because it brings us a step closer to recognizing pets are part of the family and should not be handled the same way as a TV or a car during a divorce.

“Many couples view their pets as their children, and this law allows the courts to handle these cases in a way that takes that into account,” Minella says. “To a lot of people, including myself, pets are family and now we can treat them as family instead of just property.

“I think this gives people going through divorce some peace in knowing it is not black or white. Why should people who have fur children be treated any differently than human children?”

Until Debbie Pearl arrives.

Escorted by four dogs in wheelchairs, Pearl expertly maneuvers her way to one of the tables and sits down, making sure that each dog has been accommodated with water before settling into her seat. She refers to these dogs as her Unstoppables, an international team of disabled dogs that have become local celebrities.

Although only four are there that day, she has six team members in all — Zeek, Peedy, Pop, Sydney, Eddie and Elliot. Two are from Mexico, one is from Curaçao, and the newest recruit is from Egypt. But it all started with little Eddie, the OG member of the Unstoppables. Now seven, he’s the littlest but wields a big personality. The others are younger and range in age from one to three years old.

Two of the dogs have prosthetics; the others rely on wheelchairs to get around. Their origin stories are similar, stemming from various degrees of abuse and neglect. But they’ve somehow managed to forgive humans, and according to Pearl, they have lessons to teach and wisdom to share.

“I decided to call them the Unstoppables Dogs because nothing stops them. It doesn’t matter. We go to the beach, they run through the waves. Go on the hiking trails, they go over rocks and boulders and through the wilderness. They’ll walk seven, eight miles. They’re all about every activity. And they have one speed — and that’s fast.”

Instant connections

Pearl started out as an animal trainer for the movie industry, and she formed her nonprofit Dream Fetchers in 2005. She started taking what she refers to as her celebrity dogs to children’s hospitals, and found that Joey, one of her three-legged dogs, seemed to especially connect with the children. Pearl says he was always the favorite.

“I could just see how the children were attached to him. He didn’t know tricks. He didn’t do anything but hop on his three legs. But the kids could relate to that. And I saw the power that was there.”

Then Eddie was rescued, and Pearl decided to bring him into her program as a therapy dog because she felt he could inspire a lot of children as well as adults. As word spread, people started contacting her, sending photos of dogs who were both severely disabled and survivors of abuse.

“Fast forward again, here I have six, all with disabilities. But they are all living their best lives. They’ve all come through everything that’s been done to them. But yet they still love people.”

And the people love them. Lynn Belkin, Pawprints program coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital, feels that Pearl and her dogs bring “enchanted moments into the hospital setting,” and provide “a respite for the stress and sometimes traumatic sense of hospitalization.”

Pearl also recently started working with Easterseals, which provides community services for disabled individuals. “The message that we try to spread to people with disabilities is that it doesn’t matter — what you have, what you were born with, what’s going on, never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.”

What might feel like a pyramid of platitudes for some has instead become gospel for Pearl.

“I always say, ‘no limits, no boundaries.’ I love that they are powerhouses. And they inspire others to do the same, whether it be to just never give up hope. There are so many lessons they teach about forgiveness, because they have all forgiven. They give people hope, they inspire, so many things.”

Joie de vivre

But does rescuing a dog, particularly one that is disabled, really affect their quality of life?

“Assuming the dog is taken into a good home with appropriate resources, I believe the quality of life for these types of dogs should increase,” says Dr. Mindy Waite, certified dog behaviorist at SeniorTailWaggers.com. “This is because most owners will build major accommodations into their lives for their beloved dogs, which rescues and shelters often can’t do due to sheer volume and cost. Owners will provide critical accommodations like appropriate medications and veterinary care, ramps, wheelchairs and behavioral management.”

Pearl has done all of that and more. She admits that they all require a lot of work. “Each one is slightly different. Like dogs with spinal cord injuries, a lot of times they’re incontinent.”

Whether it’s swim therapy or rehab to improve their mobility and build strength, or getting them fitted with wheelchairs, she relies on online donations to support the dogs. “There’s a lot involved with their care — the diapers, baby wipes, supplements, bandages to protect their feet, toys, dog food.”

And the tradeoff?

“I think I see the world differently now,” Pearl says earnestly, her eyes sparkling. “I was always a compassionate person. But I think it’s brought my level of compassion to a different level. And when I look at people, I try to always think that you never know what somebody’s going through. It doesn’t matter what you see on the outside, there could be all kinds of things.”

