By Margaret Houben
Pets. So many of us have them, or know someone who has them.
Some are just there, something to look at and feed once in a while (fish; or an ant farm). Others become part of the family and involve a fair amount of contact (dogs and cats most frequently).
Did you know that there have been multiple studies over the years by different groups about the benefits of owning a pet?
One study showed that for those who live alone, owning a dog can decrease your risk of death by 33 per cent, and the risk of cardiovascular-related death by 36 per cent… probably at least in part to the amount of exercise you get walking the dog.
Another study showed that pets alleviate allergies and boost immune function.
It turns out that living with a dog or cat during the first years of life cuts your chances of pet allergies down significantly, and also lowers your risk of asthma.
In fact, a recent study found that newborns who live with a cat have a lower risk of asthma, pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
Other studies show that pets reduce stress and depression, and boost heart health.
These are just a few of the findings from many studies. All are good reasons to consider having a pet.
When you do have one, and have had one for many years, eventually, your four-legged companion may become too old or sick to have a good quality of life.
Making the decision to put them down, or dealing with their natural death, can be hard.
Don’t try to ignore the grief or bottle it up - for real healing, it is necessary to face your grief and actively deal with it.
There are many ways to do this, and no one way is the right way. Choose what works for you - what feels “right” to you.
Have a funeral. Plant something in the garden to commemorate the pet. Write an obituary for your pet.
And remember, if you have other pets, they can also experience loss when their companion dies, or they may become distressed by your sorrow - so try to keep your routine as normal as possible.
I recently had to put down my cat, a cat I had for 22 of her 23 years.
I plan to plant something over her grave in the spring (but I haven’t decided what yet), and I did write an obituary for her.
I will always miss her, but writing the obituary helped me focus on the good times we’d had together.
Cleo ‘Mao’ - R.I.P. - 1994-2017
Cleo was found abandoned on Wiers Beach, Metchosin, on Vancouver Island, by my landlord’s children, back in the summer of 1995. They took her home, scoured the neighbourhood looking for anyone missing a young cat (but no one claimed her), and took her to the vet to get her shots and to be spayed. As they (the kids) were allergic to cats, they asked if I would like to have her.
A timid cat around people, she was nervous of heavy walkers and took a while to get used to new acquaintances and additions to her new family.
For the next 22 years, she was my faithful companion. Going with me on holidays, sleeping on my bed, following me when I went on walks - what a sweet puss she was.
And what a good mouser!
Over the years she caught mice (which she ate if given a chance - and she caught one just a few days before she passed away), birds (she’d eat everything but the heads), snakes (which she brought inside to play with but didn’t kill), rats (which she left for me to have), and when she was here in Barriere at the age of 16, she even managed to catch a chipmunk (and boy, those critters are fast - I’ve seen her chase them in Metchosin, but this was the first she’d ever caught).
Spiders she wouldn’t ‘catch’, but she would play with the bigger ones, patting them on the body with her paw and watching them scuttle away… following them, and when they stopped, patting them again… usually in my direction - eek!
One of her favourite treats was catching large moths and smacking heartily while eating them - ugh!
She loved it most when I sat down and gave her my lap. She didn’t like to be picked up, but she sure did love to cuddle.
She will be greatly missed by those she has left behind - her immediate family: Margaret, Wim, and Antoon.