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When Your Kids Have Four Legs
Getting pets to deal
with deployments can sometimes be even more difficult than dealing with
kids. Pets will also show their emotions and they will react when
someone disappears from their daily routine. Please note, I am not a
veterinarian…if your pets have problems that continue, please get them
the appropriate medical attention. Things that I, as
well as friends, have noticed during deployments… Cats will sometimes
quit using their litter box when there are changes in the household
including someone being gone. Generally, they will soil a specific area.
The simplest solution to this is to move the litter box to where the cat
is using the bathroom. The problem with this is if your cat has decided
to use the bathroom in the middle of the living room floor. However, you
should be able to slowly move the box back to its original location. Cats can also begin
to shed their hair or lick themselves to the point of losing their hair
when they are stressed. It is best to try to distract the cat when this
happens and spend as much time as possible with them. If your husband
usually walks your dog, begin walking the dog together and then
transition to you walking the dog alone before your husband leaves. Be
sure to keep to the same routine as much as possible. Pets will sometimes
ignore your husband when he returns from deployment. This is usually
truer with cats than it is for dogs. There is no real way to deal with
this other than for your husband to try to spend as much time with the
pet as possible. Keep routines as
close to normal as possible. If you go to the park on Saturdays with the
dog when he is here, try to keep that up. If the cats are fed at 5am,
stay with that routine. If they are always allowed to sleep in your
bedroom, don’t start locking them out when he’s gone. Pay attention to their behaviors and spend extra time with them. It’s a little harder to explain deployments to pets. I’ve heard of others who played audio tapes or video tapes of their soldier for their pets. They swear it helps – any thing is worth a shot.
RELATED LINKS: Our Deployment Section Articles
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