pet connection

I just got back from the L.A. Auto Show, where I was able to talk to carmakers about what they’re doing to address the needs of dog-lovers. Honda may have been ahead of the trend a couple years ago with concept car called the WOW that actually has a dog crate built into the front center console.

Check it all out on the Pet Connection’s DogCars.com Web site

When it comes to finding your perfect petmobile, sometimes it is best to stay with the tried and true.

On her recent trip to a friend’s ranch outside Austin, Texas, Gina found a well-used version of the Honda CR-V doing the heavy lifting on the road and tumble ranch roads.

On the other paw, is the brand new, 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan, which has more dog-friendly gadgets than you can count. It’s perfect for pets and people too.

Check it all out on the Pet Connection’s DogCars.com Web site.

For this week’s Pet Connection column appearing in newspapers across the country now, our Dr. Marty Becker and Christie Keith look at advances in pain-control medication for pets — and why it’s important to talk with your veterinarian about this important aspect of your pet’s care:

Just as with human medicine, advancements in the way we think of and treat pain for animals is improving the quality of life for pets, with veterinarians now being able to choose from a wide array of products and strategies to ease the hurt.

“Animals can feel all the same aches and pains that we can because they share the same physiologic structures,” says Dr. Robin Downing, owner of Colorado’s The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management.

Treating pain doesn’t just make the hurting stop: It also promotes healthy healing. Untreated pain slows healing time, interferes with sleep and depresses the immune system. The treatment of pain improves respiration, shortens post-surgical hospitalization times, improves mobility, and can even decrease the spread of cancer after surgery.

Most veterinarians prescribe pain medication when needed, but some still believe a pet will move around less during recovery from surgery or injury if in pain — a belief no longer supported by studies. If an animal needs to be restrained, it’s better to use a leash or a crate.

Still, many owners don’t give pets pain medications — even if they are prescribed — because of concerns about side effects. All drugs can cause unwanted effects, but those risks need to be balanced against the problems caused by untreated pain. Side effects can also be minimized by using drugs appropriately.

Read the rest, which also includes a discussion over whether a guinea pig or rabbit is a better pet for a child, a DogCars.com review of the new Scion xB and a behavior tip on why “yes” is more important than “no” when it comes to fixing a problem with your pet’s manners.

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New blogger here: Keith Turner, the editor of our DogCars.com Web site, will be posting here when that site has a new review of a product or vehicle. Keith is a syndicated auto writer who has written for many publications. His full bio is here.

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Around the petblogosphere: Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly offers more advice on pain-management, writing about a method of making your pet much more comfortable that’s safe, effective and free. Yes, free. (Hint: If you take “the cure,” too, you and your pet will both be healthier.) … Terrierman looks at bad science, bad science reporting and why you shouldn’t fear the microchip. … BAD RAP reports from Detroit, and on a second chance for a former fighting dog.

Since the 16th of March, when the first pet-food recall was announced, I’ve fallen just a bit behind on my reviews for DogCars.com. Like, um, a dozen reviews, maybe, of vehicles and about half that many of products. I have all my notes, just haven’t been able to sit down and write all the reviews. (Something about 24/7 pet food recall coverage and three book deadlines sort of got in my way.)

Before this month is up, and as God is my witness, I will be caught up. I have just a wee bit of spare time in the next three weeks, while everyone except me is huddled somewhere negotiating the finer legal points of contracts for the next two books.

Because I have no idea what it’s like to actually enjoy some down time, I started a DogCars.com blog, although I honestly mean for my friend, syndicated auto columnist and total gearhead Keith Turner (a/k/a The CarGuy) to do most of the blogging.  (And, um, ex-boyfriend, but let’s not go there.)

In any case, check it out.

And stay tuned: Tomorrow I get a week with the new Scion xB, the redesign of the vehicle formerly and affectionately known as “The Toaster” by its cult following. (Christie’s mom is a member of the xB Toaster cult, and so is our “Why Do Horses Sleep Standing Up?” co-author Audrey Pavia. And they’re both way cool, and so is The Toaster — albeit a tick too small for my pack.)

Will it beat out the Honda Element for the title of Best Dog Car Ever?  

For more than a year now, I’ve been reviewing new vehicles for their potential as “dog cars.” (They started out as “dogmobiles” but that domain name was taken, so DogCars.com it was.)

The reviewing started out based on my own dissatisfaction with what the companies were offering — seats that didn’t fold flat, cupholders out the wazoo and a constant, pounding push of advertising aimed at soccer moms. This, even though people have need for a “soccer mom” vehicle for just a few years (the kids eventually leave home, after all), but for those of us with dogs, there’s always going to be a need for a dog car.

So I’ve been driving … and driving … and driving. I get a new test car every week — a van, SUV, wagon or sometimes a truck — and then write it up from the point of view of a dog-lover. These started out for our syndicated newspaper page, and I put them on the blog as a lark. When I saw how popular they were, we spun all the reviews into their own Web site, and started reviewing pet travel products, too. One per month goes onto the pet page and the rest onto DogCars.com.

And yet, more than a year after the first test vehicle, I still haven’t bought a new DogCar, although I’ve seen more than a few I would dearly love to own. In terms of comfort, safety and cool features, I can’t believe how far cars have come since I last bought one. (Heated seats … oh my how I love them! ) But call it an abundance of riches, call it indecision, call it cheap … but I think maybe I’m still just waiting for “abolutely perfect” to land in my driveway and it hasn’t yet. (Unless you count the Range Rover Sport Supercharged, which at more than $80K is more than I paid for my first house, and I just can’t go there, even if I had the money … which, I don’t!)

Although I can take reasonably clean dogs in the test vehicles, I cannot use any of the testers to haul wet, filthy dogs from to and from training or fun river runs. Toyota is still annoyed with me over an “incident” that they say left a car smelling “like wet dog.” All I can say is I told them where I was going and what I was doing, and I hope a dog-lover was the one who got the great deal on that barely used and totally cool FJ Cruiser!

A couple months ago, I thought I was going to buy a friend’s 1996 Toyota 4Runner, low mileage with all the service records. My plan was I would sell my Plymouth van (which doesn’t have four-wheel-drive) and buy the Toyota, which does, for use as the designated dirty dog hauler. But then the friend rather sensibly started thinking about car payments and such — who can blame him? — and so he’s keeping his 4Runner and I’m keeping the van as my dog car. Which meant that yesterday I took stock of my Voyager and made a list of those things that needed to be done to it to get a few more years out of it.

Not bad, for a 10-year-old car: New battery, new tires, some routine maintenance and the replacement of the front wiper motor. While I was figuring it all out, I cleaned the van and re-organized the interior (the two rows of rears seats haven’t been in it for years). Crates for everyone — both my Petmate Varikennel in camo green (!) and my Midwest Side-by-Sides – along with all the training gear, shade cloths, camp chairs, ice chests and everything else you seem to need when you’re doing field work or at dog shows.

We’ve got a trip to Oregon in April. We’ll be ready. In the meantime, I’ll keep reviewing the new Dog Cars — but when my dogs are filthy, muddy, stinky and wet, they’ll be safely and firmly crated in the old Dog Car, my trusty 1997 Plymouth Voyager a/k/a Forrest.

Pictures: Rear view, with crates (note tennis ball under rear bumper!) and side view, with third crate (behind the crate is storage, ice chest, shade cloths, etc.)