“Oh by the way, my husband thinks we should let him outside but I’d feel safer if he stayed in, what do you think?” This was the question posed to me at the end of my first consultation with a newly acquired little ginger kitten named Harry. The client had already started to pack up her things and head for the door, but she didn’t get very far as there was no simple answer to such a seemingly simple question.

It’s a question that I get asked a lot, and I must admit it was one that took me a while to learn how to answer. Growing up in New York and practicing in Chicago, such a question from an American client would have seemed silly. Of course the cat should stay inside, it would be cruel to let him out into the big bad scary world full of cars and poisons and little children that like to pull tails! But then I moved to England and was suddenly forced to develop a real and educated opinion on the subject. Over here, most people consider it cruel to keep a cat entirely indoors…….

When most people consider getting a new pet, their thoughts turn to a cute bundle of fluff; a baby to join the family and grow up as part of it. Certainly a puppy or kitten will provide hours of entertainment but they can also be a lot of hard work. Just like a human baby they don’t come fully house trained and many won’t sleep through the night for some time! Many people underestimate the amount of attention and time a young animal needs and so they are not ideal for everyone. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a pet, with rescue centres over-flowing with ready trained and healthy adult animals, you could just find your perfect companion!

The first problem when you want a new, young animal is where to get one from. There are loads of ways people advertise new litters………….

There has been a lot of discussion in the press and on television lately about the health of our purebred dogs, especially the number of inherited conditions which can affect them. Opinions are divided on whether dog shows are a good thing or whether they encourage breeders to place too much value on the appearance of dogs, compared with their health or temperament. With Cruft’s dog show taking place in March, we have all seen classes of pedigree dogs being judged according to a “breed standard” which states what the ideal size, shape, gait etc should be for each breed. Dogs which come closest to meeting this ideal standard will do best in the show ring……..