Pets with Special Needs Give Owners Special Rewards
Written by: Erin Harty, Associate Editor @ Vetcentric.com

Every pet owner thinks his or her animal is pretty special. But a few owners know this for certain.

They're owners of "special needs" pets -- animals that are either afflicted with disease or physical handicap, or otherwise in need of special care. Their trusted companion may be a three-legged cat, a dog suffering from diabetes, a kitten with feline leukemia, or a blind puppy.

While such animals constantly amaze their owners with their abilities to overcome their handicaps, many need extra care or understanding. For some owners, it's a role they choose to step into; for others, there's no other option.

Linda Bowring found herself unexpectedly dealing with a handicapped dog when her eight-year-old bichon frise, Honey, was suddenly stricken with a luxated lens in one eye -- the lens slipped out of place. Although Honey was rushed to the veterinarian, she was already blind in that eye. A subsequent operation attempted to save the sight in Honey's other eye, but failed. The dog was suddenly completely blind.

For some dogs, blindness creeps up slowly in old age -- both the dogs and the owners have time to adjust. Puppies that are permanently blind from birth learn as infants how to function without sight. But when an otherwise normal dog suddenly loses its sight, it can be a difficult adjustment, often more so for the owner than for the dog.

"I think the hardest thing for me was seeing her eye sewn shut [after the failed operation], and the other staring blindly. It was the visual that hit me hard. It was my beautiful baby looking so æugly;' that was my first gut punch," said Ms. Bowring, who runs a California canine rescue organization. "But that first feeling of disgust was quickly gotten past with a deep breath and with the knowledge that she needed reassurance. After that, it was just a matter of charging ahead and doing whatever would make her life easier. And that included lots of hugs -- which probably helped us both."

Ms. Bowring had done obedience training with Honey when she was a puppy, so the dog already knew many commands. After she went blind, those commands became even more important. Honey has also learned the word "careful," which warns her to slow down and proceed cautiously. And she knows that "step" means she must step up or down.

Ms. Bowring has discovered some other tricks to help Honey -- such as marking problem surfaces with a scent, like a light perfume or cheese, so the dog can more easily tell where they are. She's also found that a constant sound source, like a radio or a fan, helps orient Honey. "I have watched her be more confused in a power failure when the noise source isn't available, so I know that it is of help to her. When outside, the noise source from inside the house helps her to find the door to inside," Ms. Bowring said.

Honey has now been blind for about six years, and at the age of 14, her elder status adds another element to her disability. Ms. Bowring used to be able to take Honey away from home, as long as she kept her close at hand on a leash. But she rarely does that anymore because Honey just doesn't feel comfortable.

"I rarely take her out into the world now, because she just doesn't like to be where she doesn't understand [her surroundings]. Other than that, I just try to second-guess what she will be bumping into, in order to give her warnings," Ms. Bowring said.

Keeping an established routine has also helped, so Ms. Bowring knows where Honey is and what she's doing. "I also have to listen for her, especially now that she is losing her hearing," Ms. Bowring said. "If she gets in a position or place where she needs help, she has a very unique bark that's hard to describe -- but that lets me know that she needs immediate attention."

Ms. Bowring stressed the importance of obedience training -- many of the commands can be very useful with a handicapped dog. But even those pets that have never been trained can learn helpful commands.

"I think the most important thing is to try to put oneself in the dog's position: æWhat would help me if I were blind?' helps tremendously. Using empathy can help the animal's guardian to devise methods to make the dog's life easier and more interesting," she added.

For Ms. Bowring, even after the blindness set in, there was no question that she would continue to care for Honey. Other animals aren't so lucky.

But certain pet owners actually find themselves drawn to those special pets. Stories abound about people feeling a special connection to a "special" animal in the shelter, or even over the Internet, and deciding that "it was meant to be."

"It does take a devout animal lover to want to do take [special needs] animals on," said Jean Watkins, treasurer for the Pet Adoption League of Tulsa in Oklahoma. "They're very unselfish, deep-down animal lovers. They think it's a challenge, and they want to help them."

