Pet Therapy

My cat’s name is Ninja and she is seven years old.  My dog’s name is Valerie and she is two years old.  Valerie is the baby in the family and Ninja is the eldest.  Our daughter falls in between the two fur babies at three and a half years old.  I will write plenty more blogs about her but this one is about our furry friends. 

I was browsing the internet… facebook to be exact… looking for… actually I have no idea what I was looking for.  But what I can tell you is that I saw her.  I saw that little black and white cat and the ad on facebook begging for someone to adopt her.  And I read the ad and I re-read the ad and I read it for a third time.  And by the time I got to the third time of reading it, I called my husband and told him that we were adopting a cat that weekend.

Ninja was a year old and considered “not adoptable” because people only want to adopt kittens not cats.  They were going to put her to sleep if they did not find someone to adopt her quickly.  The organization who housed her was called Dumpster Cats.  They said she was outside a corporate building scared and cold at about seven weeks old when she was rescued and brought to them. 

Ninja was shy, timid and anxious.  The owner’s husband, used to watch Ninja do back flips off the couch at night when the other kittens were fast asleep.  She would sleep during the day while the baby kittens all played.  She was a warrior in life, an eight pound furry warrior.  And I knew I wanted her in my life.  

I remember when we went to pick her up.  The lady who owned Dumpster Cats said, “Ma’am, this is a long-term commitment.  She will live at least twenty years.”  And six years later, Ninja still snuggles with me.  She still welcomes me every morning when I get out of bed with a “Meow”.  And when I get home from work, she meets me at the bottom of the steps, flips around onto her back and says in her little cat voice, “pet my belly Mommy, I am so glad you are home”. 

Valerie, on the other hand, is a whole different story.  For my husband’s thirty-third birthday, I told him we could look into adopting a dog for our family.  Well the words, “look into” meant nothing to him and that weekend we were all over the state of Delaware at animal shelters petting and playing with dogs of every shape, size and breed.  After seeing her three times, taking his co-worker to meet her and talking to the shelter about next steps, Valerie came home with us that following weekend. 

Valerie was a protective animal by nature and needed to know exactly where her humans were at all times.  We potty trained her and crate trained her.  I recall my co-worker saying, “You crate trained her?  That is inhumane to the animal!”  and I gently reminded her of the shelter Valerie came from when she was only allowed outside two times per week, she lived on a cement floor and shared a cage with another dog…And my co-worker gently took back what she said. 

To this day, Valerie greets her humans with jumping up on her hind legs and putting her front paws on our thighs (Except for our daughter.  She runs in circles around her and smothers her with kisses.  It is actually quite interesting how she knows to not jump on her sister because she would tackle her if she did).  Valerie smiles from ear to ear just laying on her back getting pet on her belly in the lap of one her humans. 

And when I am having a bad day and am sick, my animals are right by my side.  They either snuggle right there next to me or are on the floor by my bed.  Valerie and Ninja both know that if Mommy or Daddy allows either of them to jump up on the bed that Mommy is sick and having a bad day.  And they love it.  Speaking for them, I can honestly say that they love to snuggle, feel my warm (or cold) body, and help me transform from having a bad day into feeling better and having a good one.  They certainly are not a prescription drug but they are a form of healing that is unexplainable, unconditionally loving and genuinely caring. 

So to all my fellow humans out there reading this blog, take care of your furry friends because I know they will take care of you too.  And to all my furry friends, keep showering your love on your humans. Thanks for reading and have a bright and sunny day!

Love Note:  With all my heart, I genuinely request that due to the content written, please seek the guidance of professional help should you feel you need it.