For The Love of My Pets
When I got home from dropping my husband off at work, I decided to go back to bed for a tad more sleep. As I walked towards my bed Tallulah, my ten-year-old pit mix jumped up and kissed my face over and over until I sent her off to the end of the bed. I then squeezed back on to the bed with Xena, my special needs pit mix, at my side and Rowan, my sister’s basset hound at my feet.
I rolled over on to my side and Xena, once terrified of my family and I, rolled over to push her strong, wide body up against me. As I slowly and gently pet her all the images of abandoned, nearly drowned and drowned pets and horses with river rot in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey played on the movie screen in my mind.
I would never leave my dogs or cats in a natural disaster emergency. My family and I would find a way to take them with us, or we would stay to ride out the storm with our animals. Yes, I would risk my life and that of my family to keep my pets safe. Why you ask? Because, that’s the nonverbal agreement we made with each other when I took them in, and they accepted me as their human pack or clowder (if cats even welcome us into their clowder).
We moved from Massachusetts to Georgia. We had three dogs at the time. One has since passed. When we moved, we took all three dogs with us. Yes, all three dogs made an 1,100-mile trek to Georgia packed in cars and trucks over two trips. We made them beds of clothes and caves of boxes. We would never leave them behind. When you adopt or purchase an animal, it is for life and whether you realize it or not you make this commitment to them.
Fuzzball and The Nefarious Mr. Midnight two former feral cats from separate litters by the same mother were both abandoned by her, and I took care of them on my porch. Fuzzball had a brother, Skunkface. When my sister found Fuzzball shaking and looking terrified standing over his brother, Skunkface’s deceased body after being intentionally hit by a car we decided no more and took Fuzzball and The Nefarious Mr. Midnight into our house to keep them safe. In return, they gave us their love. Fuzzball, in particular, loves to be loved. I can cradle him like a baby and rub his belly while he hangs his head over my arm. It was his nonverbal agreement to love me like a dog for saving him from further life on city streets and in their sewers.
Ms. AZN was brought home by my sister. Ms. AZN and her mother were warehouse cats who were fed by employees of the business. One day my sister found Ms. AZN’s mother accidentally crushed between two giant rolls of paper. Dorrie brought her home, and Ms. AZN became our cuddly love, and another unspoken contract was made.
With the passing of our late, great, Capone my husband with a broken heart said to me, Capone knew it was his time and wanted to pave the way for another dog to be saved the way he was. We tried for a year to find the right dog, but Tallulah was not accepting of any dog now that Capone, her lifelong companion was gone.
One day I was approached on Facebook about helping to find a foster or adopter for a dog that was so scared that after 10 months she was still shaking in her cage. That dog is my Xena. My little snuggle bug, peanut butter Prozac time, scaredy dog. I brought her in my home knowing Tallulah would be a problem but I had a plan formatted in my head before she arrived. What I hadn’t planned on was the amount of terror Xena felt in the presence of humans. As our vet said, “She’s too terrified to live.”
Xena didn’t know what to make of a bed. She had never experienced one. Now it’s her favorite spot and her safe place. We all made friends with her via peanut butter. She’s still too terrified to venture beyond our fenced in section of yard and runs away when people enter our yard or home. I made one of those nonverbal agreements not only with my terrified abused, over bred foster fail but with the shelter that left in my care that I would keep her safe and help her heal mentally.
If I left her during Hurricane Matthew, or this Monday if Hurricane Irma threatens our home it would be a complete betrayal. First, she would have no one to give her, her life improving Prozac. Going cold turkey on Prozac is a very bad idea never mind for a severely frightened dog. During Hurricane Matthew she shook like a sheet of paper in gale force winds and pressed her body against my side looking for comfort. Tallulah and Rowan also sought out comfort with other family members as the cats could be heard under the couches. Animals get spooked just as easily as we do, and it’s not right to leave them terrified and alone. For Xena, without her Prozac, she would be even worse. I am sure she would have no more trust for us if we left her behind in a natural disaster.
What if something happened and we couldn’t get back, and there’s no food or water. After Hurricane Matthew, I heard a man calling into one of the local radio stations covering the recovery attempts. This person was worried about getting back to his house because they had to leave their dog and it had been alone for well over a week. I can’t imagine, the slow painful suffering that caused. I sometimes wonder if the poor animal was even alive when they got home. How could I possibly be solipsistic enough to cause this kind of suffering to my beloved pet who depends on me for survival and love?
Then again during Matthew, a number of trees fell down in our neighborhood. Our house got lucky but what if a tree falls down during Hurricane Irma? There’s one that took quite the beating during Hurricane Mathew directly behind our house. If it fell, it could cut our house in half. Then I come home to dead or worse missing animals. Betrayed, cold, alone, possibly injured, terrified. Xena has already experienced this in her past life, and as she is slowly adjusting to life as a loved and cared for dog, I feel that it would be too much for her. She may never mentally recover if that were to happen. She has learned after a year to trust two of the four people in the house, how to play, and how to accept love and in her own way love back. I would not stop that forward momentum for anything.
As I snuggled down and started to sleep with Rowan at my feet, Tallulah at the foot of the bed, Xena snuggling into my gut and Fuzzball crawling up my legs to sleep on my hips and torso I once again made that unspoken promise to my furbabies. I will keep you safe. I will do everything I can to protect you. I will stay with you during the storm and if I have to evacuate I will leave with you even if it means all of you and your four humans living in an SUV for days because that is my responsibility as your human and if I did not do so, I would not be worthy of being your human.
