pet connection

Dr. Marty Becker — a/k/a my Dad — went to the Big Apple last week to do television and radio. If you missed his appearances on “Good Morning America” and GMA on XM radio (Channel 155) ,you can go to ABCNews.com and take a look or listen. “On Good Morning America” he profiled some of the top new pet products from the Global Pet Expo and was his usual corny self; for example, when profiling a bird stroller (which contained a crow by the way … where was the live bird?) he pretended to be a New York City pigeon elbowing another bird in the wing to draw his attention to a feathered friend traveling not via wing or foot, but in a pimped out bird mobile! I hear you groaning, can you imagine having lived under his wing for 22 years hearing crap like that (no pun intended)!

After GMA, Dr. Daddy — a/k/a “America’s Veterinarian”– taped two segments for ABCNews.com — one on pet obesity, the other on new equipment to make walking dogs safe and easy — and these will show up on ABCNews.com this week. Then it was time for a quick car ride about 10 blocks south to tape two segments for “The Martha Stewart Show.” These two segments, one on tips to give pets meds, the other on household products your veterinarian may ask you to use in an emergency, will air on the Monday, March 24. (Check your local listings for air times.)

If you’ve ever given your own cat a pill in the privacy and sanctity of your own kitchen, imagine Dad’s task for the “tips on giving pets meds” segment, of taking a strange cat, adding in new smells, a dog, dozens of staffers, cameras, microphones, rehearsals, a live studio audience, then meeting up with Martha to do the segment live. If this sounds like a recipe for disaster, it almost was. The first time Dad had Martha use a towel to wrap a beautiful black cat named Cali in a “kitty burrito” so he could demo a new gadget called a, no kidding, Cat-A-Piller (gives a blast of water with the pill) the cat reached up and swatted the pill and the piller out of his hand with one swipe of the talons. Round one went to Cali. With the audience gasping and the cameras still rolling, dad grabbed another pill, opened Cali’s pie-hole and gave the pill the old fashioned way. Just like March Madness, he took it to the hoop for a dunk shot and scored!

Dad said he really loved Martha’s French Bulldog (Sharkey, pictured above). Martha told him she lets her dogs sleep with her, and that they burrow under the covers at night. Dad also said he knew Cali the cat. It seems her owner, Rebecca, used to work with Marty at GMA. The day he did a Kittens 101 segment featuring kittens from the Humane Society of New York, Cali was the little black runt in the playpen that day, too young for Rebecca to even adopt. After a few weeks Rebecca took Cali home (named for California) and as luck would have she now works for Martha Stewart and met up with Dad again on the show. Dad says Rebecca and Cali are two of his favorites!