Be Your Pet's Best Friend. Barbara Novero Levy
Copyright © Barbara Novero Levy 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical or by any information or storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.
The author of this book is not a veterinarian, nor does she dispense veterinary advice or prescribe the use of any techniques as a form of treatment without the advice of a veterinarian. All references to natural persons are used with permission. All characteristics, likenesses, or references to any fictional person in this book bear no reference to any natural person. The author does not offer any legal advice of any kind. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for quality relationships with pets. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for the reader’s personal decisions on pet care based on the information set forth in this book.
Cover image by Hallie Murry, a rescue longhair dachshund who happens to be blind and is owned by Dee Dee Murry. www.hallieart.com
Scrapbook pages by Barbara Novero Levy
Published in eBook format by AKA-Publishing
Columbia, Missouri.
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-9366-8869-2
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the dozens of friends, professionals, and students who helped me through some very trying and interesting times—I thank you profusely because you kept me from going over the edge on many occasions.
I must also include all my “pet children,” especially Sophie and Nessa, who remind me each day that I was chosen to be their keeper.
About the Author
This book is the culmination of thoughts and experiences of longtime pet owner Barbara Novero Levy, who has loved and been owned by fifteen pets in the last 46 years. She inherited her lifelong love of animals from her mother and her paternal grandmother. Growing up, she had three dogs, a cat, a rabbit, two ducks, a chicken, and for a brief two days, even kept a piglet in the basement before it was adopted by a farmer.
Devoting many satisfying years caring for dogs with a variety of ailments has kept Barbara in close contact with her community veterinarian, specialty veterinary clinics, and the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. These relationships have made highly specialized care available to her from some of the world’s top veterinary clinicians.
Currently retired, Barbara now spends her time writing, and is an active member of the Aging in Place Committee through the Sinclair School of Nursing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She assists with geriatric pet projects at Tiger Place in conjunction with the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI)
She manages home and hearth, but recognizes her role as the Head Keeper of the Cottage, which is “owned” by two Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
Introduction
After thirty plus years in the working world I found myself, like so many others, with an aging self and an aging spouse. In addition to the aging self and the aging spouse, I had aging pets. I spent all those years in business mode in the healthcare industry only to become the caregiver in my own home.
Although I do not profess to be an expert in any specific area of life, being a lifelong caretaker of fifteen pets has given me some depth of experience that I should share.
Like everything in life we all have good intentions and those of us with pet children want to properly care for them, enjoy them and bask in their unconditional love. But along with that we must realize they have needs from the moment we feel them in our hearts until the moment we must part. So you probably know what to do, but where is that helpful list of how to map it out and get it done?
This book is a compilation of topics with guidelines and suggestions to help you formulate ways to do the things you want to do for all those loving years of pet companionship. Hopefully it will help you care for them even if you leave this earth before they do.
Within these pages I reference many different suggestions, but do not endorse any one method of care, specific publication, or product. It is up to each of you to do what you find best for your pet and your family. My goal is to give enough food for thought and reliable references so you can develop your own “things to do” list that will help you to better care for and love your precious pet.
No reference is a complete problem solver, but my hope is that this book will help you get the basics in place by providing guidelines and examples, plus encouragement to keep at it by entertaining you with funny and moving stories that show why it is a good idea to prepare and to care.
Pet companions are living, breathing, and feeling organisms. They depend on us to care for them. If you own a pet it is time to put feelings and emotions into your everyday life. In this Internet world keep in mind the “world” of living things does not stop at the back of the screen. Food, water, shelter, and nurturing are all needs that cannot be satisfied via the keyboard and wifi.
The Bond and Anthropomorphism
I simply could not write this book without addressing the “spirit” of the subject—the human-animal bond. Keyword search that topic on the Internet and you will be reading until dawn and still not have an end in sight.
There are world-class researchers out there who have been studying this bond for years, but in the last decade this body of research has increased in scope and depth. Having completed an undergraduate course in human-animal interaction with one of these top researchers, and having heard several of her colleagues lecture, I can tell you there is a definite recognition of the bond between us mere mortal humans and the pets we so dearly love. Scientific data points to the benefits this bond has for children, psychologically troubled individuals both young and old, people with dementia, people with physical illness or