Why Pets Are Lifesavers for Survivors

What makes me happy?

That’s a hard question. I’ve been depressed since my eighth birthday. I have seen a lot of bad things which makes me feel misunderstood. What will make me feel loves, feel needed?

Luckily I know what makes me happy! My pets!

It may sound childish but this is my reality. I feel safe around my pets. I feel understood by them.

I have a cat which helped me through a lot of hard times. I just stopped with my education. My mom got really sick and needed to be in the hospital for seven weeks. I was home alone, no one to take care of me. I already was depressed but this period was the hardest for me. To be totally honest, I wanted to die.

My cat saved me; he was a kitten at the time. He was laying on my breast the entire day. Honestly, the entire day. Most of the time I didn’t even do anything. I just sat there, with this tiny loving kitten on my breast, purring all the time. I was constantly staring ahead, looking into nothing. Sometimes crying. Thinking about how much pills it should take to kill me. Self-harming almost every day.

But my cat helped me keep living. He made me smile; he made me feel.

Every single day I have to fight to get out of my bed, thanks to my depression and PTSD.

I was necessary. He needed me. Not for the future or later that day, he needed me right now in this moment. I wasn’t able to look a couple of hours ahead so the fact that he needed me every single minute made me feel like I couldn’t be missed. I knew he loved me, no matter what. His purring was healing for me.

Something that was healing for me as well was petting my bunny. He always was loose in our living room. He wasn’t really cuddly yet if I laid down next to him I was allowed to massage his hanging ears. He would make little grinding noises if he liked it.

Just as with my cat, I often laid down on the floor for hours cuddling my bunny. And if I was very lucky, he would lick me which means he loves me very much. Those small touches made me stay in my body, made me be right there. Those touches are still the only ones I can handle. I'm trying to learn how to comfort myself in that way. I try to find safety in myself. Somehow it didn’t really work out the way I’d like it to.

Every single day I have to fight to get out of my bed, thanks to my depression and PTSD. But every day I wake up seeing my cat meowing to me.

I have a parrot too. He is just nine months old and has been really sick in the beginning. Now he’s almost completely better and he gives me so much joy! It’s like having a three-year-old toddler constantly wanting your attention. But this toddler will stay three years old for about 40 years. He really adores me. The way he looks at me, asking for my approval. The way he trusts me. When I'm with him, he’s okay with everything. It gives me such a big confidence boost to see him trusting me that much.

This unconditional love of my pets is everything for me.

When I was little we had a dog. Eventually, he died at the age of 17. This dog taught me a lot. He taught me was love actually is. When I was sad or was feeling unsafe, he was right with me. In our home, there was a lot of violence. Our dog took care of us in the most terrible situations. He was the one that made us laugh every single day. He even protected us when our father tried to hurt us. One day when my dad was yelling at my brother and I, our dog bit him in his leg (through his jeans!). He definitely knew what was right and wrong. Not thinking about the consequences for him doing that. He wasn’t thinking about himself, he just reacted. He really must have loved us.

If people ask me what the best method is for a child to heal after (or during) a trauma, I tell them to get a pet. Because they can’t talk, all secrets will remain secret. The pet will care, will comfort, and know how to give love in a proper way.

Of course, having a pet has negative sides yet the mental support and healing they give aren’t even replaceable by a therapist.

note: I'm not saying a therapist can be replaced by a pet because a therapist works at a very different level. Yet their support isn’t ALWAYS there and the love of a pet is.

~ written by Namasté allday~