Pets
The woman out to destroy my Airbnb
If a guest had said ‘this is a rat-infested hovel’, frankly I would have taken it on the chin. As…
Maybe Pope Francis had a point about dog culture
Dennis is having a little holiday with a sitter in Kent because I’m in Italy, a meandering trip from Rome…
Buying a pre-trained puppy is lazy
It’s a tiny bit lazy, if you ask me. There’s a growing market, as reported by a Sunday newspaper, for…
Have we lost the plot when it comes to dogs?
Have you read your copy of Dogue, yet? It’s become an annual project: Vogue’s dog issue. Instead of hungry, cross…
If we allow dogs at weddings, why not a python?
Three women in my Tuesday weights class are getting married. While we squat and thrust and fling our kettlebells around,…
Confessions of a dog hater
‘Do you like animals?’ asked the woman at the door, collecting for a zoo. ‘No, I hate them, they keep…
Why are vet bills so ruinously expensive?
Dennis refuses to step on to the scales at the vet. Perhaps he’s nervous about his holiday weight. The upshot…
Dogs belong in the bedroom
‘No dog of mine will sleep on my bed,’ I swore, before Dennis came along. People who allowed dogs on…
The lunacy of emotional support animals
Naturally, the start of the new school year is often stressful for pupils. Perhaps those anxious children returning to their…
How big business pushed up vet bills
I was on my way to a Pilates class when I spotted Paul waving at me urgently from across the…
Don’t bribe your dog with treats
‘Do NOT look Lulu in the eye. Keep your voice low and soft and ignore her barking. Do NOT make…
Confessions of a catnapper
As Christopher Snowdon recently pointed out, the past few governments have had a habit of passing laws that are either…
The naming of cats
It took a long time for cats to gain the same serious status as dogs, but by the 18th century they were starting to have personalities, says Kathryn Hughes
The Spectator’s letters page is hazardous
Question time Sir: Your leading article ‘Sense prevails’ (13 April) is a valuable précis of the Cass Review into NHS…
Dog ice-cream: proof we’ve lost our minds
During the few hot days we had in June, I came across my first tub of dog ice-cream nestled among…
Feline mysteries
In his vast survey of felines wild and domestic, Jonathan Losos reveals, among much else, that a cat’s purr can convey hunger or panic as well as pleasure
Pie in the sky
Frieda Hughes adopts an unfledged orphan bird, regarding him as ‘a magical creature’ – but few others find him so engaging
A dog’s life
‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by cat videos,’ begins Henry Mance’s How to Love Animals, winningly.…
Real life
Watching a woman driving a dog past my house like a carthorse is just another ‘new normal’ of lockdown. This…
Dog pounds
The hidden costs of the lockdown puppy boom
Pet peeve
Let animals be animals
