Can we properly care for our rescued animals if we don’t properly care for ourselves?  / Photo: Big Stock Photo

“You know what they tell you on airplanes, right?” friend Jen Tait pointed out. “Put on your own oxygen mask first, then put one on your kid.”

When you’re this adorable, you can get away with shredding a sofa cushion, as Plato did during the ten minutes I left him and his brothers alone in the living room one evening when they were pups. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

She was trying to impress upon me the fact that we animal rescuers must take care of ourselves first and foremost. Otherwise we’ll be of no use to the critters or to anyone else.

At that time, back in 2008, Jen’s image of the oxygen mask did indeed make an impression on me. We had three puppies in our house—Plato, Periklis, and Ajax, a litter who I’d found in a trash bin. I bumbled along trying to care for them plus the rest of our houseful of rescued dogs alone, while my husband helped an ill family member in another state.

During much of that month I probably could have used an oxygen mask, trying to keep up with the whole bunch, on the verge of passing out in exhaustion. In fact at one point I did pass out, but that’s another story.

Animals’ needs worldwide are overwhelming

My friend’s advice seemed sound. And I respected the source. Jen is a fellow writer—one of the witty wizards behind the curtain at The Humane Society of the United States’s Genesis Awards. She has penned most of the annual show’s lines since 2005.  An animal rescuer herself, she has written about hundreds of others of rescuers, thus knowing whereof she speaks.

Lovely and dedicated actress, animal advocate and rescuer Elaine Hendrix at the HSUS Genesis Awards 2011 / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

But hearing good advice and making oneself follow it are two different things. Oftentimes, as a busy rescuer and pooch mom, I flub up on that self-care thing.

How to cope?

Long story, but for more than a month I’ve been at the mercy of a sprained back. It’s getting better now, but at times the pain was so mean that I could only type a sentence or two at a time. And this came about mostly due to putting the animals’ needs before mine.

Is it sensible behavior to take care of others to the point where you damage yourself?  Or maybe the more relevant question is whether or not that’s sustainable behavior. Probably not.  In my case, there could be a lot more downhill after this if I don’t wise up.

Foster boy Agapi last year, the day after rescue off the streets of Greek island Kefalonia, where he suffered horribly from Leishmaniasis, Ehrlichia, fleas, flies, worms, abuse, and more / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

But how to cope? Worldwide, animals’ desperate need for help is overwhelming, and there aren’t enough of us who are able and/or willing to provide it, so what can we do except jump in on all fours?

I’m not the only one. Many rescuers end up in far worse shape, and penniless besides, not to mention divorced in some cases, because they gave of themselves too much and too fast.

OK, so I’m picturing that oxygen mask again.  Reaching for it now. It’s five minutes past the hour when the dogs expect to be fed, but I haven’t done my back repair exercises yet. So I’ll take the 15 minutes I need to do those, and thus do a little better on the self-care thing. The pooches’ meal will have to wait just that bit of time.

Got the mask on now. What do you think, Jen? Good start?

If you’re a rescuer who, like yours truly, has not yet mastered the art of self-care, or if you have mastered it and would be so kind as to share your tips, please contact Spicy at spicystoriesATyahooDOTcom. We might be able to post your story on the Spicy website or Facebook page.