Furfluencers

On the TV series "Kitchen Nightmares," Gordon Ramsay infamously (and frequently) describes the restaurant meals he's presented with as resembling a "dog's dinner." Apparently Gordon hasn't seen the lavish meals that dogs today are fed. Julia and Anya go back in time to look at the history of dog food, what we feed our dogs today, and who determines what goes into a nutritious dog's dinner. 

If your new year's resolution is to devote yourself to your feline companion, we have just the story for you: Cat Cults. Yep, you read that right. Today, we're talking about a cult of human beings who worship cats and one cult leader, in particular, who wreaked havoc on her followers. MeWOW, indeed!

The Grinch is one of the most famous characters in Christmas history, but often forgotten is his beloved sidekick Max. In this episode Julia and Anya discover the origins of Max, ponder if the Grinch ever deserved Max's love, and pitch a new spinoff where Max is the star. 

What happens when a dog bites another dog? Or when a dog attacks a human? To find out, Julia and Anya look at some recent news stories about dog attacks. What do they learn? That dog attacks can be more complicated to prevent and remedy than they thought.

We're thrilled to share our conversation with Benjamin Clark, curator at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. While all of the Peanuts characters are amazing, we naturally focused the discussion on the King of Cool, Snoopy. Join us on a journey through Snoopy's origins, his sometimes tempestuous relationship with Charlie Brown, his insatiable appetite, and how he became a global icon. Happy Thanksgiving!

We assumed that connecting with spirits would be scary, be they human or animal. Turns out, it's not scary at all! Today's guest is Sue Pike, The Animal Talker . Sue is an Animal Communicator, Reiki Master, Spirit Channeler and Spiritual Teacher. Sue is uniquely capable of communicating with living and transitioned animals, not to mention the variety of spirits and deities that surround them. She...

We're revisiting the animated and live action 101 Dalmatians movies to see how they hold up today. (As Anya points out, Julia's favorite animal movie should have included a PSA about doggy family planning.)

The recent nation-wide impact of the Canadian wildfires on the U.S. has been nothing short of scary. Cities filled with orange smoke and air quality levels at terrifying highs have forced the conversation about why wildfires start and how to manage them in areas where people never expected to have to deal with them. Part of those discussions in the news media and on social has been about the effec...

Last month, King Charles's coronation took over the internet, and while we aren't exactly "royal watchers," we couldn't help but follow along. King Charles is said to be many things but is he an animal lover? We dive into a short history on the British royal family and their relationship to animals -- corgis, eel pie, and all. In the end, we have to agree that the Balmoral Bats have it better than...

Giddyup, Julia and Anya are taking on the Kentucky Derby. They go back in time to find out where the Derby came from, why it's so short, and why there's so much pastel in attendance. Later, they explore the lifecycle of racehorses and call attention to racing's seemingly unstoppable villain horse trainer, all while asking the question, "Is this still ethical?" (Pastel hats being the first crime ag...

Riding on their high from a Sunday matinee of the horror comedy movie Cocaine Bear , Anya and Julia discuss the film and its bizarre (and limited) real-life backstory. Enjoy!

In celebration of true love, Julia and Anya take to the mics to discuss the latest hot topic of the heart: do animals fall in love? Well, duh! They talk about the science behind love in animals and come to the conclusion, through their own scientific research, that the answer is a resounding yes. Then, they roll through some of their favorite animal couples, and later their romantic Valentine's Da...

Forget the Super Bowl, we’re getting ready for THE PUPPY BOWL! That’s right, Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl is coming back for its 19th year of canine competition. Our favorite sports event will feature rescue puppies playing their version of football on Super Bowl Sunday. 122 puppies from 67 different shelters and rescues will be divided between Team Ruff and Team Fluff. And among those rescue puppie...

It should come as no surprise that at Furfluencers HQ, loving dogs and comedy are essential qualities in the humans that we spend time with. Fortunately, we're not alone, and it turns out that there's an actual organization dedicated to bringing these wonderful things together. MUST LOVE DOGS AND COMEDY produces comedy shows that people can bring their dogs to while also raising money for animal r...

Happy Holidays! Anya and Julia sit down together to talk all things reindeer and Rudolph. Anya makes a shocking discovery that calls into question who is really pulling Santa's sleigh.

While reindeer are the beloved hooved animal of Christmas in the U.S., Julia always associates this holiday, and its medieval carols, with unicorns. Inspired by December trips to see the famous unicorn tapestries at the Met Cloisters in NYC , she invited Scottish historian Donna Heddle to this week’s show to discuss the history of unicorns. They talk about why unicorns have survived while other my...

If you’re ever walking with your dog down the streets of NYC, you might be lucky enough to have Elias Friedman stop and ask you “Excuse me … can I take a picture of your dog?” In today’s episode, we chat with Elias and Isabel from The Dogist , and how a simple request to take a picture of a stranger’s dog has turned into one of the most popular dog accounts on the internet.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have a special episode celebrating family – both two-legged and four – with Julia’s cousin Kerri and her delightful pup Lucy. The pair met when Lucy was brought to the animal hospital where Kerri worked as a vet tech. In critical condition, with 2nd and 3rd degree burns, Lucy was not expected to survive. But she did and immediately captured the hearts of her caretakers, as w...

Happy Halloween! We’re celebrating with a very unusual critter today. While most of our featured animals are highly visible, this one is rather elusive: Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nessie! Our guest, Gary Campbell is the keeper of the official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register , a catalog of all known Nessie sightings. In our chat, Gary opens the floodgates on Nessie’s...

Things are getting batty at Fur HQ today! As part of our Halloween-inspired series, we welcome Leslie Sturges, the president of the Bat Conversation and Rescue of Virginia. Leslie has devoted her life to wildlife, and over the past 20 years, she has cared for more than 1,000 bats. Her organization educates kids and adults alike on how to help wild bats that are injured or lost from their colonies,...

What happens when two arachnophobic podcast hosts interview one of the internet’s most loved spider moms? Well it was better than we expected! Madison is the creator of @jumping.spooders , an Instagram/TikTok/YouTube account that celebrates jumping spiders. Jumping spiders are the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species, and Madison’s posts show us what makes them unique – not just among s...

The spooky season is upon us! And to kick it off, we’re welcoming Jennifer Stott, the founder of the Massachusetts Black Cat Rescue, to the show! Jennifer was inspired to start the rescue based on her personal love for black cats as well as the unique challenges that black cats face when it comes to adoption. To date, her rescue has helped over 500 black cats find homes that celebrate them for who...

We know that Fall has arrived when the NYC squirrels are a little more nuts than usual, which brings us to our first guest in our series of Autumn Animals – Peanut the Squirrel ! Peanut was a baby when his mom was hit by a car and he was picked up by animal lover Mark Longo. Mark cared for Peanut at his home in CT and then tried to release him back into the wild. But after getting attacked on his...

Smokey the Bear, watch out! Because Penny the Fire Pig is taking over as the new face of fire safety! Penny is a mini pig who spends most days hanging out with her dad and other firefighters at Engine Co. 239 in Brooklyn, NY. When she’s not delighting her neighbors with her cuteness, she’s painting pictures at the firehouse with her snout. This pig’s talents have not been overlooked and Penny has...

Pavlov is a spunky Pembroke Welsh Corgi who lives his best life in Los Angeles with his parents Anthony and Tram, and his fur brother Maslow. It’s fitting for Pavlov that his homebase is also the home of Hollywood, because Pavlov was one of the original Instagram dogs whose photos first captured people’s hearts in the early teen aughts. And while he gets some credit for his rise to fame on Instagr...