As we now have our new furry friend, I thought I'd update you all on how she's getting on, and also I have been thinking about how Pets affect our lives and of course mental health.
Jazz is settling in well. I firstly want to acknowledge the amazing work our animal charities do in the UK most with no government funding and run with skeletal paid staff and volunteers. We got Jazz from our local animal sanctuary Holly Hedge. Holly Hedge was first brought to my attention when we moved to Bristol, my workplace ran a shoe box appeal over Christmas. From that point on I liked their FB page and tried to keep up to date with their appeals and cats needing homes. I'll talk a little bit more about Spooky later in the blog, but following Spooky being put to sleep everything we had cat wise was donated to Holly Hedge.
When I was there on Saturday they were busy, so the process of handing Jazz over seemed to take place really quickly. Before I knew it we were in the car, and I realised we were now cat owners again an exciting but trepidatious thought. Unhappy with the ride home, Jazz sang the song of her people for the 15 minute car journey. We had secured one room for her initially (our living room) so I shut the door and let her out of her box. She did one lap of her new home and then continued to come and sit on my lap and pad on my fleece blanket. From this point forward I tried to keep everything calm, I slowly introducing the TV and I sat for a few hours watching a film with her on my lap. Conscious that she would have to have some time by herself, I decided to leave the room and do bits around the house. We have french doors into our garden from the lounge so I was able to sneak round and observe what she was doing. She had taken herself onto the floor and was fast asleep, there was no peep from her until I went back in the room a bit later.
We resumed our chilled out film watching session. It was lush having that warm bundle of fluff sat next to me on the sofa and even in myself I felt quite content too. To be fair she continued in the same chilled manner, husband came home and she was the same with him and decided for the rest of the night she wanted to sit on his sofa with him. The following day as she had been so confident and happy we opened the door just to give her access to the hallways. We closed all the other doors. She was happy looking around and then came back in the lounge to sleep on the floor again. As sleeping on the floor has become her thing, I took a cushion and blanket and placed it in the spot she was lying, in true cat fashion she ignored it and carried on sleeping on the floor regardless. She's a true cat in as much, she does not respond to her name, she does things when she wants too, in her own time and she lets you know when she's had enough. Administering her thyroid tablets has been a bit hit and miss, she has very quickly caught on that I am hiding her meds so has been fussy but I'm determined to crack this. Otherwise she has massively surprised us. In the last couple of days she has been slightly more withdrawn and subdued but this is very early days of her trying to settle into our routine.
So let me move on to my thoughts about Pets and mental health. I'll just very early on say honestly my experience is mixed. I have experienced owing a pet and it massively improving my mental health and I have experienced where it has impacted my mental health too, which I will explain in more detail further below. In preparation for this blog I did some internet research as always, about pets and mental health and there is oodles and oodles of articles about the positive benefits, please see the link below which highlights some of the benefits.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/pets-and-mental-health
I absolutely understand why having a pet can be therapeutic, as I was reminded on Saturday there is not a greater feeling than being sat chilling out, having strokes with a pet. For me it was about having a companion in the evenings, some form of routine and to a point having someone else to worry about other than my overthinking worrywart self! Animals can have a calming effect, ease loneliness and can even promote exercise in dog cases... so you'd think it's a win win situation! But what happens when it doesn’t quite turn out that way.....
Having a pet should not be a decision taken lightly. I have spent months agonizing whether we were ready to take on the responsibility again, whether I was ready mentally and hubby ready emotionally. Not to mention financially. As I have just thought and written that, actually the finances of owing a pet is a really good point!! It can be expensive, for example, for a cat, there's food both wet and dry, litter (if the cat is indoors), vaccinations, flea and worm treatment, pet insurance, vets bills to cover things not covered under insurance. A single cat blood test is approx £80 - £90.
We also were massively disadvantaged in the past for trying to find rented properties that took animals it felt like only 1 in about 30 landlords took pets. Something else to also consider.
It can come with a whole heap of worry and stress particularly if the pet falls poorly or develops behavior issues. I once worked with an unemployed customer whose cats were her whole world. She had multiple cats and it was only when one of those cats became poorly, things start going downhill for her and the animals. She would show up to our appointments distressed and crying about how poorly the cat was and how she could not afford treatment. We of course tried to provide her the appropriate advice about pet charities etc but none the less her mental health did decline as a result of the worry.
I too have first-hand of experience of this. I don’t want to dwell on this too much as I still find it a little painful to talk about and explain but as noted in my previous blog our big white ball of deaf fluff Spooky went on to develop behavior issues, which the vets suspected to be neurological. The anguish we felt trying calming tablets, plug ins, I would spend hours making activity boxes, we had numerous tests done at the vets, I paid a pet behavior specialist etc. In the end Spooky was the one suffering, he'd have moments of pure happiness and that’s what made it even more difficult but the bad parts were really bad and my husband still bears the scars (I have tears in my eyes just writing this as it was such a horrendous time for us all). I must stress/clarify here because I feel I need to, when Spooky was attacking it wasn't play fighting or warning us off as cats do and they all do...something happened to him, some kind of frustration but his inner male lion would take over and he became what I can only describe as possessed. You saw him change but normally it was too late and unprovoked. The turmoil we felt during this time was hideous and having to make the 'final' decision literally broke us both. I went on to be quite unwell after this and do think this was one of the contributing factors to the start of my anxiety period last year.
However whilst this was a terrible time and experience, upon reflection it has given us exactly that....experience. We now have happier memories, some still painful ones but none the less I try to focus on the good memories.
In essence owing an animal can be an amazing experience, rewarding and fulfilling. It can also be a roller-coaster ride and I think you have to think long and hard about the commitment, personally, mentally, emotionally and financially.
So our little journey with Jazz continues.... fingers crossed for smooth sailing....one last thing from me....ADOPT DON'T SHOP!!! There are so many animals who needs loving homes if you feel this is the right commitment for you.
Big love Nx
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