Dr. Waite believes that the Unstoppables are not necessarily the exception to the rule.

“Socialization and learning history are really important shapers of adult dog behavior,” she says. “However, genetics plays a huge role, too. It makes me wonder if these dogs started with some great behavioral genetics, which allowed them to bounce back easier than other dogs in the same situation.”

Dr. Paola Cuevas, a veterinary consultant at the pet supply company Hepper, agrees.

“Once a dog learns that you are family, they are forever loyal and have a unique way of showing gratitude that makes it clear we still have a lot to learn from their huge lesson on forgiveness. These dogs are a great example of getting up and facing life challenges with new hopes and new perspectives.”

Pearl’s strategy is simple. “I look at it like we’re a team. They expect me to be the best I can be. And I expect them to be the best they can be.”

Say cheese!

When it comes to the dogs, Pearl sees herself more as a supporting actor while her dogs are the stars. She set up an Instagram account (@theunstoppabledogs) with the sole intention of spreading joy and documenting their lives. The account has swelled to more than 105,000 followers, and she has also collaborated on a children’s book series featuring the dogs. The first book, “The Unstoppables,” was released last year. She also works with Cuddly, an online fundraising organization, to help raise money to cover expenses.

And when it comes to her hopes for their future? She’d like to eventually take the dogs on a nationwide tour, so that they can visit children’s hospitals all over the country. A motor home was donated to Dream Fetchers; Pearl just needs a sponsor to help her take the show on the road.

It doesn’t take long before other passersby take out their smartphones and start snapping photos of the dogs waiting patiently by Pearl’s side. One woman walks over and asks if the dogs are all hers. Pearl nods, and the woman starts asking questions, curious to know more about them.

When it’s time to move on to Top Dog Barkery a few blocks away for treats, Pearl expertly handles their leashes. She allows the dogs to command the sidewalk side-by-side, their little wheelchairs like chariots carrying them down Pacific Coast Highway. Pedestrians part like the Red Sea as the dogs approach, smiles spreading across their faces. It’s difficult not to crack a grin — their enthusiasm is contagious.

A man stopped at a light adjacent to the dogs rolls down his window and shouts “God bless!” Shortly after that, a horn honks and a woman’s voice yells, “You have a heart of gold!” Pearl is modest in her response, focusing on the dogs instead.

“A lot of times people will tell me that I’m a hero, but I don’t really look at it that way. The dogs are the heroes, and I’m the vessel that holds the leash. I’m the chauffeur, I just take them where they need to go. And I let them do their magic.”

Samantha Bell’s Hollywood apartment is a cat’s dream home, filled with elegant scratching posts, plant-festooned cat trees and tasteful baskets holding feather wands and catnip mice. Window seats allow her kitties access to fresh air.

“I think about the things my cats are missing from the outdoors and adapt their indoor habitat so their needs are met,” she says.

Bell is the cat expert for Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal protection organization that includes a Los Angeles-based adoption center. She creates weekly short videos addressing behavioral issues in cats and kittens, tackling everything from litter box issues to tips for how to train your feline friends out of 5 a.m. breakfast demands.

More than 46.5 million people in the U.S. own at least one cat, but few of us truly understand the feline brain as well as Bell.

Please demystify what’s going on inside my cat’s head.

Cats live in a world of predator and prey. There’s so much going on in their brain; at any given time, something large could be trying to get them while they’re looking to kill something smaller. Most cat behaviors are based on this predator/prey perspective. A lot of the behaviors that people don’t like about cats — such as scratching, biting, chewing — are instinctive. If they’re feeling great, they want to chase and bite and attack things. We have to figure out a way to let them perform all of their natural instinctive behaviors in our world.

My husband and I just bought our first grownup couch, and our kitten is shredding it. What should we do? 

Cats’ instincts tell them to scratch on trees. They want to put all their weight on a trunk and stretch all the way up. I have a tall, heavy scratching post with sisal wrapped around it, so sturdy that no matter how much weight my cats put behind it, it’s not going to tip. If they scratch the furniture, I silently pick them up and carry them to the post. I don’t speak because my voice — my attention — is positive reinforcement. I put their paws on the post, and they finish scratching there. Then, I talk to them and give them a treat.

One of my cats is very affectionate — until he sinks his teeth into my hand. What’s up with that?

