“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Anatole France

BY TARA MYSHRALL

In December of 2020 I got a puppy Zena. I heard all the whispers about Zena being a COVID puppy and I found it disturbing that so many people had an opinion of what all the puppy owners would do after COVID was over. It was inferred by many that I spoke with that after this Global Pandemic that people would just drop their dogs off at a shelter and get back to their PreCOVID lives.

This is a ludicrous thought to me. My Zena has become such a huge part of my life in such a short period of time, I could not imagine giving her up or losing her.

Our pets emanate unconditional love. My Zena’s spirit is filled with love and light and she wants to spread it to literally every person she meets along her path. She has deep, sensitive eyes and a caring spirit that she exposes to all the little kids she plays with. She loves to snuggle and put her nose in between my face and neck and kisses me with her snout as opposed to licking my face. She likes when I snuggle with her with both arms to block the sunlight as we share morning hours together in my bed.

I can’t help but start my day with a smile when she is next to me despite all the responsibilities and concerns. She has really played a role in maintaining my mental health with all the uncertainty out there.

Three weeks ago, I almost lost Zena. She went into kidney failure and the vet had no hope for her. I had her admitted to the ICU for six days and over that time I could not see her or connect with her due to COVID.  I went through such a range of emotions and I felt like I was losing a part of my family. People had said you have only had her for a few months put her down and these words were a foreign language to me.  I felt hopeless and every day the news would worsen.

Around the start of day four, I decided to change my state and instead of leaving it to the vets that told me she would come home in palliative care, I went online and started researching. I decided then and there that I was going to stand in the possibilities of miracles.

I would do everything I could with natural food and botanicals to help her enjoy her time with us. This mindset shift really helped me through the dark times and I believe just as we can feel the unconditional love from pets, they can also feel what we are emanating at them.

Zena started walking more over the last few weeks, playing with other puppies, eating and has actually put on 4 lbs. in total. We got a new vet, Dr.Korol, who is wonderful and provides Zena with acupuncture and a blend of western and eastern medicine.  He is amazed by her progress and I am just so happy to have her with me.

Throughout this whole experience, I had to be true to myself.  I had to dig within to see what my gut and intuition were telling me. What became clear was that if I don’t believe in all the medications that Western medicine provides and if I didn’t take them throughout my own personal health issues, why would I depend on them for my puppy?

There is something about the unconditional love that flows from a pet that I believe makes us better people. Unconditional love is the highest energy frequency. It is not contingent on anything, there is no payback, keeping track, or anything less than the intention to just love. If we could love people more like pets love us, the world would be a better place.