It has become my tradition to use my Thanksgiving column to remind readers to be thankful for all the joy, good energy and good health effects pets bring into our lives.
Today is the day we pause as a society to take inventory of the blessings in our lives. Pets provide us with so many things to celebrate. Interest in pets continues to increase, with more families sharing their homes with multiple animals.
Medical studies reveal that sharing our time with pets not only adds life to our years, but adds years to our lives. So what makes pets so great?
Pets give us the gift of unconditional love. No matter how long or difficult our day at work, no matter how distracted we are by the worries of the day, no matter how stressed we are with our children, our pets are there to help us greet the beginning of the day and say good night at the end of the day. Even when we are stressed, impatient, or abrupt with our pets, those animals keep coming back to remind us that they love us. May we all strive to become the good people our dogs seem to believe we are.
Pets give us a reason to get up in the morning. Our practice met a 90-year-old woman in our community who was a widow, lived independently, was losing her vision to macular degeneration and was diagnosed with depression. Her physician prescribed ProzacR. We matched her with an older, small terrier mix whose elderly owner had to give him up. She usually walked Pip twice each day, unless the weather prohibited walking safely. She no longer needed an anti-depressant.
Turns out she needed a prescription for a pet, not a pill. Five years later, at 95, she was still going strong when she lost Pip, who was 19 years old. Our clinic pets now provide the “animal karma” she had come to rely on.
Pets share our highs, our lows and everything in the middle. Pets are there with us when we graduate from high school, college and graduate school. Our animals share our emotions when we get married and begin a new life as part of a couple. They are there when we get that great new job, and when we are informed that our company is closing its doors. They greet our new children as they arrive home from the maternity ward. We will find no better fans for all aspects of our lives and activity.
Take time today to say a special prayer of thanks for the animals that share your life. You are living longer and better because they are there! Why are you thankful for your pets?
Dr. Robin Downing will respond to your questions in her weekly column, but cannot answer individually. Send questions to: Robin Downing, DVM, P.O. Box 460, Windsor, CO 80550 or drrobin@windsorvet.com.
