July/August 2019

All Creatures

The Animals Who Share Our Lives

All Creatures2 min read
Editor’s Note
HELLO EVERYONE, GRACIE HERE. Edward and Julee’s golden retriever. It’s been a while, right? I talk to you only when I feel I have something important to say. So here it is: I hate baths! You might think, given my breed and lineage, that I would enjoy
All Creatures1 min read
I’ll Never Forget You
MY HOUSEMATE and I adopted Sammy because our older dog, Cal, needed a companion and playmate. Sammy was nine months old and a Lab mix, just like Cal. The two hit it off immediately. One day when Sammy was two years old and we were at work, he tried t
All Creatures2 min read
Should I Be Worried?
Q My kitten, Gus, sneezes a lot. His vet says the reason is probably allergies from outdoors, but Gus doesn’t go outside. What could be the cause? —Caroline Patterson, Sebring, Florida A Sneezing is actually a common problem for cats. There are a
All Creatures5 min read
The Compassion of GIANTS
My mom and I stood at the bow of the boat, braced against the chop. It was July, but the wind was ripping through Monterey Bay, freezing my hands and face. Perfect weather, our tour guide assured us, for catching a glimpse. My family was on vacation
All Creatures4 min read
Let’s Dance!
One of the most popular cat toys is made of steel wire and rolled cardboard and can be purchased for less than three dollars. Simple but genius, right? We got the scoop from Jim Boelke, who invented the Cat Dancer in college and turned it into a mill
All Creatures1 min read
Creature Comforts
IT HAD TAKEN EIGHT YEARS to get pregnant again. Now in my fourth week, I rushed to the doctor with abdominal pains. Please, let this baby survive, I prayed, fearing another miscarriage. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a ladybug sitting pe
All Creatures6 min read
Llamas Everywhere
MY HUSBAND, TOM, had come up with more than a few crazy ideas in our 29 years of marriage, but this one topped them all. “We are not buying a llama,” I told him. “No way.” We had just driven home after spending the afternoon at a huge llama exhibitio
All Creatures2 min read
helping America’s animals AARON ZIGELSKY Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, Florida
Aaron Zigelsky is a full-time aquar ist, tending to fish, turtles and other sea life at a large aquarium in Florida. Yet he wants to do more, which is why he’s been volunteering for years with Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI), wo
All Creatures2 min read
Their Mysterious Ways
WE KEENAN SIBLINGS always stick together. That was never more true than when my sister Mary was dying of cancer. She lived in Austria, thousands of miles away from the rest of us, but we five juggled plane tickets and time off so that Mary would rare
All Creatures1 min read
Room To Grow
I STOOD KNEE-DEEP in the ocean, my thoughts swirling like the foaming water around me. For some time I had been incubating the idea of going back to school, maybe to become a counselor or a therapist. But at 41, becoming a student again would mean ma
All Creatures3 min read
How I Met My Pet
ONE HOT JUNE morning in 2009 a friend phoned me from the golf course near my North Carolina home. He had seen a golfer beat a baby raccoon with a golf club. It wasn’t unusual for me to get these types of calls. A licensed wildlife rehabilitator, I to
All Creatures5 min read
Sandy, Come Home
You know how life sometimes puts so many obstacles in your path, it feels as if you’re climbing a mountain and never going to get to the top? Then you do reach the top and you can finally exhale. That’s how I felt on Memorial Day weekend 2005, when m
All Creatures4 min read
HENRY’S GUIDE To Life, Love And Happiness
THIS IS HENRY. He has only one eye. We’ll come back to that. My partner and I love dogs but travel often and wouldn’t want to subject a pet to a life of kennels. When we’re not traveling, we work from home, which leaves us long stretches to offer att
All Creatures3 min read
Is This for Real?
Cute and calming is how most people would describe the dogs, cats and bunnies that visit hospitals, schools and nursing homes to offer emotional support. Scary and dangerous are the words many would choose upon seeing Joie Henney’s comfort companion.
All Creatures2 min read
Lost & Found
It can happen in the blink of an eye. Your dog is playing outside and is suddenly nowhere to be seen; your kitty slips out the door when you’re greeting a visitor. Summer brings more risks: Fourth of July fireworks scaring pets into running off, fami

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