pet connection

In case anyone has been wondering where I disappeared to, my column this week in SFGate.com answers that question. My mom has been very life-threateningly ill, and spent an entire week in the hospital. I won’t go into the long story of misdiagnoses, inadequate pain treatment, and just plain suffering she’s gone through, and the chaos into which it’s plunged our entire family, because this is, after all, a pet blog and I’m a pet columnist.

Instead, I’ll tell you how this experience affected my dogs, and share a few tips for minimizing the impact of family crises on our pets:

When my mom, who has been struggling with breast cancer, was rushed to the emergency room and admitted to the hospital two weeks ago after suffering severe pain in her sternum, I didn’t have a thought to spare for anything but her.

But 14 hours later, somewhere around midnight, as I looked around her hospital room in a daze, I realized I had to do something about my dogs Rebel and Kyrie, who had been home alone without access to the yard since early morning.

“I have to go home and walk the dogs,” I whispered to my mom, who was lying in a bed connected to machines. “I’ll be right back.” She loves the dogs as much as I do, so she just nodded and lightly squeezed my hand.

I headed down the hall, resenting every step that took me away from her. I saw her nurse, a Harley-riding Brit named Linda, and told her I was running home to feed and walk my dogs. Her face softened as she told me about her pit bull/Rhodesian ridgeback mix, Jake. “I’ll take care of your mum,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

I wish I could say things got better for my mom right away, but they didn’t. They got worse. But as I let people in my life know what was doing on, a sort of safety net of pet lovers opened under me.

Some of them were friends and colleagues who offered to feed and walk my dogs at the house. Others were dog-loving family members who stopped by to give them a potty break or meal. Even someone I’d e-mailed to reschedule an interview responded with an offer of pet sitting.

Over the next couple of days, however, it became clear that shoving my house key into my brother’s hand so he could walk the dogs or relying on a friend’s e-mailed offer of help weren’t going to cut it anymore. I needed to hire a professional.

I was lucky enough to have one of the best of the pros, Courtney Guntner of The Whole Pet in San Francisco, to help with Rebel and Kyrie during this tough time. (That’s her with Kyrie in the photo, out in front of my house.) I was also lucky enough to have some incredible friends, colleagues and editors — o hai, Gina! — who not only gave me the time to deal with my mom, but were among those who offered to help with my dogs.

You can read the whole story here.