My cat adopted me

A recent article I wrote is perfect to post under this topic. I hope more and more people will care for their pets and be cared for by them.

I. "It's okay, there is a life that loves me unreservedly."

There are books, tea and cats, enough to spend all the mornings, afternoons and dark nights of life. -- Kazunari Suzumura

There was a girl named Julie Barton who suffered from severe depression and fell into an infinite abyss, sinking deeper and deeper with every struggle. She couldn't get out of bed, she would sleep on the floor for ten hours, and whenever her mother called her up, she would stifle herself under the covers and snap at her mother, but then each time she was frantic with guilt.

What cured her was not drugs, not counselors, not even relatives, but her dog Bunker. Bunker eventually passed away, and Julie wrote a book for him called Dog Medicine in his memory.

The day Julie took Bunker home, he looked at her with his little brown eyes and she picked him up. The first night, Bunker sniffed around restlessly, Julie gently soothed him, and he brought his little head over to lick Julie. Only after meeting her, Bunker had begun to trust Julie, and Julie's heart was melting.

The next morning, at 6:45 a.m., Bunker started to wake Julie up. She could not get up originally, but slowly, Bunker gave her the motivation to get up, and Julie went out more and more. They walked together, played together, Julie didn't have to pretend in front of Bunker, and when she was sad, Bunker wouldn't talk but would be quiet with her.

Julie says, "Bunker understands me, it's a silent understanding. He never judges me or advises me to get better, he just stays with me, watches me, and makes me feel safe to grieve comfortably."

Between Julie and the dog, it was as if a safe zone had been established, in which there was no harshness, only warmth and guardianship. When Julie stopped being confrontational, slowly but surely, she got better each day, and the black cloud of depression was lifting a little.

The therapist once said to Julie: "When we stop trying to eliminate the feeling of depression, but purely observe and accept it, after a while, the depression will gradually change, and you will find that it is not as terrible as you think."

Bunker has been with Julie for eleven years, and during those eleven years, her condition has recurred, she has become a wife and a mother, and along the way, Bunker has guarded her family again. Julie's oldest daughter often has total nightmares, and Bunker stays with her daughter all night.

Whenever Julie was frustrated in life, she would tell herself, "It's okay, there's a life that loves me unreservedly." , so she could shrug her shoulders with pride and walk away with a straight face.

There are millions of people in this world who, like Julie, are healed by little beings who love them unconditionally. And their healing power is supported by empirical research.

A 2018 study published in J Psychiatr Res sought to understand what impact pet adoption has on the recovery of people with refractory healing disorders.

Researchers asked 80 people with refractory depression to make a suggestion to adopt a pet, and 33 of them (25 women and 8 men) accepted the suggestion that they adopt a cat or dog; another of the 33 people served as a control group and did not adopt a pet, but maintained their original treatment regimen.

After one month, the pet adoption group had significantly lower depressive symptoms (HAMD17) and higher levels of functioning (GAF) than at baseline; after two months, the pet adoption group had significantly lower levels of depression and higher levels of functioning than the group without pets. At three months, clinical cure rates were higher in the pet-adopted group than in the non-pet group.

Although further in-depth research is needed, this study gives hope for preliminary evidence that pet ownership may help treat refractory depression, and the researchers speculate that pets effectively alleviated the director's negative mood.

I once saw a message saying: "18 years old first outbreak of depression, I want to come to a puppy thank him to accompany me to work in college married. Now 17 years later, I do my own rescue of stray cats and dogs, study animal behavior, others always say I have love is great, while I say that without them I may have long jumped from the building will not become the person I am today."

Thank you for your unconditional love and guardianship that has healed countless broken hearts.

Second, "It was my cat who adopted me."

To accept some kind of worldview that transcends anthropocentrism and is even able to love other animals as they love themselves. -- Rolls Benton

Empirical research further suggests that many owners get a lot out of their pets. 2011 research done by McConnell, Allen R, et al. found that compared to those without kind pets, pet owners performed better on several indicators of well-being, such as better self-esteem, more exercise, and indicators of individual differences, such as more conscientiousness and less fearful attachment. performed better.

