CatChannel Exclusive: Meet Author Karen Halligan, DVM

Learn more about the inspiration behind her book ?Doc Halligan?s What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs.?

1. Why did you write the book?

I wrote this book to help pet owners save money on their vet bills and to help pets live a long and healthy life. I used to do a lot of emergency work, and I would say that the majority of pets came in with problems that could have been prevented, such as being hit by a car, poisonings or overgrown nails.

2. What was your inspiration?

I was inspired after working at the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and realizing that 4 to 6 million animals are killed in our country every year. I wanted to give a voice to the animals that are being euthanized. I also felt that if I taught pet owners how to take better care of their pets, they would be less inclined to turn them in to the shelter or maybe not even get a pet in the first place. Hurricane Katrina inspired me as well. After spending a week there, I came home and wrote an entire chapter on disaster prevention and the importance of proper identification.

3. What is your writing process?

I write best in the mornings after my double espresso. I like to handwrite if I have the time. I usually do an outline first, then flesh it in as I go along. I always carry a pad with me because sometimes when I am driving, something will come to me. I have many stories I want to share about real life cases that were edited out of this book because of space.

4. Do you have any other books?

No other books yet, but I am planning on writing something along the lines of “Marley and Me” but from a veterinarian’s perspective.

5. What has the feedback been on the book so far?

I have had fabulous feedback on the book. I get emails from pet owners telling me it was the best money they have ever spent and that it is a great gift for pet owners.

Cat Fancy talks with Karen Halligan about her book

Nathan is Dr. Halligan’s orange tabby, and Kinky is her black and white cat.

6. Are you a cat owner? How many do you have?

I have two cats, Kinky and Nathan, who I adopted from the clinics where I was working shortly before I lost my chocolate lab, Duke. The cats loved Duke, and they were a huge source of comfort for me when he died.

7. Do cats influence your writing? How so?

My cats did influence my writing because I was able to write from a cat owner’s perspective as well as a vet’s. They enjoyed having all the paper around to play with, too!

8. Were certain parts of the book more difficult to write than others? Which ones?

The toughest chapter was “Seniors Are Special.” I originally had omitted talking about putting your pet down because I had had such a hard time losing my chocolate lab, Duke, three years earlier. Then one night, a girlfriend asked me how I addressed losing a pet. I realized that it had been too painful for me to write about it up to that point, and I went home and broke down crying and wrote the entire content that night. That is my best work in the book, and it was very cathartic.