Today is National Diabetes Day, and the folks at Webvet are trying to make people aware that dogs and cats are facing their own mini-epidemic of diabetes. It's not anywhere near as severe as the human spread of the disease. About one in 400 dogs and cats now has diabetes compared to one in 12 people.

Just like in people, lousy diet and exercise habits are causing more diabetes all around. The difference is dogs and cats aren't the ones deciding how much food they get and how many times they exercise. We are. Yeah, I know they have those irresistible eyes. That's why one-quarter of our cats and dogs are now clinically obese, according to Webvet. PetClubUK says overweight cats are four times as likely to get diabetes.

To be fair, diabetes isn't just caused by being fat, in either humans or animals. Genetics plays a huge role. In dogs, females and certain breeds, such as miniature Pinschers and cairn terriers are more likely to be afflicted with diabetes. No gender has an upper hand in cats, though some think Burmese are more susceptible.

In the midst of an ugly recession that has businesses worrying about Christmas spending, Halloween is turning into an unlikely strong spot in the economy. According to the National Retail Federation we'll spend nearly $6 billion on Halloween this year. And a growing part of that is in pet costumes.

More of us are planning to celebrate Halloween this year (64.5%, up from 58.7% last year). And we're collectively going to spend a little more each. The average person will spend $66.54, up from $64.82 a year ago. The typical budget is $24 for costumes (including pet costumes), $20 on candy, $4 on greeting cards and $18 on decorations. Halloween greeting cards? No, thanks--I'd like more candy.

PetSmart surveyed owners this year and found 16 million of us plan to dress up our pets. A survey from Dogster.com found 40% of dog owners had definite plans to dress up their dog, and an additional 25% will include their dog in festivities of some kind.

Was your dog one of the many around the country that ate the tainted pet food last year? You've got until November 24 to file a claim. According to USAToday, only 6,000 pet owners have filed so far, though many times that had dogs that potentially ate the food and got sick. We still don't know how many animals died from the poisoning.

Today (September 12th) is the last day you can file an objection to the $24 million settlement, an amount that upset many dog parents as being far too small.

As you'll recall dogs started getting sick from Menu Food products in February, 2007 and eventually the crisis engulfed 90 pet food brands. After weeks scientists figured out that Chinese manufacturers were substituting the plastic ingredient melamine to boost protein readings.

The settlement money is for "documented, reasonable economic damages" the settlement document says -- for anyone who bought the food. In other words, they're treating pets like just things and not acknowledging how much they hurt both animals and people. The settlement specifically includes "veterinary treatment costs, death-related expenses, deceased pet purchase price or fair market value, whichever is higher, or new pet cost, property damages and other economic costs." They'll give $900 for a claim without documentation.

New Orleans residents all did better this hurricane, including the dogs and cats. What happened last time around during Katrina to animals and their owners inspired some great changes.

During Katrina animals weren't allowed in shelters or buses leaving town. That gave pet owners two awful options: abandon their animals or wait out the storm with them. Thousands of dogs and cats were abandoned. Many drowned. A lucky few were plucked from top shelves or chained inside houses. Saddest of all, some people who stayed to protect and comfort their dogs ended up dying alongside them.

After Katrina emergency workers owned up to the idea that since pets have become part of people's families, they better come up with a better plan than just leaving pets behind. In 2006 the federal Pet Evacuation and Standards Act required disaster plans to "address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency."

This time around it seemed to have worked. Petfinder.com, which is kind of like an eBay for homeless animals, polled the local rescue groups and found things went off pretty well. Small animals were just allowed on the evacuation buses, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Officials ordered up 150 semi-trucks to carry out the bigger dogs, the Kansas City Star reports. When people checked in, they would also check in their dogs, then get a tracking bracelet. The dogs' temporary shelters were next to human shelters so families could visit.

The laser pointer is the lazy dog owner's best friend. With a small flick of your wrist, you can send your dog happily chasing after a little red dot, excitedly in a pursuit that never ends. The dot itself never gets covered with slobber or mud, gets lost under the couch, breaks or breaks anything, which puts it ahead of most dog toys. The pet store variety are weak and expensive for how pathetic they are. But there are a few better laser options out there.

