Last week, we met some pets that were adopted during the first pandemic year. I asked friends on social media to answer some basic questions about how and why they decided on a new pet during the stay-at-homes and quarantines. I also asked how the new pets were working out for them.
Here are some answers to the question: “Did you adopt a pet in the last year?”
Sarah Langevin-Gaspar (Florida) Two cats from the neighborhood found us.
Laura Bourhenne (California) No, but my mother did.
Olivia McCollum (Washington) Yep! Two baby bulldogs.
Kelly Mose Cuilia (Washington) We brought our pandemic pup home on May 4th. He is a year-old cockapoo and we are totally smitten.
Photo by Kelly Mose Cuilia
Nyssa Gatcombe (Maine) I came close a couple of times.
Beth Singer (California) In a nutshell, we fostered three sets of moms and kittens and kept one from each of the first two litters.
Timothy Page (Oregon) I beat the rush. We adopted Coco about eight months before the pandemic hit.
Kathleen Huggins (Washington) Yep. But not because of COVID. Lost one in June. Replacement in November.
Grainne Levine (New Jersey) I did adopt a young dog, but only because my dog died.
Lori Leah Monet DVM (Colorado) Every year for the last three years. It is part of my work incentive package. New kitten every fall.
Kimberly Kelly (California) Nope. I already have five dogs, one ancient cat, one rabbit, one turtle, one Senegal, and I haven’t worked since March. Didn’t seem like a good idea.
Lauren Fetterman (California) I adopt animals always. The only animal that I personally got after shelter-in-place was a pink tongue skink. And isopods.
Gwen Jones (California) I “technically” adopted Moli in 2020, but I had started fostering her in 2019, so I’m not sure if “foster failure” qualifies.
Donna Hitchcock Roecks (Washington) Yup! Two bunnies.
Photo by Donna Hitchcock Roecks
Linda C. Wood (Washington) We were going to wait until this summer to have time to train a puppy, but I came back from a visit to Florida ahead of COVID-19 and decided to go for it since I would be spending more time inside, somewhat isolated. No regrets! Gabby was born on March 1st. We drove seven hours round-trip to pick her out and again weeks later to pick her up. She’s our COVID baby and so loving!
Thomas R. McGarry (Washington) In the past several years, we have lost two dogs and our cat. We had only our beloved golden retriever Maddie.
Mary wanted a successor to our little orange tabby Antonin. She responded to an online advertisement from SCRAPS, our local animal control shelter, for a kitten they had named Sunshine. The first thing the little two-pound kitten did when she got home was to hiss and spit at Maddie.
We renamed the little kitten Ruthie in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. We’ve always named cats after Supreme Court Justices—for example, Sandy (Day O’Connor), Clarence (Thomas), and of course Antonin (Scalia).
Today, Ruthie is a little over nine months old. She is very strong-willed and treats her humans like junior staff. Her favorite member of the family clearly is Maddie. While Ruthie can be standoffish to Mary and me, she and Maddie (who is eleven) are fast friends. Maddie likes to “mother” Ruthie by bathing her, and Ruthie just loves it!
RGB loves to chase the laser light. She keeps us amused.
Photo by Thomas R. McGarry
Kathy Smith (North Carolina) I don’t have a new pet, but several of my neighbors adopted puppies last year.
One has a [behavior consultant] at her place today because her poodle mix barks for hours when she isn’t within sight. This has become a real problem as she cannot return to the office with an incessantly barking dog at home.
Another friend has his Australian shepherd showing real aggressive behavior towards people and other dogs because of a lack of recent socialization. The owner has been working from home and he is busy flying places to interview for new jobs. He thinks he can manage the problem himself without help.
I’m glad I have a career that allows me to spend great amounts of time with my dog at home and even to take him with me occasionally. Having a dog who shows a lot of his border collie means I have a silent dog at home. He’s good by himself when I have to leave him, which I have been doing periodically so he remembers how to soothe himself when alone. I think his favored way of dealing with it is to take a nap on my sofa! *LOL*
Jessica Theisen de Gonzalez (New York) He was brought to the NYCACC in Brooklyn, by a passerby, for the owner who said he “got too big.” He was two pounds overweight with dental disease at three years old. I picked him up, along with supplies brought out to me by a staffer. His vet visits were drop-offs, while I waited outside.
He is one of the most fearful, poorly socialized cats I’ve ever met. No purring, no rubbing against my legs. I knew he was changing when he started to wait by the front door for my return when I walked my dog. He is making huge strides with work on shaping his behavior, giving him time and space to adjust and experience. I’m studying dog training but really have come to appreciate the opportunity to reclaim this handsome boy from his fears and anxieties, to have him see that new things aren’t always scary, and to know that he is loved . . . and home.
Photo by Jessica Theisen de Gonzalez
Erin Darling Looney (Washington) We adopted a pair of sibling kittens from outside the local Walmart. Vet visits have been traumatic for me. We had to take the boy in for a hurt leg. I had to leave him in a tiny utility closet that opened to the street and had a second door that opened into the office. He was hurt and scared and I had to leave him all alone.
Madeline Clark Gabriel (North Carolina) I picked up my English shepherd puppy in mid-April from the breeder. We were able to visit the litter at 3.5 weeks before COVID, but we could not do our planned follow-up visits. This was very disappointing because the breeder was going to allow me to come to do some Puppy Culture protocols/training with the litter, and I was worried about the subsequent lack of socialization in terms of no visitors to the breeder in that whole time. Luckily, we have a holistic vet who practices in a little house and we get to do most of our discussions together out on the porch—she sees only one animal at a time. My puppy did not mind going into the house for her vaccines.
I’ve had no unusual surprises with the puppy. She’s totally normal. We took online classes through FDSA and probably would have done that regardless, but maybe I would have done a puppy class if one had been available locally. We were lucky to have three other puppies in my immediate neighborhood, all within a month of my puppy’s age, so plenty of playdates in the yard. Our county was not severely locked down and weather was good for pretty much any outdoor activity/socialization. I work in a grocery store and was able to bring my puppy several times to meet lots of different people—outside. We probably could use some more work practicing with visitors to the house, since that was lacking, but I don’t expect any more than needing to train. She’s very friendly with everyone.
NEXT WEEK: Dog training professional September Morn details her adventures with her own pandemic pup, Daisy, a Shetland sheepdog, who’s being raised on a mini-farm in Washington State, with two Rottweilers and 46 chickens.
