Update on Stormy, Katrina Survivor

Beverly Dowdey, his adoptive Mother, writes:

We adopted him (from the Katrina disaster) when we lived in Waynesboro, PA. As we both guessed...Stormy has had a big bag of issues but we are pleased he has come so far. He had the issue with biting the leash for such a long time. When I finally realized he has an anxiety disorder and has panic attacks my plan changed. Every morning after his breakfast he walks on a leash with me. He goes up to the door and waits for me to put it on him. It works better with me putting it on inside the house rather than outside. After his walk he goes directly to the treat bowl and the treat is given immediately. If his schedule changes he has problems but is learning to adapt better. He has become deaf or hard of hearing and isn't able to respond to voice commands. He follows me around everywhere and when I leave I must ALWAYS let him see her leaving. If not he runs all over the house frantically looking for me and has panic attacks. He has never given good eye contact but will hold his head down and wait for his clue to eat. If we are able to get a little eye contact it is like a side glance. Now he has very bad cataracts but before they deteriorated he was the same. He has become so much more affectionate and LOVES to have his back and head rubbed. He has a strange way of playing with his toy but it is his game so he makes the rules. We throw the toy and he runs to get it (giving it the old Boston shake) but doesn't bring it back. We go to him, pick him up and wait until he releases it the throw again. He just loves his "fetch" game. After we realized we have a neurotic dog we just decided to accept his "handicap" and enjoy him.

His panic attacks are so terrible and I do not want to use medication for them so the way I have chosen seems to work for him ok. Several concerns about having cataract surgery for him. The nearest vet that does that is in Birmingham and that is over 4 hrs away from me. The dog is left at the vet the day before and also the night of the surgery stays overnite at vet. Honestly, when weighing everything, I am not sure he could handle that. The next thing, as you know, is the collar for 3 wks. Stormy could end up being so traumatized that the surgery procedure could be worse than the problem with cataracts. He still seems to see quite a bit and I am using the ocluvet eye meds on him. He doesn't mind the meds and I started using it some months ago. I was a sign language interpreter for years so the deafness is not as difficult for me to deal with. I know to get in front of him and not come from behind and frighten him. When I leave the area of the house where he is, I will gently nudge him from his sleep so he will know I am moving to a different area in the house and he will follow me. I have gone out of town in the past and left him with John and he runs all over the house looking for me again and again and will get very depressed. Yesterday we took all the dogs in the car with us for a short errand and he had his panic attack. Even when he goes in the car almost every day he always panics and it last a long time. That is the situation. I would just hate to put him on medication that would cause him to be a zombie. He has come so far since we first got him.

We love Stormy and he loves us and we feel our home is the best for him. There are so many people who survived Katrina, only to have nightmares still. But they can talk it through with others. Stormy can't. We love him so much and want him to feel safe with us but he obviously has been so traumatized from the Katrina disaster he may never recover completely.