myKotty Animals are an irreplaceable and inherent part of our hooman lives. It seems like without their presence everything around us would become grey and lacklustre. Can you imagine, fabCats, a morning wakeup without a kitty face lurking at you from the window sill or meowing for breakfast that’s late by 5 minutes?! Cats and other domestic pets can play a bigger role than just being our floofy companions. Their presence boosts our moods, builds a sense of security, calms our nerves and even helps battling with depression. On the National Animal Rights Day in Poland, which we celebrated on May 22nd, it’s worth appreciating everything that our pets can do for us, their Guardians. What should we be thankful for to our animals?
What do humans gain from connecting with animals?
We can learn a lot from animals. By surrounding ourselves with pets as responsible Guardians, we’re drawing incredible energy from being in touch with such sensitive, reliant on us, but at the same time trusting and open creatures. Domestic cats, dogs, parrots or even small rodents awake in us new layers of sensitivity and goodness for another being. They can boost our moods, even on the worst day, run to us as they feel our stress and tension, support us during illness or even serve us as trained helpers in daily activities – guiding dogs work their field better than many people!
Why is it animals who bring so many precious experiences into our lives? Because regardless of the circumstances, their past, our character, appearance or life situation, cats and dogs love people endlessly and unconditionally. We have to fight for their acceptance and trust sometimes, but once they take to us, it’s impossible to ask for a better friend and confidant. Pets, no matter their species, teach people responsibility for other living beings. It’s a great learning opportunity for kids, but adults as well – even in the worst periods of our lives we feel the need to get ourselves together as much as possible so that our cats or dogs can have a happy life.
Cats and dogs as help in therapy
One important and more and more obvious role of domestic animals in human’s lives is their ability to help us in therapy. Both cats and dogs are used in feline and dog therapy with kids and adults, helping them to work through different physiological and mental issues. Pet therapy introduces the notion that contact with a cat, a dog or other animals can lead to letting go of some issues, help accepting life hardships and working on them, ease dealing with pain, encourage moving around that’s necessary for rehabilitation and physiotherapy, and for psychological problems, it can help with opening up to work on them. Animals introduce uninhibited happiness into our lives, supporting our overall health better than many human therapists could.
What can domestic animals be trained to do?
Cat support for hoomans is mostly rooted in their instinct and nature, which taught them to interact with people. Cats and dogs are also very intelligent, despite their small heads – properly prepared and trained can make more directed and precise actions, supporting people in different areas of work and everyday lives. In thanking animals for their abilities, we can’t forget about guide dogs who support visually and hearing-impaired people to navigate the world. Or police dogs who are efficient in helping to catch criminals, finding injured people under the ground, ruins or snow, finding missing people with clues invisible to the human eye or even finding drugs and dangerous substances on airports etc. Some, properly trained dogs can even detect illnesses, what we personally see as a huge talent for which dogs should be respected.
Switching our attention to our feline friends, in recent years we’ve seen a growing number of cats serving as therapy animals. Some breeds and individual cats have so much sensibility, affection and patience for humans that they’re purrfect as supporting animals for people battling depression, mental health issues or developmental disorders, e.g. autism. It’s even said that people who live with cats can live up to 30% longer than those without dogs, cats, parrots, horses or other animal support.
A domestic furry friend is also a purrfect companion for lonely or senior people who have nobody to talk to and spend time with on a day to day basis. Living with a pet can make them feel less lonely, give them affection from petting and cuddling animals and provide a soul they can safely talk to – nobody understands a hooman as well as a listener that only listens and never interrupts you 🙂
On the Animal Rights Day – thank you!
There are many arguments we could raise for bringing a pet into your house, but for any human the decision to get a floofy companion should be completely individual. It’s important to remember that it should be a completely conscious decision based not only on what the animals can do for us, but also what we, as humans, can and should offer them in return.
On the Animal Rights Day we want to pass through your hands for your pets, dear fabCats, the biggest thank you. For their support. Their company, which is present even when we need a little time off. For their ability to make us laugh on the worst days and for their neverending trust given to us, even after a trip to the vet.
What would you, dear fabCats, wish to thank your floofy companions for on their special day? And for which rights and abilities for those helpless creatures, in your opinion, should we, as humans, fight for every day? Share your thoughts in the comments and remember to appreciate your cat and dog companions every day! 🙂