Special needs pets often require some sort of special care, but most adapt quite well to their disabilities and compensate for them. Ms. Watkins said their shelter occasionally has three-legged, or "tripod," dogs and cats up for adoption. Most need no special care at all, and get along nearly as well as their four-footed friends.

More seriously disabled animals are more difficult to adopt, but there are often kind-hearted potential owners who are willing to consider pets that are a little more needy.

Ms. Watkins recalled a miniature daschund that was given to the shelter -- it had broken its back in a fall from a chair, and was confined to the equivalent of a doggie wheelchair (a cart that helped support the dog's non-functioning hindquarters, and allowed it to get around on two legs).

The dog didn't have control of its bowels, and needed help to relieve itself. "You had to be understanding, and have a schedule," said Ms. Watkins.

A local child psychologist adopted the dog, willing to take on its special needs. She uses the dog in therapy sessions with her young patients. "Some of the children respond better to the dog than they do to her," explained Ms. Watkins.

Doug Eader, along with his wife, founded S.A.F.E. (Stray, Abandoned, Feral and Endangered) Haven for Cats in Raleigh, N.C., in 1994 ( http://www.safehavenforcats.org/ ). The non-profit, no-kill shelter houses between 50 and 60 cats at any one time, and occasionally receives felines with special needs.

Mr. Eader recalled a cat they had for adoption that was mostly blind. A woman who came in to adopt a cat was drawn to it -- it turned out that she was an optometrist, and adopted the cat because she felt she understood its eye problems.

In a recent letter to the shelter, she wrote that the cat had lost all of its sight, but was able to get around the house without trouble at all. "She wanted to let us know how it was doing, and to encourage other people to consider pets with special needs. She said it was one of the most rewarding experiences she'd ever had," Mr. Eader said. "There are people like that. We just have to find them."

At the shelter, the pets in greatest need of special homes are cats that have tested positive for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Although such cats may live out full and happy lives, they can't live with other cats, because they may spread the virus.

It's not a frequent problem -- Mr. Eader estimates that only about one to two percent of the cats coming into the shelter test positive. They're kept separate from other cats, and have their own toys, food bowls, and litter pans. But otherwise, they're treated and doted on just the same.

There are two FeLV-positive cats in the shelter right now. "They're wonderful cats -- the volunteers play with them, hold them in their laps and pet them. You would never know [they are FeLV positive]. It will take longer to find them a special home," Mr. Eader said. "Those people who will consider a special needs cat are extra special kind of folks."

Sometimes potential adopters purposefully search out pets with special needs. Judy Pariseau and Tracy Zetko-White are two such pet owners -- both knowingly adopted cats with diabetes.

Ms. Zetko-White's cat, Orion, was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, at the age of 13. When her other cat, a Himalayan named Armadillo, died in May, Ms. Zetko-White decided to adopt another diabetic cat to be a companion for Orion.

"I was hoping to adopt another diabetic -- I know that a lot of people won't adopt special needs pets because of real and/or perceived difficulties regarding their care. I wanted a kitty that no one else wanted. I also wanted to use my knowledge of feline diabetes to help other diabetic kitties in need," she explained. "That's when I read about Cody on the Internet. He was at a rescue shelter here in San Diego County, and I thought about it for a long time -- well over a month. When I decided I was to the point in my grieving where I was ready for another kitty, Cody's information was posted again. I was happy to see he was still available, and I brought his picture up to show my husband. That Saturday, I brought Cody home."

Caring for two diabetics really isn't that difficult, Ms. Zetko-White said. She tests their blood sugar with a glucometer before giving an insulin injection, usually twice a day for Orion and once daily for Cody. She also feeds them special food.

"I'd say I spend about 10 or 15 minutes a day on diabetes-related care," she said. But there are occasional emergencies. Orion has had several hypoglycemic episodes, which have required all-night monitoring of his blood glucose. "But we have been very fortunate; neither kitty has ended up in the emergency room because of diabetes-related problems," she added.

