Is Graffitti Art?

There are some that would argue that Graffitti is Art, and others argue that it is straight out vandalism.

And I am sure that there are some that say it is a means of self expression, and is important to one's self and one's perception of the world.

There are many places I see around town where there are walls designated specifically for Graffitti Art. In these situations, it is Art.   

But how is defacing a building that doesn't belong to you considered Art? or creative?

 
These pictures are not "creative" they don't give me a sense of joy or happiness, and they are not telling me a story or taking me on a journey, like Art is supposed to do.

What is on my building doesn't even look pretty.  It is horrible.  I mean - lime green?  Really! 

The sad thing is that instead of taking time to look after our animals, we (meaning Dirk) have to go scrub this shit off our building.    The one thing about Graffitti that everyone can agree on - is that it breeds like rabbits. If you leave it alone, it will  multiply and multiply, and then you get graffitti grandkids, which are totally out of control pictures which look even worse than the parental graffitti and grandparental graffitti.

I can understand the desire to communicate via drawing, as it can be a very fulfilling method of expression, but I don't understand this out and out vandalism.

The ultimate sadness is that the people (not sure if they are kids... it might not be) who are doing this really don't care about our community, and don't really care that their actions does impact people in a not a very good way.

So, Graffitti is not Art when it destroys or damages another persons property.  That is vandalism.  If you had the time and energy to do this, then get the time and energy to get a job. 

Vandals, leave us alone.  We are tired of it. 

 

A cure for Thunderstorm fears?

What a hopeful title - that there is a cure for the fear of Thunderstorms.  I have been doing a bit of online research into this, coupled with the knowledge that I already have, and have decided that... like any other fear, there is no cure for it. 

There was a lecture I attended that said that there are over 40 therapies for thunderstorm phobias...so this got me thinking, as I didn't realise that there were so many... so I started the list... I do need help as I am no where near the 40.

1. Crate training - safe space
2. Noise proof room
3. Flooding
4. Desensitizing and Counter conditioning (should I cheat and make this two items).
5. Thundershirts
6. Thundercaps
7. Homeopet Anxiety
8. Rescue Remedy
9. Sedatives such as acepromazine or valium
10. Psychoactive medications such as Prozac
11. Staying home and sitting with the dog/cat
12. Vitamin B
13. Tryptophan/vitamin supplements
14. St Johns Wort
15. Dog Appeasing Pheromone, (Adaptil) Cat Appeasing Pheromone (Feliway)
16. ?
17. ?

Now that is what I came up with in a few minutes.  I will add more when they come to me.  But the list being so exhaustive tells me one thing - it is a complicated problem which we still don't understand the right solution to.

And reading the comments of pet owners online about the problems they have with their pet, is they want something that is going to work the first time that they ever use it, perfectly.  That is, their expectation is that when they use something, their dog will be perfectly normally and act normally.

This brings on a funny story ... a few years ago, a client requested some sedatives for her dog on New Years Eve, as previously he goes crazy, he paces, whines, salivates etc... those who have anxious pets know what I mean.

  This year, she wanted something to settle him down.  So I dispensed medication for him. A few months later when I saw her I asked her how her pet went.  She complained that the medication didn't work at all for her pet.  I said "I am very sorry to hear that, what actually happened?"

Her reply was "Nothing.  He acted like he normally does." 

"Oh," I said. "So he was stressed despite the medication. That is most unusual, and I am really sorry that it didn't calm him down."

Her reply floored me. "No, he just acted normally. He played with his ball, ate his food, did all of the stuff he would normally do. But he wasn't sedated at all. He didn't lie down to sleep, until his usual bed time."

Well, in my opinion, the medication obviously achieved what I expected it to achieve - which was the dog was calm despite the fearful noises of fireworks around him.  The client however, was not happy about a calm dog, as she expected a sedated dog.

What people need to realise is that the fear that a pet experiences has developed over time, and there is nothing that is going to eliminate that fear in a single step.  But, what we can do is edge the pet closer to normality but making it seem that the "scary thing" is not so scary, each time they experience the "scary" event.

As an example - say the first few times you use something, such as Adaptil, during a scary event, your pet may not be outwardly calmer.  But inwardly, a memory is being laid that perhaps the fearful thing is not so fearful after all.  And each time one of those newer memories are being laid, the older more fearful memories become weaker.

This is desensitisation. I know, but not in the traditional sense. We traditionally used CD of noises, but we know that fails in some cases as pets generalise their fear to the smell and the feel of a thunderstorm, not just the noise.

 There is no quick fix, no magic potion, no pixie dust or magic wand I can wave to fix the fear that a pet feels with thunderstorms or fireworks.

But there are solutions, usually a combination of things, that need to be applied each time possible, to make your pet learn to cope. And they are in the list of 40 (if I can find that many) things that are listed above.

The only quick fix is euthenasia, and in many cases, this is the best solution for the absolutely fearful, anxious dog.

 

My pet freaks with storms and fireworks

It is 3 pm on New Years Eve.  It is a Saturday, and the vet clinic closes at 12 noon.

So, already, we are three hours past closing, when all we want to do, is to go home, and catch up on whatever cleaning, cooking needs doing, and more importantly, say hallo to our ever suffering family.

And the phone call comes in.  "My pet freaks with fireworks, and I need something to help him be quiet. He is like this every year, but normally I am home, so its not a problem. I need some sedatives for him for tonight"

What gives?  You know your pet freaks out. They do it every year. So why decide at the last minute to consider getting something to help them.

So I check the records, and realise that we hadn't seen this pet at all. Not ever. Not even for a weigh in. The dog is 7 years old.

"Who is your normal vet?" I ask innocently enough. 

"Don't have one. Dog is not sick. Never goes to the vet.  I just need some sedatives for him."

You don't want to know the language that then occurs, when the advice is given to the pet owner that as all sedatives are prescription drugs, the pet needs to be examined by a registered veterinarian first, before we could prescribe something. And the owner is not prepared nor willing to allow an examination.

This scenario happens every so often for any medication that a pet may need, where the owners are not aware of the legal requirement of a valid vet- client-patient relationship.  What this actually means is that we need to know that we are actually prescribing the right medication for the pet, as it is illegal to prescribe anything without a diagnosis or presumptive diagnosis.

Such abuse (or bullying, as I liken to) hurts, as vets care about the needs of all animals, whether they are under our direct care or not.  And we don't like the thought of not releasing medications if the pet actually needs them. 

Sedatives can kill pets if they have an underlying heart condition, or at a risk of epilepsy. Some other sedatives need to be dosed to the pet's needs (that is, the dose is pet dependant not weight dependant). What if we gave into the bullying? 

Now that we are heading into thunderstorm season, as well as fireworks on/off... now is the time to speak with your vet about what can be done to help your pet.

Don't leave it until the last minute, and don't leave it so that you have to rely on drugs alone to dope your dog out for the night.