Image from www.petfinder.com

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.” ~  John Grogan

Australia is in the grip of a ferocious heatwave right now. Late yesterday afternoon I lay down on my bed in our air-conditioned bedroom, thoroughly exhausted and grateful to be in the cool. I’ve worked a few big days, and been on call outside work hours too. So many people have been affected by the moon, and the energies of February. It’s been a time of high stress and peak transformation for many. Even my spare hours have been crowded with lending support to others. But that’s okay – it’s why I’m here.

As I was almost asleep I heard a loud but insistent voice. A squeaky, childlike voice.

“Wake up, wake up!” the voice said. “Dudley Dog is in trouble.”

It was my fairy friend, Sokli. She sounded quite agitated.

“Hurry up,” she said. “You have to call his mum. He’s too, too hot and there’s no water and no shade and he’s in big trouble. You have to help him NOW!”

Immediately I thought of a friend, and her dog Dudley. But she would never leave her old dog out in the backyard in a heatwave! I struggled to think who Sokli might be talking about.

“You know his mum,” she said. “The Jo Anne Lady. She just moved houses and she isn’t allowed to have a dog inside. You have to call her!”

Suddenly I did remember a Joanne lady who I haven’t talked to for over a year, possibly longer? Yes, that was the one. I turned on my computer and found her phone number. Joanne was still at work in the middle of the city, and surprised that I was calling her. Did she have a dog called Dudley? Yes, she did, a German Shepherd cross. He was a rescue dog, about four years old. She’d had him for six months and he was the love of her life. How did I know? Joanne’s surprise soon turned to panic as I told her he was having problems with the heat. She promised me she would leave work straight away and go home to her pet.

I hadn’t been off the phone ten minutes when Sokli began yelling in my ear again.

“TOO SLOW. SHE’S TOO SLOW! She has to hurry up or Dudley won’t make it!”

I called Joanne back. She was just leaving work, and still had to catch a bus and then walk the rest of the way home. The trip would take an hour. Maybe more if the traffic was bad.

Joanne moved to this house last weekend, after taking a transfer to a new city. She hadn’t met the neighbours yet. She didn’t know anyone who could check on her dog for her. “Call the RSPCA,” I urged her, “or your closest vet. I promise, it’s a genuine emergency.”

That was all I could do. I did a healing meditation for Dudley, and I called on every energy and entity I could think of to help him until someone turned up at his door. I put a post on my facebook wall, asking my friends to send love and energy to him and his mum too. I figured it would help both Dudley dogs and both mums.

Late last night Joanne rang me back. Someone from the vet’s office had rushed to Joanne’s house and found Dudley collapsed in the back yard. He was dangerously dehydrated and in severe heat distress. If they had found Dudley even an hour later they may not have been able to save him.

Joanne had left two bowls of water out for Dudley before she went to work, and he had a doghouse to shelter in too. But in a heatwave a doghouse becomes like a sauna – and offers no protection from the heat at all. In the late afternoon Dudley had absolutely no shade, and his water was long gone.

Image from www.vetary.com

Joanne texted me again this morning. Dudley is being moved from intensive care, and they expect he will make a full recovery. The vets are quite amazed at how well Dudley has bounced back. What a lucky thing that Sokli was paying attention yesterday afternoon, and that so many caring people sent love and energy Dudley’s way. Thank you to all of you who helped. I know it made a difference!

Please, if you are experiencing a heatwave or a hot day, think of your animals and do all you can to provide them with a cool shady place to rest, and lots of water in multiple locations in case one gets knocked over. Shell baths with water or ice are good too. If possible, let your pets come into the cool of the house until the heatwave has passed.

There are some excellent suggestions for keeping your pets cool here.

It’s also a kindness if you can leave bowls of water out for the birds and the wildlife. Everyone is affected by this kind of heat.

Thank you again, and lots of love from Sokli and I,

Nicole <3 xx

Picture Zak Simmonds – from The Townville Bulletin