Scariest Moments as a Pet Owner

Everyone has those stories about the moment you were most scared for your pet. People surprise themselves with exactly HOW MUCH they can care for an animal. They’re members of our families, our best friends, the creature that can make a bad day a bit better… So those scary moments affect us more than we expect. We’ve had two significant experiences with our animals that made us appreciate them so much more.

Pabst had been acting very lethargic for a day or two. I wanted to rush off to the vet as soon as I noticed it and my fiance suggested we keep an eye on him a bit longer. In fairness, I do tend to want to head straight to vet for any minor thing. The afternoon after I noticed his lethargy, I came home from work and anticipated the usual meow that greeted me every day. However, Pabst wasn’t making a sound. I started walking around the house only to find him curled up in an odd corner of the kitchen. Not a normal place he rested. I noticed he had gotten sick multiple times throughout the house. I picked him up and saw he was shaking. He couldn't even stand on his own. I frantically called the vet. They told me to come in as soon as possible. Within minutes of getting him into an exam room, they told me he had a blockage in his urinary tract. He hadn’t been able to go to the bathroom for two days. It can be common in male cats when they don’t get enough water in their diet. They explained that if I had waited any longer to bring him in, I would not have a cat anymore. I was told to head to the emergency clinic. There, he spent a rough night hooked up to an IV. After his stint at the emergency clinic, I had to cart him back to his regular vet where he spent the remainder of the week being monitored and fed an IV drip. That was a few years ago, he’s now on a prescription diet and excitedly greets me at the door daily.

Banjo’s scariest moment was akin to watching your dog bolt across a busy street when you thought he was safely attached to a leash. We love to take him canoeing and kayaking. We harness a doggie life jacket on him since he’s not the best swimmer. He tends to love the adventure, not necessarily the water. We

had planned a two day canoe excursion down a river in Tennessee. As we strapped all of our things into the boat, Banjo took his position between the two seats, enjoying the cool floor of the canoe. It was a 20 mile trek meant to be split up in two, 10 mile bouts. We had every intention to meet more than our scheduled 10 miles. Mother nature had another idea… Within those first 3 miles, we got poured on, had to pull over to hang out in the mud, and dump excess water out of our boat. After the storm passed, we got back on the water, which was running a bit faster now. The next half of this day was cut a bit short when the river pushed us into newly fallen tree causing our canoe to flip in the rushing water... all while Banjo was trapped under the canoe. Cue me screaming that Banjo is trapped under the boat as I’m flailing around trying to gain footing. All I’m imagining is our dog trying to breath under this flipped boat or getting hurtled down the river where we can’t get him. My fiance, with the assistance of everyone's good friend adrenaline, single-handedly flips this canoe filled with gallons of river water. Inside remained all of our strapped camping items along with Banjo who shook off and looked at us curiously. Turns out, the whole ordeal lasted less than a minute and Banjo’s life jacket did it’s job. He floated on the water as the canoe flipped around him. Once we got resettled, we pulled off on a bank to recoup and decided to finish up the remaining 12 miles the next day. After we finished that trip, he was done with the outdoor adventures for a little while, understandably. However, we do look forward to hooking on that life jacket again this summer! No flipping though…

I write these stories as reminders to watch out for our little, furry family members. I know my stories had happy endings and everything turned out OK. There are other horror stories I've read where little mishaps ended up costing the life of a beloved friend.

Pabst’s sickness was caused by the food I was feeding him, causing a calcium buildup in his bladder. That ordeal had a small part in why we created Banjo’s Treats. Pay attention to what you feed your pets. Look for potential signs of illness and act according to their best interests. Also, enjoy hikes and water activities with your dogs! Make sure they are safe and equip them to deal with whatever environment you're taking them into. These are probably not reminders you need, yet it can’t hurt to caution other pet owners in order to prevent scary moments like I’ve had to encounter with my buds.

Should you ever need it, the emergency clinic in Huntsville, took amazing care of Pabst. They truly saved his life.