Pets

The insane craze for dog ice-cream

19 August 2023 9:00 am

During the few hot days we had in June, I came across my first tub of dog ice-cream nestled among…

A purring cat is not always contented

20 May 2023 9:00 am

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

13 May 2023 9:00 am

Frieda Hughes adopts an unfledged orphan bird, regarding him as ‘a magical creature’ – but few others find him so engaging

Good luck enjoying eating salmon ever again

29 May 2021 9:00 am

‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by cat videos,’ begins Henry Mance’s How to Love Animals, winningly.…

How not to walk a dog

3 April 2021 9:00 am

Watching a woman driving a dog past my house like a carthorse is just another ‘new normal’ of lockdown. This…

All these lockdown puppies come at a price

10 October 2020 9:00 am

The hidden costs of the lockdown puppy boom

How many dogs are there in Britain?

6 July 2019 9:00 am

Model hobbies Asked what he did to relax, Boris Johnson claimed that he liked to make model buses. Some others…

The middle-class cats that are ditching meat

12 January 2019 9:00 am

As I write, my cats and a visitor from the next street are hammering into their food, at nearly £5…

Adventures of a hell-cat in heaven

4 June 2016 9:00 am

Over the weekend I officiated at a funeral. Earlier in the morning there had been lowering rain clouds, but by…

The Spectator, 1916: To win the war, lose the dogs

28 May 2016 9:00 am

From ‘Food dictatorship’, The Spectator, 27 May 1916: Nobody would like to see the whole race of dogs exterminated, but…

Meet Leo... my soppy, dopey, affectionate, deadly predator

21 May 2016 9:00 am

Leo, the Hungarian Vizsla my wife brought home unexpectedly last year, is approaching his first birthday and not getting any…

Gentlest and sweetest of dogs

Beautiful, wilful, never dull: in praise of Clumber spaniels

7 May 2016 9:00 am

For the first time in more than 30 years we have no Clumber spaniel. We have had five: Henry, Judith,…

Why compulsory microchipping is bad for caring dog-owners

9 April 2016 9:00 am

Compulsory microchipping of dogs will hurt caring pet owners – but help busybodies

Dear Mary: Must I have name badges for guests at my wedding?

6 February 2016 9:00 am

Q. My husband-to-be and I both work full time. We are getting married from his family HQ and his kind…

Dreaming of bringing your favourite pet back to life? Soon it could be reality

14 November 2015 9:00 am

The super-rich are already bringing beloved dogs and horses back to life. Soon the rest of us will be able to do it too

The Tooting poisoner and the relentless rise of the urban fox

7 February 2015 9:00 am

In my London neighbourhood, an argument about urban foxes is turning very nasty indeed

Dear Mary: How will Joan Collins introduce herself now she’s a dame?

10 January 2015 9:00 am

Q. We enjoyed the Christmas University Challenge series featuring mature graduates, some of whom were more in the public eye than…

Spectator letters: Bereaved parents against press regulation, and a defence of Tony Benn

29 March 2014 9:00 am

Why we need a free press Sir: As bereaved parents and (to borrow from some signatories of last week’s advertisement)…

The battle against the dog police

15 March 2014 9:00 am

Feral bureaucrats are banning dogs from places they’ve been walked for generations. But now owners are fighting back

What nannies know

14 December 2013 9:00 am

Soon after moving to London at the age of 20, Nina Stibbe wrote to her sister Vic saying, ‘Being a…

What a tortoise can teach us

3 August 2013 9:00 am

Five lessons from my new pet