My grandmother used to tell me that pets make good folks. I’m sure I didn’t understand what she meant at the time; I just knew I loved pets. I’ve had cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, and fish, and I’ve loved every one of them. But I know now what Granny meant. She meant that the responsibility of taking care of a pet makes for a responsible person in general, and the love that is given to an animal develops our ability to love in general. Pets are funny and comforting and unconditionally loving.
I always had a pet or pets growing up, but in my first marriage, my husband didn’t want any pets. He had never had pets growing up, and he felt they were aggravating and a general nuisance. That viewpoint was that of his parents, and once our three year old son asked Santa for a kitty cat for Christmas, he gave in and we had our first and only family pet. We unimaginatively named him K. C. (for Kitty Cat) and the abbreviation seemed to give manly character to an otherwise “girly” sounding name. My boys always wanted a dog, but their dad wouldn’t give in on that. But after we separated and he moved out, one of the first things I did was get a dog. My next door neighbor at the time, who was also a United Methodist minister, told me that for every hard event in her family’s lives, they had always gotten a dog, which made the bad seem not so bad. That’s how I came to get Kojak, my 10 and 1/2 year old pug. And the first thing that my present husband had to pass muster on before I took him seriously was his agreement that Kojak was like my child, and if you love me, you have to love him, too. And he did, and he does, but what’s not to love about Kojak? My younger son, who was 14 when we got Kojak, also had and still has a great bond with him. Kojak came into our lives when things were all topsy turvy, and both of us took great pleasure in that little ball of furry energy. He seemed to restore normalcy in our hearts. And my older son, who was 17 at the time, used Kojak unabashedly as a “chick magnet.” He said that Kojak was more attractive to girls than a snazzy car!
I’ve read a lot about the value of pets as far as healthy living is concerned. From placing fish tanks with beautifully colored swimming fish in a dentist’s waiting room to taking pets on trips to nursing homes, medical professionals recognize that being around animals is calming and has many health benefits for patients.
First of all, pets help reduce stress. Many people use special techniques to reduce stress because excess stress can wreak havoc on our health, including increasing our chances of heart disease or stroke. Yoga, exercise, meditation, and journaling, among other things, can help us manage the excess, harmful stress in our lives, but so can petting a dog or cat! There have been medical studies that showed that having a pet, particularly a cat or dog, could reduce spikes of high blood pressure caused by excess stress and reduce heart rates even better than ACE inhibitors.
Having a pet can also help relieve depression. Having been diagnosed with clinical depression myself, I can testify to how much the companionship of cat and a dog helped me with my inexplicable feelings of loneliness. Although human companionship and exercise also helped me a great deal, there was something special about coming home to K. C., who would meet me in the driveway and roll over for a belly rub and then wind loving around my legs all the way into the house. And it is beyond special to come home now to not only sweet, little Kojak, but also my big, robust Elvis, the two pugs that greet me with tails wagging and are all but frantic to touch me and have me touch them. I have humans who love to see me, too, and mostly greet me with a hug and a smile, but there is something so incredibly endearing about those little dogs who never show anything but absolute adoration when I walk into the house. I wish every person suffering from depression could have a pet to take care of, a pet who is warm and soft and needs the human. There is something so healing about unconditional love, and a cat or a dog know how to give it.
Pets can make you laugh, too. My pugs keep me in stitches with their antics and the cute looks they give me. Sometimes when I’m a little grumpy, all it takes is a comical cock of the head when one of my dogs looks at me to chase away the irritation. Pugs are like little clowns sometimes, and they can chase away blues like nothing else. A friend of mine, who doesn’t really care that much for dogs, but does tolerate mine, was over at my house recently. She was politely recognizing them, but for the most part shying away from them until Elvis stuck his whole head into her purse, and she broke out in laughter and actually petted him! Not many people can resist the charm of a pug, who is bred solely for the purpose of being a companion to a human.
Finally, a dog or a cat is a good listener. Kojak has sat patiently with me while I cried or worried out loud over situations in my life. He never offered unwanted or unsolicited advice. He just sat there and listened and heard me out. There is nothing more helpful to a woman sometimes than just having someone who will listen to her. My dogs never tell me to just get over it. They just sit and look lovingly at me, and then they curl up with their warm, soft bodies against mine, and all seems okay again. Therapists get paid big bucks for much less.
I must admit that a dog or cat is not for everyone. Some people just don’t like animals. Some don’t want to be bothered by the extra work that having a pet entails. And for those people, I say that’s okay. But maybe they could heed the advice of my grandmother when she told me what I seemed to know instinctively: pets make good folks. And now I can add more to her philosophy: pets make healthier folks, too.
Stumble It!