Taking Care of Dogs During a Medical Crisis

Last December a surgeon found that my older brother has a cancerous tumor. Our lives were drastically changed overnight.

The chemotherapy is shrinking the tumor, and the doctors say everything is going better than expected. But it requires a lot of time spent at the hospital and lots of doctor visits. One thing we have had to do is simplify our lives to make time for my brother’s medical needs.

With 4 dogs, 7 cats, a rabbit, chickens, and smaller pets, it hasn’t been easy to be gone as much as we have been. Here’s what we have done:

1. When I need to go stay with my aunt (for choir practice and to help teach a Sunday school class), I take the oldest dog with me. She is 15, and requires a lot of extra care. That frees my mom up to spend those days with my brother at the hospital.

2. We freed one room for the 2 cats who had been living in my brother’s room. He isn’t allowed to have any pets in his room until the treatments are all finished. So those 2 cats now live in the TV room.

3. I have had to start taking care of the chickens (my brother used to). When I am going to be gone for several days (to my aunt’s house) I fill the chicken’s food and water containers so my mom doesn’t have to worry about the chickens while I’m gone.

4. We had been fostering an elderly collie, who we all enjoyed, but he required a lot of extra care. We had to let him go to another home. It was hard to say good-bye, but it was something we really needed to do.

Now when I’m gone for a couple of days each week, or counseling at a camp for Easter week, my mom has less pets to take care of, and the ones left are fairly easy to care for.

If you ever have to simplify your life, for whatever reason, try to find temporary homes for your pets rather than sending them to the animal shelter. You probably know people who would rather help you out (people are very willing to help someone going through a difficulty) than see your pets end up at the shelter.

When my brother was diagnosed with cancer, lots of our friends and family offered to help any way they could. If you know someone going through a tough time, perhaps you can help them in some way. It really makes a difference.