Pet care: A family鈥檚 hope restored by kindness
Isolation is a growing problem among us Americans. The younger generations, our future, face the worst of it. Social media hasn鈥檛 helped. Kindness and empathy from anyone, including pets, can make a difference.
Way back, during the early years of my career, I was pals with other young daredevils on a softball team. Griff and his wife, Helen, became clients of my practice and, even better, lifelong friends. I recently had dinner with them and another couple of old teammates. They鈥檙e all devoted cat people. So, among other topics, we talked about cats.
Starting a few months ago, Helen and Griff were getting visits from a friendly orange girl tabby. Nobody in their neighborhood claimed parentage. Their older kitty, 鈥淗unter S. Thompson,鈥� had passed away several years earlier. With no pet of their own, they started feeding this local waif they named 鈥淪o-So.鈥� This experience taught them that if you want a loyal customer, there鈥檚 nothing like a free lunch.
Cats can be strongly attached to their people, but they also bond to their territory. Maybe this kitty wasn鈥檛 very far from home. I suggested they bring the untagged vagabond for an exam. As she perched on my table, with an air of nonchalance, I began my assessment only to find that she was actually a he, fortunately equipped with a HomeAgain microchip right where it belonged, under the skin over his shoulders.
It turned out that So-So has a real family that includes a 10-year-old girl, who live 1 1/2 miles from Griff and Helen鈥檚 house. For a whole year, the little guy had been desperately missed by his devoted young person. With her beloved 鈥淪ummer鈥� back home, she penned a note of appreciation, that included a photo of them snuggled together. 鈥淭hank you for finding Summer. It means so much to me. We all thought that she was gone but then you came along and hit the restart. You guys gave the whole family back hope that we lost. You did us such a huge blessing.鈥� Wow.
The moral of the story is that not only do pets provide companionship, there are some with misidentified gender. They don鈥檛 worry about pronouns.
鈥� For help with behavior problems, you can sign up for a Zoom group conference at drjeffnichol.com.
Dr. Jeff Nichol is a residency-trained veterinary behaviorist in Albuquerque. He provides consultations by Zoom group and individually/in-person. Sign up for his weekly blog or post questions (drjeffnichol.com) or mail to 4000 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
