In these cases you should take your pet to the vet
Our pets can’t tell us when they’re feeling unwell. Here are some signs that you should take your dog or cat to the vet.
Until the dog do us part.
In Atlanta, Geoie Krull is the best dog dad his two 13-year-old pups can bark at. They care about each other, Krull said, and the dogs are attuned to his emotions.
“They’re both angels, and Peyton is like an empath,” Krull, 43, said of his German shepherd-Labrador retriever mix. “If we’re having a bad day or feeling bad, this dog will literally come up to us and snuggle up to us because she senses we’re having a bad day.”
But Peyton and Pixie, a Chihuahua-Italian mix, have belonged to Krull’s wife, Kellie Coker, for much longer than the couple have known each other. Coker got the dogs nearly a decade ago, and they’ve been through a lot with her, too. Then she met Krull in 2020, and the two married in November 2023.
The divorce rate in the U.S. has been rising for decades. In recent years, about 40% of first marriages ended in divorce, according to lawyers. The rate is even higher for second and third marriages, according to law firms. As more Americans marry at an older age, when personal finances and property are more important, the number of prenups is increasing, say lawyers who work with couples across the country.
As prenups become more common, many people are choosing to include their pets in the agreements since our furry companions are technically property.
That’s why Peyton and Pixie have a special clause in their marriage contract. In the unlikely event of a divorce, the puppies will become the property of their mother, as she owned them for several years before she married Krull.
“It makes so much sense to be able to shape your own life because everyone’s life is so different,” said Coker, 39.
What is a prenuptial agreement for a pet?
Many couples enter into a prenuptial agreement before getting married because if the couple does not do so and gets divorced, their state’s automatic divorce rules will apply, requiring all assets to be divided fifty-fifty.
This common rule has been the norm for decades because a few generations ago, people married much earlier and acquired most of their assets — like homes and furniture — together. But today, people bring many personal possessions with them when they get married, says Julia Rodgers, CEO of HelloPrenup, an online service that helps couples in more than 30 states draft their prenuptial agreements.
“People are getting married later, and when they get married later, they probably have more possessions,” Rodgers said. “And so they think more logically about their overall finances.”
Two-thirds of HelloPrenup customers reported having a pet at the time of signing a contract, Rodgers said. A third of those customers include the pet in the agreement, company data shows.
In addition to arranging ownership and custody, pet prenuptial agreements can also help a couple agree on who will make medical decisions for the animal and pay for veterinary bills, food, insurance and daily expenses.
Investments, debts and child custody are other important things a couple can agree to divide in a prenuptial agreement. Petty clauses have become more common recently, Rodgers said, especially as prenups become more common.
“We don’t consider pets to be property, but people realize that when you get married in most states, they are actually considered property under the law,” Rodgers said.
The prenuptial agreement felt right after a divorce
Coker’s marriage fell apart. She said she never considered a prenuptial agreement when she first got married, but after the divorce, a prenuptial agreement just made sense for her second marriage, she told USA TODAY.
“It was only then that I realized that the state you’re in already has a way of dealing with all your assets without you having a say,” Coker said. “The more I looked into it and read about it, the less sense it made not to have such an option.”
As a member of the Air Force, he also witnessed many of his comrades getting divorced, sometimes multiple times. If a couple does get divorced, he said, a prenuptial agreement helps prevent “things from getting out of hand.”
How do couples agree on custody of pets?
If, as in the case of Krull and Coker, one person acquired the pets before marriage, the animals almost always go to that person in the event of a divorce, Rodgers said.
In cases where the pet was acquired during the marriage, Rodgers said she sees more couples sharing custody. Even among HelloPrenup clients who had a pet before they got married, 17% agree to shared custody in the event of a divorce, Rodgers said.
“Today, people view their pets as family members, and when they bring a pet into their relationship, they should plan what will happen to the pet,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said that in divorces where there are children and a pet, the pet almost always follows the children in the custody agreement to ensure the children have access to the animal.
For a decade there was only Peyton and Pixie. Then came Binx.
Krull and Coker were blessed with a third fur baby in late May when a stray kitten appeared in the trash can in their backyard and Coker caught it trying to eat a greasy paper towel.
The couple named the cat Binx, after the cat from the movie Hocus Pocus.
Because Binx was acquired during their marriage, Krull and Coker must enter into a postnuptial agreement if they want to determine who gets the cat in the event of a divorce.
Laughing in a video interview, Coker said she thought Binx would fall into that category if the couple split up because their prenuptial agreement technically says “animals.”
“But don’t get me wrong – we’re not getting a divorce,” Krull said, laughing. “I’ve found my soul mate. And what makes it even better is that the prenuptial agreement gives us this inner peace.”
