This is your friendly OTP reminder that if you are thinking of bringing a pet into your home, please consider adopting from a local shelter. You will not only save a life and support the hard work of those that take care of the animals there, but you will also keep your money away from puppy mills and other businesses that don’t give a damn about animal welfare.
With that said, however, please consider the impact of bringing an animal into your home before you sign the adoption papers. Make sure the animal you want is suitable for your home and your lifestyle. It’s no use to you or your new companion if its needs are not compatible with what you can provide. Chances are that you will both end up miserable and your furry friend will pay the price when you find him or her a new home…or return him/her to the shelter. This is a tough experience for an animal in even the best of situations, so please take caution in making sure you are making the best decision for everyone involved.
I could enter into a long rant about the responsibilities of pet ownership, but why do that when the Ten Commandments for Pet Owners says so much of what I would say in more eloquent form? Here they are:
- My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.
- Give me time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience and understanding will teach me more quickly those things you want me to learn.
- Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don’t be angry with me for long, and don’t lock me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, your entertainment. I have only you.
- Speak to me often. Even if I don’t understand all your words, I understand your voice when it’s speaking to me. Your voice is the sweetest sound I ever hear, as you must know by my enthusiastic excitement when your footsteps fall upon my waiting ear.
- Please take me inside when it’s cold and wet. I’m a domestic animal and no longer am accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me.
- Keep my bowl filled with clean water; I cannot tell you when I’m thirsty. Feed me good food so that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to be by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to share with you my life, for that is what I live for. However you treat me, I’ll never forget it.
- Don’t hit me. Remember, I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, but I choose not to bite you.
- Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I am not getting the right food, I’ve been out in the sun too long, or my heart is getting old and weak.
- Take care of me when I get old. You will grow old, too.
- When I am very old, when I no longer enjoy good health, please do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Just see to it that my trusting life is taken gently. And be with me on that difficult journey when it is time to say “goodbye”. Never say, “I can’t bear to watch.” Everything is easier for me when you are there. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands. Remember – I love you.
– Author Unknown
I can say firsthand that being the human-mom of an adopted shelter cat is one of the best – and most important – duties in my life. In exchange for providing my baby with all that he needs (and much more, of course, because he is rightfully spoiled rotten), I have been rewarded with unconditional love and the most loyal companionship I have ever known. And gratitude. Even though Teddy came from a wonderful no-kill shelter where he was well taken care of, his life there was different from the way it is now and he knows it. He doesn’t have to compete for attention or space with other cats; he’s king of the house and he loves it. He has his own food, water bowl and toys. Random people no longer walk into his surroundings and touch him when he’d rather not be touched. And he now has the undivided attention of his human-mom and human-dad, who love him very much. He knows that no one will ever hurt him as long as we are with him, and we will never, ever break his trust. He genuinely appreciates these things. Most importantly, he knows that we are friends for life, and I see in his eyes just how much that means to him. The feeling that gives me is indescribable.
