If I had things my way, I'd spend all of my time with Rosie Lou, my 120-pound Leonberger. At the office, she'd sit at the desk next to mine and, and we might share an ice cream cone after work. Sadly, big old Lou isn't allowed to ride New York City transit, nor can she walk into an ice cream shop. In effort to safely bring RL with me everywhere, I printed her darling mug onto a T-shirt. It might be the next best thing to having her with me during every moment.

As it turns out, walking a cat on a leash isn't some senseless gimmick. Many felines find great pleasure in time spent outside, enjoying the sounds of birds chirping and the scent of freshly cut grass, just like humans do.

You’re not imagining it, and your pup probably hasn’t been sneaking into the snack pantry (we hope). It’s actually very common for a dog’s paws to smell like Fritos.

My dog Gussie is enviably regular. She makes around four poops a day. This means that, in an average week, I use and discard 28 plastic bags to pick up and toss her poop. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pet owners pick up their animal waste instead of leaving it on the ground, for sanitary reasons. The agency recommends using a bag to avoid getting pathogens from the waste on your hands. It doesn’t specify that you use plastic for this. But most people do.

"I wasn't sure peace and joy were ever going to be possible again," Garofalo said. "Fred brought them back to my life -- an ability to laugh that I thought was gone forever."

My dog Gussie is a power chewer. She destroys the playthings I get for her, gnawing plastic bones down to nubs and gutting plush toys. I hadn’t given much thought to whether she was ingesting particles from these toys ― until I began to spot little pieces of plastic in her poop.

"He's a one-of-a-kind dog. He sleeps with us, he goes out with us ... I absolutely consider Jericho a friend."

While science says pets need to stay off the top of your mattress at nighttime, it doesn't specifically say anything about the side of the mattress. And here lies the solution. Brazilian company Colchão Inteligente Postural designed a bed with an interior compartment for your furry friend in the boxspring, so you can sleep soundly knowing your pet is only inches away.

When 120-pound Samson moves to lie across her lap, he's providing Jacobs with therapeutic tactile stimulation.

In an effort to help the left-behind pooches get scooped up into welcoming homes and provided with the belly rubs they deserve, photographer Traer Scott started taking powerful closeups of shelter and homeless dogs.

Like humans, dogs and cats eat different foods throughout their life stages. Puppies and kittens, for example, need food with a higher protein level and calorie count to help them grow, according to Jennifer Freeman, DVM, PetSmart resident veterinarian and pet care expert. When your pets reach seniorhood — around age seven for both cats and dogs — they may need to switch to a senior diet, which tends to contain fewer calories and more fiber content, said Freeman.

Perhaps it’s not the most sophisticated topic of conversation, but have you ever wondered why household cats go to the bathroom using kitty litter? Turns out they’re just following the lead of their ancestors.