Monday, April 20, 2009

Pet's & People

One of the best things we have in life is our love for animals. When we decide to choose out pets, we have made a life time commitment to take care of them through out their life. Some pets live longer than others, especially cat's and dog's. They require love, interaction, exercise, proper nutrition, veterinary care and grooming. They also love our attention and affection, in return our pets provide us with unconditional love and acceptance and are true and loyal friends.

They offer us a safe haven and the opportunity to be who we genuinely and truly are without facade or pretense or affectation. They allow us to lower our guard and display emotions and share feelings we might not feel comfortable sharing with another human being. They lower blood pressure and improve our heart rate, decrease worry, fear. stress, loneliness and depression.

Through our animal companions we learn much about ourselves, of life and death and of mortality and immortality. We observe our pets as they grow from infancy to childhood to adolescence, adulthood, maturity and then old age. Many of them along the way experience illnesses of many kinds and pass on before their time, some require life time medication. We all know the feeling that we get when our pet becomes to ill to go on, we know they will be at Rainbow Bridge, waiting for us, but the decision is so terribly a painful one and heart breaking.

Many people who do not have pets are not aware of the powerful emotional and spiritual connections that those of us who know live with and love them share with our animal companions. Grief is the normal, natural and healthy response to loss of any kind. Above all, we respect and appreciate the beauty, nobility and grace of our animal companions and the gifts they bring us.


19 comments:

Judy said...

Pets give us many moments of happiness and are true friends for life. I love that Rainbow Bridge poem.

Peggy's Place said...

Amen. I can't imagine life without our four legged friends.

Gigi Ann said...

I agree, I have a dog, Joey and my cat is Mr. Jones. They are fun to watch playing and running around the house. Joey will be 9 years old in a few days, and Mr. Jones has only been with us since August 29, 2008. He just showed up half starved, moved in with us, and decided to stay!

Patty said...

How true. That is one reason I didn't want another dog, at this stage in our lives. We had one dog that lived to be 22 years old. We now have five dogs, one cat and asst. of small animals, like gerbils, hamsters, mice, birds, one guinea pig all buried in the back yard. I don't want to worry about another pet or caring for one. We do have a cat at the moment, our daughter and granddaughter that are living with us, brought along a cat. I have a feeling if and when they find their own place, the cat will stay here with us. But at least you can go away for a day or even two and not worry about a cat as long as he can get to his litter box and has food and water.

Have a great week.

ancient one said...

I've never wanted cats and dogs inside my house, but outside pets are okay. A dog took up residence here. My husband had her spayed and feeds her well. She is getting so fat. And we always thought she stayed in the yard and guarded our place when we were gone. Last night our neighbor called and said she babysat "Missy" while we were at church. She said they were sitting on their porch and Missy came to visit. She said as soon as she recognized our car coming down the road, she took off and ran back home so we would think she'd been here the whole time...LOL

Becky said...

Well said Margaret. We've had so mnay pets throughout the years, and our home just isn't the same without one, or two, or three etc.
B.

A New Beginning said...

Indeed pets fill one with life and when they go away the pain just lingers on. Nice post

misty said...

Hello Ms. Margaret. We really would love to have pets but I think will just wait till we go back there in the States.

Thanks for sharing!

Chubskulit Rose said...

My kids love animals!

ryliej said...

I agree, the emotional bonding that we have with our pets is amazing. After five years of being away from home, our dog still knows me when we visited this year!

john said...

When I was a kid, my Mom bought me a dog and he got accidentally killed by a car passing by.. My Mom's heart was crushed, she cried for our dog for weeks like he was her son too..

Margaret Cloud said...

Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment. It was with a sad heart I wrote this, it is never easy when our pets can no longer stay with us, I have had so many animals over the years and I still miss each one of them.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

I totally agree pets are wonderful to have.
I'm not allowed pets where I live but the memories I have my long gone dog Sheba, and cat Tabitha(who was diabetic) I had to inject her daily, but she was a great comfort to me when my
husband passed away. She outlived him by 2 years, after she went it was then I felt totally alone.
I enjoyed your blog very much and thanks for
calling by I value your support.

Yvonne

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

AMEN!!! What a wonderful post...m.

Anonymous said...

Well said Margaret and oh so true. I know our fur baby is the most precious thing and has taken the place of our grown children. And our cat has been with us for 18 years and the way she acts she will be with us for another 18. LOL

Margaret please do try a herb garden. All you need is a little place next to the back door or in a flower garden. I planted mine is pots that sit on an old tea cart. I planted basil, tarragon, lemon something, parsley, chives and others. As soon as it gets a little warmer I will plant cukes and tomatoes. And then I will have a little salad garden. It's so much fun to pick the fresh stuff every night for supper. xo Lynn

Sabrina, Sam and Simon said...

Amen Margaret, Amen! I don't know how I could ever live without the unconditional love that Sabrina, Sam and Simon give me and my husband, they are truly a gift! And my husband is truly a gift, because he brought these wonderful babies into our lives! This post was so purrfect!
Jan

Juno said...

Margaret, our humans say this is SOOOO true and can't imagine their lives without pets.

Momo & Pinot

momsbusy said...

margaret, when i read this post i thought of your pets. it was the loss of one of your beloved ferrets that i came to learn of your blog.

the emotional attachment we form with our pets can be so strong. they truly become a member of the family. i can remember cats our family had when i was just a small child (many years ago). they joy of time spent with one's pet has given so many people wonderful memories of unconditional love. regardless of how much it hurts when we lose them, we always remember the love and joy they brought us.

Margaret Cloud said...

Thanks for coming by and commenting. We all love our pets and try to make them happy.

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