It's hot, the days are way long, and I find myself lolling about, facing a million deadlines. These are the times when the big questions pop into my head. Like, "What's in a pet blog, anyway?" The BlogHer blog directory, excellent as it is, says, hey, pretty much anything. Got animals? Nice. 

Call it luck, call it a curse, but whatever humans are up to in this world, you can bet we'll drag the animal kingdom along with us. (For example, 57 percent of American pets are overweight or obese.) When the U.S. government announced earlier this month that the U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years (still behind 30 other countries), it was yet another mirror to the lives of our animal friends. The Golden Years have arrived at America's zoos which means unchartered waters for zookeepers.

Summer doesn't officially begin for another week and I don't know about your city, but already the D.C. area has been hit with oppressively high temperatures and weird bouts of heavy rain more commonly seen later in the season. Although this is the first summer in 13 years that I haven't had to look out for the impact of heat and humidity on a dog as physically challenged by both as my Boston Terrier, I'm reminded that this change of seasons and temperature is a critical time to look out for the well-being of our pets.