Advertisement
VIDEO | 01:14
Five months after wildfires, it’s still PTSD for animals (Pets Trying to Shake Depression)
California

Five months after wildfires, it’s still PTSD for animals (Pets Trying to Shake Depression)

By Steve Lopez
 and Mark E. Potts
Some dogs, and cats, have made multiple moves since the fire and had to get used to new surroundings over and over again. Natalie Langan said that can put them on edge and heighten their separation anxiety, and if their owners are depressed or grief-stricken about loss and uncertainty, the animals absorb those emotions, too.


“Dogs see the world in patterns. That’s how we’re able to train them,” said Langan, who advises her clients to establish new routines for their pets. “The number one thing is to create a new normal, and that’s for humans as well. My parents lost their home to the fire and I’ve been helping them” build structure into their days, and stay on the move “rather than sitting around the condo being sad about what’s happening.”
California
Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist. Lopez is the author most recently of “Independence Day: What I Learned About Retirement, From Some Who’ve Done It and Some Who Never Will.” His book “The Soloist,” inspired by his columns on his relationship with a Juilliard-trained homeless person, was a Los Angeles Times and New York Times best-seller, winner of the PEN USA Literary Award for Non-Fiction, and the subject of a Dream Works movie by the same name. He has also written three novels and two column collections.

Mark E. Potts

Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

Advertisement