Back in 2000 when I was still living in the UK, I was involved in a terrible car accident. I was driving on a highway when all of a sudden a rabbit darted in front of my car out of nowhere. Instinct took over and I slammed on my brakes,...

As I sat down to write this, I realized that Monday marks one week since the attack at the Boston Marathon, and my head spun a bit at how quickly everything unfolded in just seven days.

Amid the fear, confusion, disbelief and sadness that the events of last week created,...

"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." -- Agnes Sligh Turnbull

March was a difficult month at the Petplan offices.

In the past few weeks, we lost two members of our furry family. The first, a longtime policyholder and friend; the other, one of our very...

The first quarter of a new year is typically teeming with new projects, pitches and plans, but these first three months of 2013 take the cake for high-octane business adventures. In just the past few weeks, Chris and I have traveled from the UK to Las Vegas and everywhere in...

February was Pet Dental Health Month. Sound familiar? By now, you've probably gotten a coupon from your vet offering a discounted dental cleaning, or an email from your favorite pet supplier spotlighting sales on everything from pet toothpaste to specially-formulated dental chews.

If you've relegated these notices to the trash,...

A funny thing happens when I plant my spring herb garden; my dog, Wellington, springs into action -- sniffing out every stem and smelling each leaf with the kind of zeal he usually reserves exclusively for procuring cookies.

It turns out there is more to it than...

Does anyone else miss daylight? Between getting up before dawn to hit the gym before getting my son off to school and working late at the Petplan offices, I feel like I haven't had a date with the sun in ages. While I am generally too busy to let the...

Four-legged family members often make our list of New Year's resolutions: THIS is the year we're going to teach an old dog new tricks or stop the cat from scratching. Maybe you simply vow to vacuum the pet hair more frequently. For me, I've added training our new puppy,

Working in the pet health business, I am reminded daily of the enduring bond between pet and person, and just how deeply both sides benefit from the union. We pet parents have always preached about pets making life better, and the scientific facts keep stacking up in our...

There's hardly a gift more likely to induce squeals of delight on Christmas morning than the gift of a cuddly, big-pawed-tiny-body puppy, complete with irresistible puppy-dog eyes. My own family recently let out some pretty overjoyed squeals of our own when we brought home Montgomery, our English Toy Spaniel puppy,...

Right now in the Northeast, in many of Petplan's neighboring communities, families are still reeling from the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy. As heartbreaking as it is to watch our neighbors struggle after losing their homes and possessions, it is equally tragic to consider those who also lost beloved pets...

Everyone who has ever been told to spend less time playing games online is about to be vindicated -- it turns out, you can make the world a better place with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Recently, a crop of free online games has emerged that links...

October 10 was National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. In the six years since the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention began marking the day, our pets have been tipping the scales at ever more alarming weights. It is now estimated that more than half of the pets in the...

As the leaves outside turn orange and gold over the next couple of weeks, we will see everything from skyscrapers to sneakers turn pink to promote breast cancer awareness in October. For nearly three decades, we've marked National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with fundraising and awareness...

Here in the Northeast, checking for ticks after a walk in the woods is fairly commonplace, mostly because of the prevalence of Lyme disease -- a potentially debilitating disease spread to humans by the nefarious deer tick. If you live in the Northeast and you have pets, checking for ticks...

As the clock ticks on the last of our pool days and backyard barbecues this weekend, we'll prepare ourselves to say goodbye to another summer. But while Labor Day Weekend marks the unofficial end to summer, it also heralds in first days of hurricane season. As I write this, the...

Since the dawn of documentaries like Super Size Me and Food, Inc., America's relationship with food and nutrition has undergone a significant change. Words like gluten-free, sustainable and free-range have entered our lexicon, and many of us are taking a second look at labels and thinking twice not just about...

Recently, the journal of Pediatrics published a study showing that children who live in a home with a pet before they are one year old are likely to be healthier than children without four-legged siblings.

As mother to a 5-year-old son, Benjamin, and "fur mom" to an...