Pets give us so much love and joy. In my life they have been such teachers of lessons that have yielded in me an ever-evolving gratitude. There are the happy times, the stressful times, the sad times, and the times of loss with pets. And each step of the way, such love, such spirituality, when we tap into it and connect with it.

Buffy at 12 weeks of age

Buffy’s Ordeal and what pet owners needs to know about vaccinations

On New Year’s Day, January 1, 2010 I and a couple of friends were out in my backyard with my dogs, in the snow on a very cold day. A cold day that only the surrender to the “God” in a dog could warm. Dog isn’t God spelled backwards without meaning. My now 5 month old puppy, Buffy, had a terrible reaction to her second set of vaccinations at the age of 3 months. She couldn’t walk for 2 weeks, she was quite ill. I had to carry her to do her business and hold her up while she tended to that. She was totally lame. What followed was 2 months of cage rest with a very gradual increase in activity along with medication that addressed the inflammation in the growth plates of her paws.

Buffy’s Ordeal and what pet owners needs to know about vaccinations

Buffy 5 Months old Jan 2010

Buffy has recently turned a corner. Not all the way back yet, but doing very well and able now to run and play with my other two dogs. She had to be kept apart from Tyler and Lucy for those 2 months of cage rest or she’d try to hard to play and hurt her paws and end up limping again.

Blessings are all around us when we are open to them. Lessons can be difficult, trying, stressful, and frustrating. I hurt for my little puppy. I longed for the relationship and play that we couldn’t share for most of the last 2 months. I had to surrender to what was. In that surrender and acceptance I was honoured to the difficult work of tending to Buffy, helping her when she couldn’t walk, and having firm boundaries when it appeared she’d lose her young little mind in that cage – for her sake – so she could get well.

 

Buffy’s Ordeal and what pet owners needs to know about vaccinations

Buffy and I did experience loss in what we could share and in her training in those 2 months of cage rest. But, and perhaps more importantly, what we gained from Buffy’s unfortunate and painful pseudo Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy (HOD) – that was the result of a vaccination reaction that caused inflammation in the growth plates of all four of her paws – was a deeper bond. We learned to adapt to what was in ways that saw both of us face this adversity together and come out the other side raring to go. Raring to make up for lost time. I have been more dedicated to her training and making up lost ground and Buffy, who is smart as whip anyway, has given incredible attention and effort from what is a very strong desire to please and to learn.

I also learned to educate myself much more about the dangers of pet vaccinations. Something every pet owner will benefit from doing. I will not ever approach those so-called routine vaccinations the same way ever again. I will no longer be a willing participant in the ways that Vets encourage and even guilt us into unnecessary yeary vaccinations. Watch out for the combo shots. That’s what got Buffy at the tender age of 12 weeks.

What joy I derive  now from watching Buffy able to run, once again, as she did as a young pup before those shots on November 4th that changed everything and threatened her life. What joy Buffy is experiencing in finally being able to run and to release so much pent-up energy.

It is important to have an attitude of gratitude for what seems to go wrong. Just as it is to have that same attitude for the blessings, healing and recovery. Pets are the teachers of incredible spirited lessons. We just need to pay attention and open to those lessons and experiences fully. Engage. Love. Bond.

 © A.J. Mahari, January 2, 2010 – All rights reserved.

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