Pets Can Bring Us Love or Cause Us Pain

Having had psoriatic arthritis for the last eight years, I have been much more aware of my surroundings. I am always scared of falling. I know that living with psoriatic arthritis a fall is going to hurt so much worse and take a long time to recover.

Unfortunately, what I didn't realize is that being aware is so much more than environmental. It can be the swift actions of our pets that can cause some turmoil - especially when those pets are four big dogs. I have two merle shepherds, one German shepherd, and one border collie.

When your pets mean your pain

Our German shepherd’s name is Dusty. We actually found her under our trailer. It took some doing to get her to come out. Apparently, someone had dumped her off because she had no collar. We even went around to neighbors to see if anyone was missing a dog. Poor thing was very underweight.

For whatever reason, she took to my husband and has very much become his dog. Dusty is now a year old and doing great. She is very loving. Her only downfall is that she wants to get right against my knees when she wants attention - my PsA pain simply can't take that.

Recently I had a repair done on my left knee for a torn meniscus. I had to be very careful when Dusty was close. Three stitches in my knee and her wanting to be up against that knee equaled more pain than I could endure. I am only guessing that because I would stop her from getting that close she sensed that something was wrong. Every time I got up to walk she would be right there. Dusty had to follow me no matter where I went in the house.

The downfall of Dusty

Can you see where I am going with this? It was inevitable. Living in a mobile home, our hallway to the kitchen and bedroom is very narrow. The day came when Dusty decided that being on the left side of the hallway was better than being on the right. She crossed directly in my path which caused me to trip.

If it wasn’t for the walls only being arms lengths apart I was able to brace using the walls. There is no doubt had they been further apart I would have taken a hard tumble on a hard tile floor. As it was that stumble and bracing made me hurt for a day or two.

Please do not get me wrong. I love my Dusty girl with all my heart. Finding her that day under our trailer was a blessing. She is so sweet and has become very protective. Dusty can sense when I am having a bad day. It is on those days that she is so loving and never far from me.

It comes down to paying attention

I’m sure some of you can relate. We love our pets. They are pure comfort on bad days. However, I wanted to share this article with you in case you were like me and never thought about the possibility that our pets can cause us to fall.

I will keep Dusty until the day comes when she crosses that rainbow bridge. However, I will stay more diligent in paying attention when she is close so that I hopefully never fall.