Biting is instinctive. Give your cat things to bite and reward them when they bite those things. I leave the flaps open on a cardboard box flipped on its side, and my cats chew on those. They love that feeling of crunching into something. I also make sure my cats have catnip and wheatgrass to chew. We need to see what cats want and give it to them in a way that works in the human world.

My cats demand food at 5 a.m. every morning. Help!

First, increase enrichment during the day so your cats are alert and engaged. If they sleep all day, they’re going to be up all night. I give my cats food puzzles. I toss toys for them. Ten minutes before bed, we play with a feather toy so they get the feeling of being a predator. Then, I give them a wet food meal which is similar to a mouse or a bird. Their natural cycle is to hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep.

Because cats prefer temperatures of 85 degrees, I turn on heating pads so their bodies are at an optimal temperature for relaxation. The last step is the most important one; ignore their attempts to wake you up. If they get no overnight attention from you for 10 to 13 days, they’ll give up. You may have a rough two weeks, but for the rest of your life, they’re not going to wake you up at night. My cats wait till my alarm goes off, and then they jump on the bed and give me kisses.

Sometimes, one of our cats pees on the carpet. Why is he doing this? 

When cats avoid the litter box, take them to the vet. More than half the time, the behavior is due to a medical reason. When cats get stressed, they get urinary infections. Often, the issue is solved with a week of antibiotics. Other times, the issue is the litter box. Maybe your cat doesn’t like a covered box or an open box or the litter. Maybe the box is in a spot that’s stressful. Sometimes one cat will bully the other cat and not let them go to the litter box, but you might not see it because they can be so subtle. It’s a lot of work to figure out the issue, but it’s our responsibility to remove the stress from cats’ lives.

Speaking of bullies, what do you do about a cat that picks on other cats?

My favorite solution is to put a bell collar on the bully so the other cats can hear them coming. The cat may have a lot of pent-up energy and predator instincts, and they just want to bite and chase and attack. You can play really hard with them and give them things to bite and attack.

If you’ve brought a new cat into the house, do a slow introduction. Whenever I bring in a new cat to foster, I put it in the smallest room so my cats go, “Okay, 90 percent of this place is still ours.”

I start enriching their life more than usual — I give them more toy play times and extra treats, because I want them to associate the new cat’s smell with their life being better, rather than with something that just took over their whole house. When they do finally meet, you throw toys and give treats so they’re not focused on each other, but rather on having a good time. Eventually, you won’t need to distract them anymore. And if things go wrong, you can always go back to the first step in the process.

I’ve tried your process, but two of my cats still smack each other around. 

Cats need to smack things; sometimes they smack each other as a form of enrichment. The best way to tell if two cats are actually fighting is their volume. If you hear screaming, one of them isn’t enjoying it. But if they’re quiet, even if their play looks violent, they’re having a great time.

What’s your position on indoor versus outdoor cats? 

I get why people let cats outside, but I live in Hollywood with traffic and coyotes and weird people on the streets. I think about the things my cats are missing from the outdoors and I give them window seats so they can smell outside, and I bring in sticks and leaves. I also zip them into my cat stroller and take them on walks up into the Hollywood Hills. It’s got mesh sides so they can smell the outdoors.

If I had my own place, I’d build a catio — a fenced enclosure off a window, which allows cats to play and run around in the fresh air. My friend Hannah Shah (aka, The Kitten Lady) has two catios that allow the cats to climb up really high and include actual tree branches so they can scratch. It’s brilliant.

• See related: Why enclosed outdoor cat areas, or catios, might be what you and your pet need 

Help for cats who hate the vet

Dr. Karen Sueda of VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital says that for many cats a trip to the vet is like an alien abduction, not a fun outing. She advises owners to leave the pet carrier out several days in advance and offer treats, food or toys inside of it, and to consider spraying the carrier with feline pheromones.

“Allow plenty of time before the appointment to gather your cat and items you need for the appointment,” she says. “Because cats feel more secure when they are hidden, cover the carrier with a light towel to provide a safe haven and prevent your cat from seeing other pets and people in the waiting room.”

She explains that owners can build positive associations with the vet by bringing their cat’s favorite food and toys to the visit.

“If you or your cat are still stressed,” she adds, “ask your vet about anti-anxiety supplements or medications that can be given prior to a visit which facilitate a calmer experience.”

For more, listen to the Learn with this Behavior podcast with Dr. Sueda on VetFolio.

Melissa Hart lives with three indoor rescue cats and one very patient adopted terrier. Read more of her work at melissahart.com.