The thunderstorms are getting more and more frequent and violent. We can’t catch a break these days. Mom’s tents help a little but what we really need is one of those bomb shelters with concrete walls so we don’t hear or feel it. Is there any place we can go that doesn’t have thunder?
Charles here. The other day, Mom took me to the Pet Doctor to get my yearly checkup and vaccinations. I was scared at first but it really didn’t hurt and there are so many good reasons why I need to have vaccines. Mom is very conservative when it comes to putting stuff in our system, so she does a thing called a TITER, if possible, to see if I still have immunity from the last shot. If so, we wait. There are a lot of things that can protect me from getting horrible diseases. I get 4 core vaccines: distemper, infectious hepatitis, parvovirus, and rabies.
Vaccinations protect me from getting diseases like rabies, which I can get from other animals.
Vaccines protect me from airborne viruses like distemper, parvovirus, coronavirus (yes we get a Corona too), infectious canine hepatitis, bordetella, parainfluenza.
There are also vaccines for things like Lyme disease (which I had when Mom first rescued me), which comes from ticks, and leptospirosis, from wild animals.
To determine what vaccines I need, Mom and the Vet, base it on 3 things:
My Age – puppies need a lot of stuff to help their bodies build up resistance to certain bugs, but adults, like me, only need an occasional booster shot.
Where we live – our luck is that the mid-Atlantic is rampant with ticks. This could mean Lyme disease and a whole host of other tick-borne diseases.
Lifestyle: I am never boarded, I don’t go to day-care or the dog park, so my exposure to things like ‘kennel cough (bordetella), is low.
Don’t forget the Cats who should get some core vaccines too. They are different than us dogs. The need at a minimum: Feline herpesvirus-1/feline viral rhinotracheitis (Which Noel has. When Mom rescued her she was seriously ill), Calicivirus, and Panleukopenia. If they go outside, they need more things like Rabies and FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).
Baby Noel rescued Dec 2007
Many Vets and Clinics offer low-cost, sometimes even free, vaccinations.
Take care of me and I will live a long, healthy, life.
Louise is looking for anywhere to hide in the thunderstorm
Sofie is calming down now that the worst has passed for the moment.
The storms have been endless. Hour after hour of boomers overhead. And now, Louise is more afraid than Sofie. She even hid in Charles’ small kennel to try and get away from the noise. The only thing I can do is make a tent and hold them close, but this is getting to the point I worry if they are going to have heart attacks. Louise was so frightened of the fireworks noise that she ate her dog bed when I was tending to Sofie and Charles (I always worry about them ingesting foam) during the over 2 hours that my wonderful neighbors blew up fireworks all around my house on July 4th. It didn’t help that we had a thunderstorm earlier in the day.
Louise hides under any table or desk that she can find, but nothing seems to work for long. This is not good when you have multiple animals with Noisephobia. I am really starting to hate the 4th of July and summer storms.
Oh, and yes, I have tried thunder shirts, and calming CBD treats, and so on, and so on. Sadly, I think I may need to get them sedatives. This is just so sad when nothing can calm them. I am always open to suggestions if anyone has any ideas what might work to help calm them.
When I look out on to the backyard, under the big tree, I sometimes see dogs that have gone ahead and left us for the big meadow. Louise remembers. She lies under the tree today just like she did years ago with Squash (above circa 2011). Nowadays, Sofie and Charles lie there with her.
Sofie and the tree shadow
The trees have always sheltered me and taken care of this yard and provided homes for so many critters. In the last month, many of my neighbors have removed over 10 old-growth trees, for varying reasons. These landscape changes, though needed, make me sad. I tell time by trees. As they disappear, I fear I will lose track of time.
There is something about a pet’s nose. It makes you just want to take your finger and go ‘Boop!’ Do you ‘Boop?’ It is easy to do around the Zoo since we have a lot of head butting animals who come and ask for it.
Louise under the big tree 2020
Sofie and the tree shadow
