ArcaMax

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s toughest food critic is a fluffy orange cat named Milo.

Milo sees what you’re eating and he is (urp) appalled.

Pizza slice? Chicken nugget? Potato? Milo greets them all with a suspicious sniff, a look of slowly dawning horror, followed by cartoonishly exaggerated gagging — tongue out, eyes wide, hope lost.

As...Read more

Dear Cathy, Our dog, Ginger, is an almost five-year-old mini-Labradoodle. In the past year, her personality has changed. She has become overanxious and barking at certain times of the day for no apparent reason. This can happen after she’s eaten or gone out for a walk. It comes out of the blue. It’s almost like she’s complaining to us.

We...Read more

There are some household realities that never make it into the glossy home magazines. One of them is this: if you live with elderly pets, rescue animals, puppies, medically fragile animals, or simply a very full house of dogs and cats, eventually someone is going to miss the litter box, leak on the floor, or leave a surprise in the hallway at 2 ...Read more

For millions of people, the dream of sharing a home with a furry companion collides with an unfortunate reality: allergies. Sneezing fits, itchy eyes, congestion and asthma symptoms can quickly turn affection into discomfort, especially in homes with cats or dogs. While some allergy sufferers attempt to manage symptoms with medication or strict ...Read more

For many would-be pet owners, apartment living once meant giving up the idea of having a dog. Limited space, shared walls and strict building policies have long been seen as barriers. But veterinarians and trainers say that with the right breed—and the right expectations—dogs can thrive in smaller living environments.

The key is not size ...Read more

In many homes, the word “pack” doesn’t just apply to dogs. It’s a living, shifting ecosystem that includes cats, humans, and the quiet negotiations that make daily life possible. The modern household pack isn’t about dominance or hierarchy in the old sense—it’s about coexistence, routine, and a shared understanding of space, ...Read more

Cats have a way of turning the ordinary into the uncanny. One minute they’re quietly napping in a sunbeam, and the next they’re sprinting across the house, staring into empty corners, or kneading your lap with an intensity that suggests ancient ritual. To longtime cat owners, these behaviors are familiar—if still baffling. To newcomers, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ownership of a tortoise, like life itself, has its downsides. Mona Heflin knows both well.

Slim Shady, her roughly 70-pound, 22-year-old sulcata tortoise, farts loudly, sometimes knocks her down and has forced her to find him after absconding in her North Highlands neighborhood when her front gate was left open. Still, ...Read more

Dear Cathy,

My two-year-old Siamese Cat has decided she no longer needs to use the litter box to poop. She seems to think it is perfectly acceptable to use our bed instead. She has been doing it for about a month. Our vet ran tests and found her to be healthy. We honestly can't think of anything that could have upset her.

The vet put her on ...Read more

Hailee Steinfeld can't resist the "cuteness" of her pets.

The 29-year-old actress doesn't like the idea of her pet pooches climbing over her furniture, but she also finds it hard to say no to them.

Speaking to Architectural Digest, Hailee shared: "I'm a little funny about this one. Emotionally, I say no, but realistically, they're family. So ...Read more

Dear Cathy,

My best friend, Zoey, is a two-year-old English Setter and the sweetest little girl. She’s on the smaller side at 35 pounds, compared to my previous setter at 65 pounds and the typical 55-pound average. She had quite a bit of anxiety when I adopted her, though she’s improved over time. Still, there are two situations I’m ...Read more

The front door is closed. Nothing moves. The house is quiet. And yet, for the cat sitting three inches from the threshold, everything is happening.

The ears are forward. The body is still but alert, weight balanced in a way that suggests either patience or imminent action. A faint sound—perhaps nothing more than a shift in air pressure—...Read more

In forests, on city streets, across cobblestones and shorelines, a quiet and curious phenomenon is emerging: women walking—deliberately, steadily—accompanied not by dogs or companions, but by loose, watchful constellations of cats.

They do not advertise themselves as a movement. There are no official gatherings, no manifestos. Yet across ...Read more

Cats have long lived on the boundary between the domestic and the wild, creatures equally at home curled on a sofa or stalking silently through tall grass. For modern pet owners, that duality raises a persistent question: should cats live strictly indoors, roam freely outdoors, or split their time between both worlds? The answer, veterinarians ...Read more

The cat does not pace. It does not wait. It does not wonder what comes next. It occupies, with quiet certainty, the exact place it has chosen—and in doing so, reveals a world most humans move through without ever truly seeing.

Indoor cats, often dismissed as idle or sheltered, live within a complex geography of habit, instinct and subtle ...Read more

The dog is in the kitchen when you stand up from the couch. You haven’t said anything, haven’t reached for your keys, haven’t even fully decided what you’re about to do. But there it is—a shift of weight, a quiet thump of paws on hardwood, a presence at your side as if summoned.

For many pet owners, this feels like a kind of low-level...Read more