The Australian Baker Medical Study, which surveyed nearly 6,000 people at risk for heart disease, found that pet owners had, on average, 2% lower blood pressure levels and lower cholesterol levels than people without pets.

But I found that for many pet owners, the benefits of pets don't stop there.

One girl adopted seven stray dogs, and whenever people praised her for her kindness, she always smiled bashfully and shook her head, saying that only she knew best in her heart that it was actually they who had adopted her, and that they had given her a home.

Every day after work, she will be like a family member, anxious to rush back. Because, she knew that in that shabby, small room, the family dogs were waiting for her. She put a lot of effort into taking care of them, walking them, bathing them, playing with them, just like family.

Whenever there was a holiday, the fireworks were gorgeous outside the window, the dogs were all around her, and we all watched the fireworks cross the sky together. She silently prayed in her heart that she could spend the years like water with her children so calmly and peacefully.

When pets are sick, it is actually the most test of humanity.

A boy adopted a stray old cat, with deep feelings, but found that the cat has a terminal disease, it is difficult to save. Everyone advised him to give up, do not spend the money and time, but also the cat financial two empty. But the usually soft and gentle man was stubborn, saying that the cat had accompanied him through the most difficult times and he would do his best to save him. He spent a lot of energy caring for him every day, checking various literature, trying out the latest drugs, and using all the tens of thousands of dollars he had saved in his two years of work.

Finally, the cat was saved. Looking at it alive and well, he told himself that it was all worth it.

I think the biggest help of pets to us is to get selflessly guarded at the same time, but also let us learn to care for these small creatures equally, so that we are more gentle, more responsible, more grateful people.

Someone said, "Although I manage to eat and drink and shovel poop, but the heart is particularly clear, in fact, my cats adopted me, they are in this tumbling impermanence, anxiety, confusion in the red dust, firmly anchored my ties."

Third, "It knows more about loving and being loved than we do."

Human love, hope and fear are no different from those of animals; they are like sunlight, which comes from the same source and falls on the same ground. --John Merle

The life of a pet is usually shorter than that of its owner, and meeting and separating from them is also an education in death for us, teaching us that life is short and impermanent, and that love and hugs should not be put on hold.

I heard a story about an old man and his dog. The old man was named Zhou Qixian, a retired teacher, and his dog was named Zhou Erbao. The dog came to the old man's home that year, the old man's children just immigrated soon, work is also busy, a year will come back at New Year's time, with the dog, the two old man's life and a little more joy and companionship.

When the dog was 8 years old, the old man's wife died of a brain hemorrhage, leaving the old man and the dog to keep each other company.

Slowly, the dog got older, ate less food, and was not as fussy as the original, love to move. Once, the dog kept throwing up, and the old man took the dog to the hospital in a panic, and when he checked, it was cancer. The doctor said that there was little point in treating it, just delaying it, and aggravating the dog's pain. In the hospital, the dog was lying at the old man's feet, and the old man watched it panting hard, and at that moment, the old man's heart was seized hard and uncomfortable.

The old man decided to take the dog back home and also reduce going out and stay with him. He was also moved to a nest, in the most well-lit area.

The old man said that the dog had been there the morning he left, his breath had been very faint, but he was still holding on. The old man thought of his partner's last days, too, hanging on for dear life, reassured by the old man. The old man said to the dog, "Erbao ah, do not worry to go, grandpa can do it alone."

After saying it two or three times, the dog's breathing gradually stopped. The old man said, in the face of life and death separation, the dead sometimes more difficult. If they see us sad and upset, they will also go unsettled and have a guilty conscience. The old man said that although he was the only one left, quite lonely, but he would also live his life well, so that his partner and the second baby are at ease to go.

I once saw a very touching sentence, a child who lost his favorite pet sadly asked adults: why humans can live so long, but dogs can only live a dozen years?

The child heard the adult say: Perhaps, because it knows more about loving and being loved than we do, so they don't need to live that long.

Thank you for coming by and gentling my years.