Pets are not just companions but part of the home. We spoke to three pet owners about what their furry friends add to their lives and spaces
Image: Yerlin Matu, Unsplash
Pets are a lovely addition to any household, they provide comfort, love and warmth to you when you feel lost or down. I used to have a pet bunny named Oreo who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, he brought happiness into my heart and home, he made me feel grounded and comforted. A study published by the NIH institute suggests that pet owners have an overall positive impact on mental health. Which allows for a much greater increase in quality of life in the home. We asked three young pet owners what their animals mean to them.
Myra, has a dog called Maggie and a cat, “well we have multiple names for him, I usually call him Casper or ‘the cat’.”
How did you acquire your pets?
My cat and my dog are roughly the same age. I got my cat, Casper from an adoption event that was held at my local pet store and my mum got my dog Maggie from a breeder.
What do your pets add to your household?
My cat Casper is a calm and quiet presence in my house. He’s really chill and does his own thing. While I’m working in my room, he usually sits by my window and watches the birds outside. However my dog Maggie is the opposite, she is really chaotic and misbehaves a lot and whines at us but when we take her out to the garden she calms down and becomes really affectionate.
How have you changed your home to accommodate your pet?
On the bottom of our staircase we have added a dog gate to prevent Maggie from going upstairs because upstairs is carpeted and Maggie can chew carpets.
Moaad owns two cats, Athena and Cosmo, he had this to say…
Have you always had cats?
Growing up I’ve always had cats and before I had Cosmo and Athena, I had another cat named Maxie who passed away, and we got Cosmo shortly after. Maxie had a huge impact on my life, he was there since I was a kid and I didn’t realise the impact Maxie had on my life until he was gone. So when we bought Cosmo, it brought a lot of life back into the house, everyone in the house was a lot happier. Cosmo was a little kitten which was cute. In my living room I used to have a PlayStation and while I was playing Dead By Daylight, Cosmo would always climb onto my leg every time I would sit on the couch to play my game.
How did you acquire your pets?
We adopted our late cat Maxie, then after she passed, we soon adopted Cosmo, then later adopted Athena. We thought that Cosmo needed a friend.
What do your pets add to your household?
I’d say they add a calm presence and it feels like someone is always by your side. When we adopted Cosmo the house became happier and more lively.
How have you changed your home to accommodate for your pet?
A few years ago Cosmo got into an accident, he jumped off our balcony and broke his legs, he ended up in a cast for months and was stuck inside a puppy pen due to his injury. After the incident we placed a net over our balcony and connected it to the balcony above us. Ever since then our balcony has never been the same. Also, our house is always filled with cat toys and scratching posts.
Cherryn has a two-year-old cat, Becko
How did you acquire your pets?
My mum adopted Becko from a family friend who lived in Kensington for a while, she needed someone to look after Becko because she had to go back home to her native country so we ended up adopting him.
What do your pets add to your household?
They made my family bond closer to each other after getting Becko, before we were not that close with each other but Becko and his cuteness brought us all together so I’d say having a cat in our home was a positive experience and still is.
How have you changed your home to accommodate for your pet?
Before my mum was quite a minimalist and did not like to have any clutter around the house, however she became more lenient and allowed the house to be filled with cat toys and cushions everywhere. Also, Becko likes to roam around in the garden and we had to put up fences and wire fence around our garden so he doesn’t jump out.
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