Guest Post: The Cat & the Coronavirus

One of our cats, the gray tabby female, hasn’t been eating well lately. We’re not sure how long this has been going on. Has it been since late February, around the time the first victim of COVID-19 in Washington State died in a hospital 10 miles from where we live in Seattle? Did it start […]

Guest Post: the Truth about Cats & Dogs

Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Dogs are man’s best friend; cats are man’s best frenemy. Dogs come when called; cats take a message and get back to you. As long as we’ve had dogs and cats, we’ve had dogs versus cats. Dogs are obedient, loyal, and love unconditionally. Cats are obstinate, fickle, and love […]

Guest Post: How Our Pets Domesticated Us

One of the most fascinating tidbits I came across while researching my new book, Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs, concerns the 10,000-year-old village of Shillourokambos. Located on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the site was once home to an early farming community whose inhabitants stored grain in stone silos and corralled […]

Kitty Cat News Flash

I have been to see the National Zoo’s Sumatran tiger cubs, and I have important news: They are adorable. The twin cubs, a boy and a girl, were on display for the first time yesterday at the zoo here in Washington, D.C. A little after 10 a.m., keepers opened the metal door at the bottom […]

It Started with a Cat Bite

This is the story of Massachusetts General Hospital case #31-2010: a 29-year-old woman whom I’ll call Melissa. I’m telling Melissa’s story not for its common-sense lesson—avoid interactions with cats*—but because it shows that doctor detective-work happens outside of TV Land. Melissa was a veterinary assistant at an animal hospital. One day, at work, a cat […]