Innehållsförteckning för May/June 2021 från All Creatures

I WAS CHATTING WITH another mom in the school pickup line (pre-pandemic). “Charlie’s my oldest,” I said, nodding at my beagle mix, who was along for the walk. “But he’s just a dog,” the other mom said. That’s not how I see it. I adopted Charlie as a puppy, and he was the first living, breathing being that I was responsible for. He needed to learn to trust that I would provide for him. He needed someone to teach him how to treat others. He needed to understand right from wrong. He needed to feel loved and cared for. He needed to grow into his own personality, explore the world and discover new things while someone was there cheering him on. Me, his mom. I always wanted to be a…

This protective mama keeps her babies by her side, and when humans get too close she stomps her hooves in warning. —Katie Calautti Izzy adores our foster kittens. She watches over them like a mother—and brings them along on her adventures! —Allison Ilcken This is Lucy with her first baby. She’s a wonderful mama, always tending to her little one. Every time I look at them together, I see the love between them. —Crystal Sands I recently got two rescue kittens. They’re not related, but Martha Carson (right) looks after Kitty Wells like any nurturing parent would. —Kimberly Elkins Hope (right) turns into the party police when Charlie Buck (left) and Abby Grace get too rambunctious. One glance from Hope and they calm down. —Caroline Walker Coleman Ever since Jeff…

Sonia Perry may have grown up in New York City—in Astoria, Queens, to be exact—but she’s always been drawn to protecting wildlife. It wasn’t until the loss of her father, who first introduced her to animals, that she decided to drop everything and pursue her dream. Now the 32-year-old conservationist is opening her own sanctuary where zebras, elephants, lions and other animals can live safely in a natural habitat. How did a city girl become an animal lover? My father would take me to the Queens County Farm Museum to see the sheep, lambs, horses, cows, chickens. I loved it. I watched Steve Irwin and other wildlife shows. I also worked upstate for a friend who had many exotic animals. And I did part-time work with other farmers and master…

I was washing dishes one day last May when my youngest, 11-year-old Nathan, came running into the house. “Mom, you won’t believe what I found in the mud puddle. Come see!” We were two months into pandemic lockdown by that point, and remote learning hadn’t been holding Nathan’s interest. I was glad to hear him excited about something. I dried my hands and followed him to a large puddle in our driveway. “They’re tadpoles!” he said. “Dad said a frog must have laid her eggs in there.” I bent down for a closer look. There were hundreds of tadpoles swimming around. “Aren’t they cool?” he said. The next few days, Nathan kept his eye on the tadpoles. One afternoon, he asked if he could use my phone to check the…

‘This dog is not normal,” my friend and fellow veterinary technician Shannon said, studying a tiny bulldog mix puppy who’d been born at the clinic where we worked. We watched Rosalie try to find her balance. As soon as we put her on her feet, she would flip onto her back. “Something’s definitely off,” I said. “But I’m going to figure out how to help her.” Rosalie’s breeder thought the kindest thing would be euthanasia. No way, I thought. This eager puppy, with her white fur and brown spots, just needed someone to give her a chance. And that someone was me. I knew what it was like to feel broken. Scared. Hopeless. The vet confirmed that Rosalie had cerebellar hypoplasia, a neurological condition that affected her motor movements, and…

Are you thinking about getting a pet but hesitating because you’re of a certain age? Consider this: Having an animal companion can be just as rewarding when you’re over 65 as it was when you were younger. Here’s why: 1 Staying Active Exercising a dog can help you to get the exercise you need too. Be mindful of your physical condition: The right dog with the right training could be the perfect partner for strolling around the block, hiking in the woods or whatever activity you enjoy. Likewise, a playful cat may inspire you to stretch and move, all while having fun. 2 Improving Your Health Did you know that pets are good for your heart? Studies show that petting a cat or dog can actually lower your blood pressure.…

TO SOME, caring for stray cats may seem like a lot of work. But for Calvin Tucker, who feeds about 90 felines all over the Birmingham, Alabama, area, it’s his ministry. Rain or shine, Calvin visits 14 locations every day, putting out food and water. He also performs catch and release. In the last four years, he’s delivered more than 650 stray cats to vets he works with to be spayed or neutered. Calvin never imagined he’d be a cat person, let alone a cat advocate. He grew up around deadly violence in Bessemer during the ’80s and he liked dogs, not cats. “I somehow navigated that dangerous time,” he says. “I didn’t know then why I was spared. But God said, ‘Watch this’ and sent Henry along.” Calvin found…

Q I suspect that my cat, Bilbo, has been eating my spider plant. He hasn’t been pooping. Is he in danger? —Mari Pack, New York City A Since Bilbo is showing signs of constipation, the spider plant isn’t the only differential a veterinarian would consider. In general, if a cat hasn’t had a bowel movement in three days, it is important he be seen by a doctor to evaluate his health. The vet will recommend a treatment plan, which may include more diagnostics, such as radiographs, to get to the root of the issue. Common reasons for constipation can be a dry food diet (which is one of the reasons I recommend a wet food diet), obesity, kidney disease, colon issues and obstructions such as a gastrointestinal mass. In regard…

Farm to Market Road 3247 was dark to begin with, and that night an intermittent fog made the drive even more challenging. I hardly cared. My foot pressed the gas pedal. Lord, just get me home. For the past three days I’d been sitting in the intensive care unit. My husband’s health crisis had come without warning. Gus was 59 and active, in good shape, but when he went in for his regular checkup his doctor was concerned he might be developing some heart issues. I had no reason to be worried when Gus called me in the afternoon. I almost couldn’t comprehend what he was saying when he told me he was in the hospital. “Doc sent me to a heart specialist for an arteriogram,” he explained. “The specialist…

When Covid-19 shuttered restaurants and bars across the nation last March, it wasn’t just the staff who lost their jobs. Food writers, who gave us recommendations on where to go and what to order, were also hungry for work. Angela Hansberger of Atlanta was among them. The weeks passed and Angela’s anxiety and frustration grew. Then in mid-April she received a big box from her uncle Ed. The owner of a bowling center in Ohio, also closed due to the pandemic, Ed got into woodworking and built Angela a mini picnic table meant to be hung on a tree for squirrels. Instead, she set it out on her porch with some walnuts and went to toss the box in the recycling. By the time she returned, a chipmunk was at…

SOME FOLKS ARE DOG LOVERS. Others are cat people. I have a soft spot for mice—all because of an unforgettable experience my grandfather had in his twenties. He worked the night shift in a Michigan Ford factory signing out heavy tools, stored on huge shelves, from the tool room. Each night, when things were quiet, Grandfather would sit in his chair and eat the supper Grandma had packed for him. One night he saw a mouse peeking out of a hole in the wall across the room, about 10 feet away. He must be hungry, Grandfather thought, tossing over a small piece of bread. The mouse grabbed it and scurried back into the hole. The next night, remembering the little creature, Grandfather threw a bit of bread toward the hole.…

ONE AFTERNOON WHEN I was 12, I came home from school to find a medium-sized glass tank in my room. Before I got a chance to ask about the tank, my dad said we should go to the pet store and look around. I dropped my backpack and hopped in the car. Dad knew I had always wanted a tarantula. This is it! I thought. In the store I immediately made my way over to the arachnids. I’ve been fascinated with scorpions, spiders or anything with eight legs since I was very young. I couldn’t wait to see all the crawling creatures they had. But one in particular caught my eye—a beautiful tarantula. I just knew she was special. Dad asked the store clerk all of the important questions, including,…