Sommaire pour May - June 2018 de All Creatures

MY NAME IS GRACE, and I am a golden retriever of three years. Recently I got sick. I’d never really had anything serious. Until now. I got weak and dizzy. I am told that my white blood cell count fell and I had a fever. All I know is that I felt horrible. I just wanted to sleep and be reassured by my people. I didn’t even want to eat, which is really unbelievable for me. I learned some things about being sick that I want to share in case you are ever in my situation. Rest. This is something that I am usually quite adept at. Who doesn’t like to nap? Except I felt bad that I wasn’t doing my usual duties—guarding the front door, scaring the deer from…

BY THE TIME weather forecasters realized how intense Hurricane Irma was going to be, it was too late for many people in Florida to evacuate—including the Moritz family in West Palm Beach. They worried that the wooden paddock on their property wouldn’t be enough protection for their eight therapy horses. “We had plans to bring them to a pasture at a resort in Tennessee, but when we heard from friends who were having trouble getting gas and were stuck in traffic for hours trying to leave the state, we knew we couldn’t risk such a long trip,” Yvonne Moritz says. They made other arrangements. “Irma shifted back east, so we agreed to transport the horses to a 120-acre ranch just an hour from us in Okeechobee, Florida.” But the storm…

I sat on the porch with my coffee. I’d snuck outside, inching the sliding glass door open so as not to wake anyone. My husband, Anthony; daughters, Grace, 13, and Genevieve, 11; and son, Joseph, 6, were still asleep in the cabin we’d rented in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. The day before, we had driven 10 hours to get here, with Luna, our 75-pound Lab-bulldog mix, sitting on my lap, and Joseph telling endless knock-knock jokes. Today was my fortieth birthday. And I needed to be alone. Three years earlier, my mom had died right before my birthday, after an eight-month battle with malignant melanoma. I missed her with an ache that went through my bones, through every part of me. I didn’t want to celebrate. Was this…

I ADOPTED SANDY from a shelter in 1977 for $7 just 24 hours before he was scheduled to be euthanized. At the time, I desperately wanted to be an actor, and I was promised a part in a production if I agreed to find and train a dog for the show. Little did I know that my scruffy rescue mutt would find stardom playing Sandy the dog in the original Broadway production of Annie. On Broadway alone, he appeared in 2,333 performances. Sandy is the reason I’ve had a successful career as an animal trainer. He was the catalyst for my life as I know it. My beloved Sandy died at age 16. Twenty-six years passed before I commissioned a life-size bronze statue of him to hold his ashes. It…

Q My two-and-a-half-year-old female fox red Labrador, Lyzzi, has a habit of whining. She’s extremely smart and active. Why is she whining, and what can I do? —Cyndi Ebelherr, Paso Robles, California A There are two reasons for nonspecific whining: physical discomfort and anxiety. First, get Lyzzi a thorough checkup with your vet to make sure she’s not suffering from any aches or pains. If she’s physically healthy, she may be struggling with separation anxiety or worrying about something scary or painful that she has experienced. Separation anxiety is a feeling of fear—and sometimes panic—that a dog has when left alone. Sometimes obvious symptoms, such as house soiling, destructiveness or noise, aren’t present and the pet parent is unaware of the separation anxiety. In these cases, the disorder…

FOOD, CLOTHING AND OTHER donated items helped our family of nine after our home was badly damaged by a tornado. Somehow our pregnant cat had survived unharmed. Her loss would have been devastating for the kids. I knew because one of the neighbor girls, Gracie, was bereft after losing her new kitten in the storm. “The babies are coming!” my son announced one evening. We watched six kittens come into the world. One of them stood out. She was white as angels’ wings, and she quickly became the kids’ favorite. I invited Gracie to come over to see the kittens. Of course, she was no different from my own children: She favored the white one. When the kittens were about six weeks old, Gracie’s mom gave us a call. “We’ve…

I STOOD BEFORE THE FULL-LENGTH MIRROR in the church’s bridal suite, looking past myself in my wedding gown, searching for a blessing. The secret blessing I’d prayed for. My soon-to-be mother-in-law fussed with the train on my gown, and the reflection got blurry as my eyes welled with tears. Not even my fiancé, Paul, knew the sadness that weighed on my heart, the longing I had for the presence of the five people missing from my special day. My mom, my aunt, my grandma and grandpa, and my sister, Audrey. Five people I’d adored. My aunt and grandmother had passed away many years before; Grandpa, Mom and Audrey had all died within four years of one another. I didn’t know how the rules of heaven worked, but I’d asked God…

PETEY approached the leashed bulldog in the testing area, tail wagging a bit too much. He wriggled, his tongue lolling joyfully. I was nervous. If he was too excited, he’d fail his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test. The test administrator looked at Petey, then me. “How old is he?” she said. “Six months,” I replied. She chuckled and nodded. The test involved greeting a friendly stranger, moving politely through a crowd and reacting with confidence to distractions, among other things. Thankfully, Petey passed. We’re still working with him on simple commands, and he needs to learn to rein in his puppy energy. Just because he passed the CGC test doesn’t mean he’ll graduate as a therapy dog. But he’s well on his way. COULD YOUR PET BE A THERAPY DOG?…

NATIONAL PET MONTH May Pets make our lives better, sometimes in un expected ways. Take, for instance, Diane Stark’s sugar glider on page 42. HUG YOUR CAT DAY June 4 Owning a cat can reduce your stress and lower your blood pressure. Give your kitty some extra love to say thank you! SAVE A FISH DAY June 18 Does your fish recognize you? Check out some fascinating facts about our finned friends on page 8.…

I GREW UP WITH DOGS. I never thought I would be a cat person. Then one spring Fred came along. MARCH 30 A cat was rescued from the tracks of the A train. A mottled gray cat with perfectly white paws and a white ruff at his neck, “like the lace collar of a Dutch burgher in a Rembrandt painting” my wife, Carol, says (she has a degree in art history). Our friend Mary Alice asked if we’d like to take him. I don’t really know anything about cats. I’ve never had one for a pet. But I know a cat would make Carol happy, so I say yes. APRIL 10 We’ve prepared for his arrival as though he were a newborn child. We bought a water dish, a food…

Your pet’s health and happiness are in your hands. Along with routine vet visits, here are important steps you can take now to help your loyal companion live a long, joyful life. 1 Invest in quality food. Not everyone agrees on which foods and brands are best for your pet. But one thing most experts are on board with is the importance of quality pet food ingredients. You may be thinking, I don’t eat filet mignon ever› night, why should my dog or cat? The answer is, investing in the best-quality, most nutritious food you can afford now can improve your pet’s health and save you money on vet bills later. Review the ingredients list on the bag or can. Look for a good protein source, usually chicken, lamb or…