Gina Spadafori Joins The Pet Health Central Blog!

There are only two things I’ve ever really wanted to do: Share my life with animals, and be a writer.

I’ve been very lucky to combine these two passions into a life where I write about animals for a living.  Every day I feel blessed to do the work I love, writing about topics that are near and dear to my heart, especially when it comes to helping other animal-lovers have a better life for themselves and their animals.

I haven’t always been able to work full-time at what I loved. For years I was an editor and reporter for a newspaper, writing about pets and their care in a weekly column I started after convincing the editors we needed one. That column later ended up in other papers, then online, where the publisher of the “… For Dummies” series saw my work and liked it. I took a leave of absence from my job to write “Dogs For Dummies,” and again for “Cats For Dummies.” I then left newspapering to work for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN.com), an online service by veterinarians, for veterinarians.  Left VIN to write “Birds for Dummies,” then took a job as an editor and writer for an electric company.

But I didn’t have as much enthusiasm for energy-efficient appliances as I do for animals, so three years ago I did the crazy thing: Quit the day job once and for all, and never looked back.

I’ve co-authored more pet-care books since, including a New York Times best-seller. I still write a weekly syndicated pet-care column, along with countless articles for other media outlets. I’ve traveled the country with my dog on book tour, and have had the best times imaginable at veterinary conferences and pet industry tradeshows. I get to talk to the world’s best veterinarians and animal behaviorists, and then I get to share what I learn with pet-lovers who need and want the world’s best information.

In case you can’t tell, I love, love, love my work.

And yes, I love working with all animals as my “co-workers,” a dream I finally realized less than a year ago when I bought a small property zoned for agricultural use. Now my little Rancho Buena Fe´(a/k/a Good Faith Ranch) is home not only to me, but also to two horses, three dairy goats, one feral barn cat, two indoor cats, two ducks, 22 chickens and two dogs.

How did a city girl like me end up like this? Let me just say that chickens are “gateway livestock.” You get a cute trio of backyard hens after your city makes them legal and the next thing you know you’re milking a goat. In less than six years I went from being a fairly normal editor and writer with a couple of dogs to … this.

Crazy? Possibly, but do keep reading. I’ll be working very hard to make sure you’ll love my work almost as much as I do, even if the only animals you share your life with are cats and dogs.