SacMomsClub.com

larger view larger view

I grew up in a home where pets came and went. They were treated as annoyances by my parents, but something they felt every kid should have (especially an only child), though I never had too much of a bond with any of them.

When my son turned four, I badly wanted to get him a cat. I loved cats most of all and found them to be a great “starter pet” for younger children. After much convincing, we got our first cat. She was an orange and white tabby that we adopted from a local SPCA pet fair. She was older at the time (at least three or four) and it was obvious that the other families were there for the cute kittens.

When my son was seven, we relocated back to Davis. I always knew that when we bought a house, I wanted to get a dog. At this point we had two cats and a small tank with fish (a gift for my son’s first birthday. I thought the sound from the bubbles would help him sleep better, and give him something relaxing to watch while in bed. It worked!) Talking my husband into a dog was a little tougher than the cats, or fish. Finally he caved, and we took a trip to the animal shelter in Woodland to “just look.” Now how anyone can “just look” at a shelter is beyond me, because we left with our new doggie, Snack (yes, her real name.) Our son wasn’t too sure about his new “sister” and it took a while to warm up to her. She was older (about 3 years old) and loved him from the start. Man-cub came around and she’s a great addition to our family.

Our pack was happy for a few years, and then I went through the baby craze. If you haven’t had this happen yet, you’re lucky. It’s when against all odds, sanity and reason your body SCREAMS for a baby. Since a baby was obviously out of the question, I went to the animal shelter and adopted the first puppy I saw. Let me just say that a puppy, for all intents and purposes, IS a baby. It worked like a charm. I haven’t wanted a baby since and we had a great new girl dog to add to our pack. So why get pets? Why put the time, money, love and energy into “raising” animals as well as kids?

For me it was for:

-Unconditional love for my own little man-cub

-To teach the responsibility and rewards of caring for another living thing.

-To keep us all active (walking, bathing, playing, brushing)

-Sense of safety and security when my son is home alone.

-To help keep my son’s stress and depression in check (there’s nothing like petting a dog or getting “doggie kisses!”)

-To give my son a sense of companionship when he didn’t want other children over (very common with children on the Autism Spectrum.)

My pets kept their end of the deal and we can’t imagine our life without them. Yes, they’re expensive. Yes, they bark at all the wrong moments. Yes, my son loves them and they’ve done wonders for him developmentally. Personally they helped me fill that lingering maternal urge from only having one child, without actually having more children. I also can feel good knowing we gave so many animals such a loving home and a new lease on life.

A pet may not be the right move for you and your family, but I can’t imagine our pack any other way.

The big yellow dog in the picture is "Snack." She's a lab hound mix. The little one is my full-grown puppy (now almost 4yo) named "Sweetie." My boys call her "Toad" more than Sweetie however.

For more on pets, check out SacPaws.com.