2023_NorthStarVets_Pets_Digital_Issue

REAL PETS, REAL PEOPLE
had nowhere to go with that. And especially
at that time, it really wasn’t socially acceptable
to take days off for this, even though
you’re saying goodbye to your beloved fourlegged
friend or mourning the loss of your
pet. Thankfully, as society has progressed,
it’s more understood and it’s more supported.
And that is why I wanted to start a petloss
support group. We met twice a month.
I was able to get enough donations to hire
a therapist who specialized in bereavement.
Before I left at the end of my
senior year, I was able to get a
lot more donations to keep it
going, because I feared that,
once I left the university, it
would fold. And I am told
that it is still in existence today.
One of the things I
always try to think about,
or at least acknowledge, is
that we all want our pets
to live a whole lot longer
than they do, but that’s
just not their natural life
span. But I firmly, firmly
believe that dogs, and
this could apply to other
animals as well, but my book is about
dogs—that dogs are placed in our lives at
just the right moment, when we perhaps
need to learn a lesson or perhaps need help.
And a lot of times we maybe don’t even
realize that there is something missing. I
believe that dogs have this magical quality,
and I know that I have been blessed by
having a few or many dogs in my life that
have all taught me different things.
What lessons have you learned about
life and loss from your dog?
I believe the overriding lesson of the entire
book is that dogs are not just incredible
support or companions, but I think that
they are fantastic guides for when we
struggle. And we all struggle at times with
so many different things. ...One of the
things I learned about dogs is that they are
pack animals, and that’s how they survive
in the wild. They do better because they’re
together. They need each other to help
hunt for food, and they rely on each other
for security. They even lay on each other
for warmth. If you remember a couple of
Christmases ago, the gift was the weighted
blanket. So everyone rushed to the mall
to get the weighted blanket—but dogs are
their own weighted blanket. And if you’ve
ever had a really hard day and come home,
maybe you’re sitting on the sofa and your
dog is lying alongside you or, even better,
is lying on you—it is just the best feeling.
And I think if we take that viewpoint
even a step further, it’s that we as people
are better off as pack animals rather than
“…dogs are placed in our lives at just the
right moment when we perhaps need to
learn a lesson or perhaps need help.”
trying to exist
just individually
or alone. And that
we truly are better
together.
Other lessons:
Dogs are not judgmental...and
dogs
live in the moment.
They mirror for us
what mindfulness
should be. Dogs
show us the sanctity
of self-care. ...You
know, the proverbial,
'Dogs lick their own
wounds.' Clearly, we
shouldn’t do that
for ourselves, but we
should tend to ourselves if we have sore
muscles, or—I know for me, when I was
going through chemotherapy, I still tried
to do things instead of resting and letting
my body heal.
How did your dog and the other dogs
that you’ve treated help you deal with
your own diagnosis of cancer?
They set the bar higher for me. They were
actually my recovery role models. I think
that, a lot of times, animals, especially
dogs and cats, are better patients than we
are. What I’ve tried to allow dogs to show
me, and cats as well, is that because they
live in the moment, they don’t fret. Before
I would go to the cancer treatment center,
I would fret about the what ifs. Am I going
to get sick? How sick is sick? Will I lose
my hair? Will the nurse be able to put a
catheter in me? And when a dog is going
into the veterinary clinic, they’re pulling
on the edge of the leash. They are eager to
sniff anything or look for a biscuit. I know
that when we treat dogs with chemotherapy,
after they’re done, they hop right up
and they’re looking for a treat or to be
scratched behind the ear. But not me. I
would lament that it took the nurse two
tries to get the catheter in me and worry
about what was going to happen the next
time. And I believe that all that negative
energy just circled in my head, and circles
in all of our heads, but it only serves to
bring us down. Dogs and other animals
don’t have that. They use their energy for
positive thoughts, and I think that’s so
much healthier.
Can pets help with healing?
Absolutely! Just take a look at how dogs
are used for people with PTSD after
they have come back from being in the
military service. Just the act of having a
dog or a cat, something warm who loves
you right back, that you take care of, is so
helpful. Because even though we feel we’re
responsible for them, they feel they’re
100 percent responsible for us. We know
that people who have fish tanks and look
at fish in the tank have an increased level
of endorphins. And this goes for having
any pet, not just having a fish tank—they
have decreased levels of cortisol, which is
a stress hormone. They have warmer skin
temperatures because it helps dilate their
blood vessels. They tend to be happier.
Dogs have been shown to help people and
children with autism and ADHD. There
was even a study where children with
diabetes that had a pet and helped take
care of the pet then took better care of
themselves. Dogs and pets in general just
make us happier. And they have therapy
dogs on college campuses to help students
experiencing stress during exam time.
How did your dog help you get better?
I’d been battling cancer, and then, one day,
I was on the sofa convalescing from my
treatment and feeling lousy, and I reached
out for my dog, Newton, a boxer who was
my diligent nurse mate. He never left my
side. He didn’t care if I was in my pajamas
from four days ago or had chicken soup
stains on the front. He always saw me for
me. I reached down one day to pet him, and
I felt an enlarged lymph node. It turned out
that he had lymphoma, which is the most
common cancer that we see in dogs. We
get pets because we want a companion...
but we never think that our four-legged
companion is going to be going through
chemotherapy simultaneously. And that’s
what happened. But in the beginning, he
just kicked cancer’s rear end. He would
come home after his treatment and race to
his food bowl, eager. He was a role model
for my recovery. —Jacqueline Mroz
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