Why are pets important in our lives?

Brida is really a place for everyone!

We even have our very own dedicated space for pets – “Chez Noisette”. But why is this relevant to our residents? After watching my pets and son play and after some mysterious and wonderful experiences I have had with pets, I have come to realize. They give some sort of meaning to our lives.

They add a certain kind of meaning and make us smile, even when we do not always pay attention to this very small detail.

We have 2 dogs, a rooster, a spider, and a hamster. Not mentioning all the other weird creepy crawlies we’ve had in the past. The dogs are always happy to see us, they follow us around, play with us and have their own weird little routines. When they eat, how they eat and how they play.

The one dog wakes my son up with me every morning, jumping onto his bed and then jumping onto of my son to say “Hey! Wake up!” It is amazing to watch because this makes my son smile every morning. The hamster lives in her cage, but she is part of this family for the simple reason that when she hears us talking she comes out to have a look. And when she smells food, she gets so excited she bites her cage until we give her something she loves!

Cheese, spaghetti, rice, and even chicken is on her “to eat” list. She gets some worms and love to chase crickets around in her cage, catches them and then eats them. Weird right? We have to buy crickets from the exotic pet store to feed the tarantula – but she doesn’t eat every day – so we have more than enough crickets to share with the hamster too, as the crickets die fairly quickly. 

The tarantula is a little moody at the moment because she will shed at some point, so I haven’t taken her out of her cage in a while. She eats crickets, drinks water, crawl around and dig in her layer of terrarium gravel (a mix of coco fibre, peat moss, and vermiculite, it almost looks like potting soil).

As for the rooster, we laugh a lot. Still trying to perfect its morning wake-up call, and still running into the house to eat dog food when he escapes his enclosure. He is not afraid of the dogs, and he acts like a mob boss. A weird pet to have, but everyone following the story of “Nuggets the chicken” will know where it all started.

How does this tie in with our “Life” topic? Why does this matter?

The answer is easy. Pets offer a kind of companionship. They give us unlimited love, affection, and friendship while making us feel less lonely. They offer support and care, they offer comfort and laughter in stressful or sad times. There are also health benefit, playing with pets or walking them keeps us active and stress-free (cleaning cages and feeding times are just as much exercise).

They also give us a sense of responsibility, feed them, and bathe them, cleaning their cages, making sure they are happy and healthy. They fall into their own routine, and we have to adhere to some of their rules. When they wake up and when they want to go out or eat… (Being woken up at 6am by your dogs or cats, on a weekend, might not be so much fun).

But all in all, they bring joy and happiness into our lives while giving us a sense of responsibility and belonging.  Am I the only one who thinks about how my pets feel when I go away for a few days? Probably not.

Take care of them, love them and cherish them just as much as they love and cherish us, unconditionally.