Adventures in Pet Therapy

When I moved in with my boyfriend last year I left Luna, my cat, with my mom. We didn’t think she would handle the change well and I would visit her every week. Then Hurricane Irma happened and I had to take my family’s cats and Luna with me when we evacuated, boy was that fun. A few weeks after the hurricane we had Luna with us for a week while my mom was away and we realized that she was fine. In fact, she never left my side. We talked it over and decided to keep Luna and now our place is filled with kitty condos and scattered with cat toys.

Luna can be a pain in the ass, she wakes us up at 4:30 a.m. by gently poking our faces. She cries when one of us is on the balcony and she’s stuck inside. She loves to knock things off my nightstand, including my cup of water. Lesson learned, now I use lids. Despite this, I can’t imagine my life without the little fur ball.

Pets have the ability to comfort us in ways that people can’t, especially when we are sick. I don’t know how they know, but when I need it the most, Luna snuggles up right next to me. She doesn’t expect anything from me and having her right there manages to lift my spirits, despite whatever physical agony I might be in.

Last month, during one of my painful partial bowel obstructions, I was on the bathroom floor in pain, crying, throwing up, and I looked up and Luna was right there. I felt less alone in that moment. She’s not turned away by the smells, tears, or excessive cursing that is probably coming out of my mouth. She just wants to be there and sometimes that’s all I need.

Luna came into my life during a very difficult time. I was a week away from having major surgery, I was about to get my current ostomy. I was home by myself all day long during my recovery and in a lot of pain, also the cabin fever kicked in and I was down in the dumps with no energy. Luna was a little mischievous kitten, all kittens are. She would get into things she wasn’t supposed to and I would constantly have to get up and make sure she wasn’t destroying something. She kept me moving, which was necessary for my recovery, and she kept me company during a lonely time. She didn’t care that I had an ostomy. You can see her using it as a pillow in the picture below, I still had some staples in my incision. That little nugget made a difficult time in my life a little bit easier.

In fact, science backs me up on this. It’s been proven that having a pet can reduce your pain, lower your blood pressure, and improve your mental health. Luna adds a lot to our lives. If I’m in the hospital, Kevin isn’t home alone, he has Luna. If Kevin is traveling for work, I’m not home, I have Luna.

I can’t imagine my life without this little nugget. The unconditional love that comes with pets is priceless.