Ms. Pariseau adopted two diabetic cats, Dudley and Leon -- both were taken to a vet to be euthanized because of their illnesses. The vet convinced the owners to surrender them for adoption instead.

"Dudley was our first -- we'd had absolutely no experience with diabetic animals. The reason he came home was that he was sitting in a cage at the vet's office, and he looked so much like one of our other cats, that I just couldn't stand it. So home he came -- ignorance is bliss, I guess!," said Ms. Pariseau, a medical librarian in Southbridge, Mass. "So, after learning all about diabetes with Dudley, when Leon was surrendered,

and we were asked if we could take him, we didn't even think twice."

She also takes care of a foster cat, another diabetic named Floyd, whose family is in England for the year and didn't want to put him through quarantine.

The care isn't difficult so much as it is frustrating, Ms. Pariseau said. "Cats can be

very hard to regulate, so you tend to get frustrated, anxious, worried, etc. The day-to-day care of a reasonably regulated cat isn't difficult at all. We've been lucky in that all of the kitties never minded their shots, and don't even seem to realize that they're getting them."

Both Ms. Pariseau and Ms. Zetko-White caution potential owners to think carefully before taking on a diabetic.

"You shouldn't do it if you travel a lot, for instance. Also, be prepared to spend some money up front to get the kitty regulated, if he isn't already. Be proactive -- learn all you can about the disease," Ms. Pariseau said. Although she and her husband had no experience with diabetes, they did have experience with chronic health issues in their other cats, and had good veterinarians to rely on.

"Find a vet you can work with -- some vets are very put off by or ignorant of diabetes in animals. For instance, Floyd's owner told me that the first vet they went to with him told them Floyd probably wouldn't last more than a year with the disease, and would be really sick most of the time. Well, that was three years ago, and this is a cat that was stealing potato chips from me yesterday," she added.

"I highly recommend adopting a diabetic pet," said Ms. Zetko-White. "There are millions of unwanted pets in the United States, and the addition of an illness like diabetes makes

these little guys' odds of finding a loving home even slimmer. However, all kitties are different. Mine have not had serious, expensive complications from the disease, but I know of many that have.

"My advice to prospective adopters would be to consider everything -- the financial commitment, the time needed to care for the diabetes, and the other members of your family. Give it a lot of thought; like adopting any animal, it should never be taken lightly. It is definitely a long-term commitment. But if you have weighed all these aspects and find that you still are interested in adopting a diabetic, the rewards definitely make the sacrifices worthwhile," Ms. Zetko-White said.

Jenny Wendel of Mount Prospect, Ill., founded Dogs With Disabilities in 1995, after her dog Rudy had a leg amputated. She writes a bimonthly newsletter for the organization, and helps owners network with others who have similar problems.

A disability is often much harder on the owner than on the pet, Ms. Wendel said. After Rudy's surgery, he looked "horrible," she said: he had a 10-inch incision, and was bruised and swollen. "æOh my god, what did I do?' " she recalled thinking. "But then he started wagging his tail and hopped over to me, and I thought, æOh, it's okay.'"

With advances in veterinary medicine, disabled pets are much more common than they once were, Ms. Wendel said. And attitudes toward them are changing -- people realize pets can live happy and fulfilling lives, even with a disability.

"A lot of people think if it's broke, you throw it away and get a new one," she said. But that attitude is changing. "The dogs learn to cope a lot easier than humans do. They don't realize they have something wrong with them."

For more information:

Considering adopting a FeLV- or FIV-positive cat? Check the Cornell University Feline Health Center brochures on both viruses at  http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/.

Also visit http://www.safehavenforcats.org/.

For information on diabetic pets, see the Pets With Diabetes website: http://www.petdiabetes.org/

Article courtesy of VetCentric.com
Originally published April 26, 2007
Written by: Erin Harty, Associate Editor
For more information on this article, please visit http://www.vetcentric.com