Book now for Christmas. With demand for our services at Christmas almost 3 times that of the month of November, we often have to turn people away. If you're going to need us, please book now to ensure you don't miss out.

Does your pet have one of the Top Ten popular names?

Check out the surprise results to last month's 'pawedness' survey. And complete our new 30 second survey (below left) - let us know if you think you have the ideal pet. Don't worry - it is anonymous, Rover won't find out!

Arthritis in pets - this week in Pet Health we look at possible solutions.

Have a great day from all of us at Lonely Pets Club.

Pet Health

Does your dog or cat suffer from arthritis? Arthritic cats will sometimes just be grumpy and less mobile but it can pass unnoticed. Arthitic dogs may have difficult getting up, climbing into cars and going for walks. There are some good treatments available (continued >>)

In last month's issue we covered the case of Pascoe Vale local Maddy, a 15 year old blue heeler, whose owner gave up work for 6 months to care for her and whose dedication got Maddy walking again. Sadly we must report that Maddy passed away at the end of August.

What's happening at Lonely Pets Club?

With over 9000 pets in our database, we thought it would be interesting to know what the most popular names for our members' pets are. So here goes, most popular first:

Top Dog Names 1 Max 2 Charlie 3 Molly 4 Jack 5 Bella 6 Ruby 7 Oscar 8 Jake 9 Harry 10 Daisy

Top Cat Names 1 Max 2 Oscar 3 Molly 4 Bella 5 Charlie 6 Chloe 7 Coco 8 Lucy 9 Mia 10 Cleo

So with 74 dogs and 64 cats on our books named Max, we have a clear winner! Comparing to our last check back in 2007, Max was number 1 for for dogs then as well but Oscar was the most popular cat name. Lucy is a new entry into the Cat Name Top 10 at Number 8, ousting Missy from the list. Interestingly Sam was number 5 for dogs in 2007 but now does not make the top 10 ...are people averse to naming their dog after the new Yellow Wiggle?!

Next month: Prepare yourself to see some of the Most Unusual names in our database!

Lort Smith Animal Hospital's Party for Strays is their annual fund raiser, ending at the end of this month. If you'd like to help this wonderful cause, click here to find out how.

Pets in the News

Thanks to the 50 respondents to last month's 'pawedness' survey. UK Researchers claimed last month that that most male cats and dogs favour their left paw. Our respondents seemed to think otherwise, with 67% of male cats favouring their right paw. Amazingly 100% of male dogs owners (who did not pick 'unknown') have right pawed pets. Our method of data collection was not very scientific but could we have stumbled upon a new discovery? Australian male dogs are right pawed unlike our Antipodean friends!

World Animal Day is on 4th October. You can check out the event list here.