HELOISE: Need a new vet? Ask these questions

Dear Readers: How do you find a veterinarian if you move or have a new pet? According to our friends at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — and I agree — ask friends, family and neighbors for a recommendation.

The other advice from the ASPCA? Try to make an appointment with a potential DVM without your pet. See how you feel about the front-counter personnel and vet techs, how clean the facility is, and if it has up-to-date equipment. Ask these questions:

Does the vet have a partnership with other doctors?

What if your animal needs to stay overnight?

Is there a yard so that the dog can go outside?

Does the vet board animals for people on vacation?

Does the vet have a referral system if your dog needs to see a specialist?

How does the vet manage pain with your animal?

You will feel more at ease with your new vet if you ask the right questions. Or, take your pet for a visit or “meet and greet” to see how well he or she adapts, and how you feel about the experience.

Heloise

Dear Readers: Don Davison of Grand Marais, Minn., sent a photo of Weasley, his yellow, tiger-striped cat, with his mouth wide open, enjoying his new bed, placed in a cardboard box top. Don says: “Weasley weighs 22 pounds, so the box top is for reinforcement. He looks like he’s smiling with delight, but actually he’s just yawning!”

To see Weasley in his new bed, visit www.Heloise.com.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I have come up with a great way to give our elderly black Labrador her daily medications. I take a piece of soft white bread, cut the crusts off and then cut the bread into fourths. I make a tiny sandwich by putting a small amount of margarine or peanut butter on one small piece of bread (so the pills will stick), put the pills on and then cover it with the other piece of bread. Then I smoosh it flat. That seals the pills inside so they won’t slip out. Carly loves getting her little sandwiches and doesn’t even know that her meds are inside.

Debbie Carlson, Omaha, Neb.

Dear Heloise: We recycle our square clay pots into frog houses. An overturned corner piece makes a nice frog house, and the frogs eat the slugs in my garden. Much safer than using slug bait, which my dog might get into.

K. in Houston

Dear Heloise: When I’m walking my dogs, I don’t like the neighborhood kids to run up to us. The dogs are very protective of me, and they don’t understand that the kids just want to pet and play with them. And guess what? If the dogs bite the kids, it’s my responsibility.

Parents, please teach your kids not to approach dogs unless the owner says it’s OK.

B.H., via e-mail

King Features Syndicate