When my partner and I started looking for our first home together, at the top of our must-have list was a yard for our 10-year-old Vizsla. Like most of his breed, “Mango” was athletic and sensitive—his favorite activities were running through Redwood Regional Park and curling up into a ball on the corner of our couch that got the most sunlight through the window.
Fortunately, we found a home near his favorite trails with a backyard, where he got his own couch in the sun. It made us happy to make him happy.
A few months later, we discovered that Mango had inoperable cancer. We engaged specialists, holistic modalities and essentially anything to make his life more comfortable and his transition as pain-free as possible.
After he passed, we were of course devastated. We built an altar and held a backyard memorial for him, inviting our friends and family to celebrate not just his life, but also the positive impact all our pets have on our lives.
Some of these benefits are on display in our story on seniors who adopt senior pets. Companionship, social connection and a sense of purpose await those folks willing to invest their time and devotion to an elder canine or feline friend. In another story, we provide updated guidelines for neutering our pets, based on recent research and veterinary recommendations.
Our other stories in this issue aren’t directly related to pets. But I’d argue that they’re inspired by the joie de vivre that pets often provide. Just one of their many lessons to us. — Samantha Campos, Editor
Special thanks to Lisa Plachy for her editorial support. Lisa joins our team this summer as an intern from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Her marketing experience and interest in magazine production greatly enhanced our process for this issue.