I'm not really sure what the actual original purpose of the mass market laser pointer was. Was there a time in pre-PowerPoint offices where anyone needed to point things out on a distant chart in a dark room? I can guarantee that if you tried that in an office today you would not make a favorable impression with your tech prowess. Many years ago someone discovered they entertain cats. Then someone else figured out the same prey drive makes the lasers enchanting to dogs, too.

Somebody brought a laser pointer to my dog run one night many years ago and my dog Jolly and I have been hooked ever since. When he was younger he would be part of a pack of dogs anxiously chasing the dot for 100 feet at a time. Now that he's older the dot is the perfect motivator for going for a walk or climbing the stairs.

This year Americans will spend $43 billion on their pets, including $10 billion on over the counter supplies and drugs and another $10 billion on vet care (which usually includes prescription drugs).

Every year we spend more and more on dogs and cats, but there's one area we can save some money: prescription drugs. Right now you probably just get your pet's drugs from your vet. You may be surprised to see how they are marking up the drug prices and how much you can save by going to a legitimate online pet pharmacy.

I found this out when my vet said my dog Jolly needed an iron supplement he would order. I waited days for him to get the $40 bottle in. Then I found it online for $10, no prescription needed.

Dog owners are facing yet another pet food scare. This one seems so far to be smaller in scale, but six dogs are dead and others sick after eating Nutro, according to this investigation by Consumer Affairs. There isn't a recall. Nutro says there isn't even a problem in this special web page it set up to address the issue.

If you're a dog owner you may not have even heard about the latest scare. It hasn't really been in the news. I only found out when a friend at the dog run starting worrying about her dog after seeing the story in an online newsgroup.

Two Italian Greyhounds from Indiana became dizzy, vomited, urinated incessantly and had a peculiar smell, said their owner, identified only as Theresa C. from Indianapolis in the Consumer Affairs story. Both were euthanized after kidney failure. The vet suspected antifreeze poisoning.

Last year, investigators eventually found that dogs were poisoned because Chinese manufacturers had added melamine, a component of antifreeze, to boost protein readings. The Food and Drug Administration analyzed their Nutro food, looking for melamine and similar chemicals as well as other common food poisoning agents like salmonella. The FDA found nothing wrong with the Nutro food.

"I wonder if there's something in the food they're not testing for," Theresa C. told Consumer Affairs -- echoing the concern of dog owners everywhere.

As pets have become part of our family, they've increasingly become part of our travel plans. This summer, as people everywhere scale back their vacation budgets, driving instead of flying, expect to see more dogs and cats coming on vacation. Financially, it often makes sense considering how much it can be to hire a trustworthy dog-sitter.

The good news is that the travel industry is finally catching on -- or trying to. I've been traveling for 12 years with my big shepherd mutt Jolly and have seen lots of improvements in his lifetime, but pet owners still have to put a lot of effort into having a good vacation with our pets.

Decades ago nearly every hotelier would've considered you wildly eccentric for traveling with your dog. Many establishments are still hold-outs to this antiquated philosophy, fearing that people will be traveling with out-of-control beasts who will take a break from chewing furniture only to mess the rug or scare other guests. Some give the excuse of allergies. I have allergies; I'm sympathetic. But I've never seen anyone go into anaphylactic shock because there was a dog in the room last week.

The number of people who travel with their pets depends on who you ask: the Travel Industry Association says 14% of people travel with their pets, mainly dogs, in a 2002 survey. Trip Advisor surveyed travelers in 2007 and found 56% of American animal owners took their pet on vacation.

If you have money to burn and you're allergic to pet dander, but you'd really like to have a cat; have I got a deal for you! ABC News reported recently that a company called Allerca claimed two years ago that they had developed the world's first hypoallergenic cat. Allergic cat lovers immediately began paying deposits for ownership of the sneeze-free felines.

Selling prices range anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 for your average tabby all the way up to $35,000 for an exotic variety of "wild cat." Emergency room doctor David Avner, who has researched the key feline protein believed to cause allergic reactions, says hypoallergenic cats are a fallacy. That's where the matter becomes a bit cloak and dagger-ish.