Sometimes, an aside of the so-called Golden Years of
retirement is loneliness. Usually, loneliness makes its appearance via one of
the dastardly “D’s”, which are relationship destroyers like divorce,
debilitating disease, and death.
When a dastardly “D” raises its ugly head, Seniors may find
themselves alone and lonely. They have difficulty coping because they’re
experiencing the loss of a loved one. Even though the loved one may still be alive,
the relationship is dead.
Fortunately, there are ways to somewhat fill that void, and
one is having a pet.
In an article a few months ago I mentioned my new cat MC,
i.e. My Cat. I wasn’t looking for a pet,
but the opportunity presented itself. I
like cats, and after first saying no I changed my mind, and the rest is
history. MC’s now about 9 months old, spade and front claws removed.
She’s my bud. We’ve learned each other’s personality quirks and
how, so-to-speak, to abide in the same abode. I talk to her as if she was human,
and she meows back as if she understands what I’m talking about.
Come bedtime we sleep in the same bed. She snuggles next to
me and lays her head on my arm. However, cats are nocturnal and occasionally
she’ll wake me in the middle of the night playing in the bedroom.
She’s also my alarm clock and knows I feed her when I get up
between 6 and 6:30. However, if I’m not up within that time frame she jumps on
my chest to let me know she thinks I should get out of bed.
When I’m at my computer, which is most of the time, she’s
generally in the vicinity. She’ll lie on my lap, play in the room, or nap in
the overstuffed chair next to my desk.
I’ve trained her to my specs with a squirt bottle of water.
It took awhile, but now she’s well behaved.
If she gets rowdy, all I do is pick
up the squirt bottle and she knows what comes next, so she obeys.
I admit MC fills a void I didn’t know was there.
Try a pet; I’ll bet you enjoy the experience.
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