3 months ago
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Advice columnist — and dog lover — Carolyn Hax knows firsthand how pets can become sore spots in families, friendships and romantic relationships. We’ve compiled the best columns about pets with some help from readers. This list includes questions about a relationship suffering because of a badly behaved cat, a 5-year-old who kicked a dog, how to rescue neglected animals from family members and more. They all feature cartoonist Nick Galifianakis’s delightfully illustrated animals — including versions of his beloved, late pit bull Zuzu (whom he memorialized here).
We’ll update this list periodically, so if you think we’ve missed a column that should be included, let us know here.
Your girlfriend’s cat just scratches the surface of your problem
Her cat steals food, attacks people and screams through the night — but she might be worse, refusing to believe her partner is actually allergic to her pet. Six readers recommended this column, most of them sold by Carolyn’s suggestion the cat may be “your guardian angel, entertainingly packaged as a feline hellbeast.”
Sibling saves dog from poisoning, gets blamed for ‘overreacting’
When a member of the extended family thought it would be funny to feed the dog grapes — a known dog poison — the letter writer forcefully intervened. This set in motion a series of events that saved the dog’s life but ran up a vet bill and put family relationships in jeopardy. Do the right people want apologies for the right reasons?
A visiting child kicked your dog. Does she ever visit again?
An out-of-control 5-year-old kicks an elderly dog for no reason, then lies about it, gets busted by a security camera — and gets excused by her permissive parents. Is the letter writer wrong for banning her from their home? A reader imagines “how those parents would have reacted if the writer’s dog visited … and bit each of them.”
Can parents ask their child’s potential guardians to give up their dogs?
These parents know their daughter’s aunt and uncle are the best choice of guardians if something were to happen to them. However, her “asthma attack, hospital level” allergy to dogs makes things a little complicated. Will her uncle and aunt give up their two dogs to take her in? Carolyn says if this couple is asking that question, then there may be a bigger question they should be asking first.
Husband sells out the family dog to persuade his mom to move in
This letter writer’s husband promised his mom he would get rid of their dog when she moved in — without clearing it with the rest of his family. The first line of Carolyn’s response to this mind-boggling question is, fittingly, “What the ever-whatting what.”
Her devotion to her sick dog gives her boyfriend distemper
He can’t understand why his girlfriend is spending so much money to keep her sick dog alive and comfortable. One reader who recommended this column wrote: “I think it’s an unfortunately common attitude that money spent on sick pets is a waste. Oddly enough, those same folks would never dream of weighing in on people spending their money on frivolous things like jewelry, sports cars or designer fashion.”
Parents want to help 6-year-old through the loss of another cat
He’s going through the loss of a third cat, and he’s only 6. He wrote letters to his late pets, and his parents wonder how harmful it would be to write back as the beloved cats. Would it alleviate his grief or just cause him more emotional pain later when he’s old enough to realize the truth?
They said no to hosting a sick dog, and mother-in-law is ‘livid’
Why would this letter writer’s mother-in-law expect them to host her daughter’s recently sick, untrained puppy when she knows they have twin babies plus their own dog? Worse, why is she “livid” they said no? One reader who recommended this column wrote in, “I found Carolyn’s response to be truly vindicating of the young family!”
Save a pet that’s being mistreated by volunteering for the doghouse
This couple agreed to take in a dog as a favor to a brother who lost his apartment — but they didn’t expect to find the dog in such a neglected state. Their initial reaction is to find the dog a new home. Should they talk to the brother first?
How could they possibly not want to be around your beloved 105-pound dog?
This letter writer is having a difficult time accepting her future in-laws’ trepidation about her big puppy, and doesn’t want to accommodate their requests to meet elsewhere or crate the dog. Does that make her a stubborn animal lover?
English (US)