How a new pet that arrived home during the pandemic became our island of solace!

Have you been thinking of keeping a pet but are worried about the extra work? Well, let me tell you about my experience of keeping a pet in the pandemic and how it helped my family cope up in the gloom.

When we brought our pet home, he was not a lot of work. He was very tiny, he was just about 40 days old and he would be playing one minute and drop off to sleep the next minute. So, all he needed was food, and he’d pee, poo and sleep. We thought everyone telling us a dog is a lot of work was probably wrong!

But as he grew up, what everyone warned us about did seem to come true, because he needed to be toilet-trained and he spent much longer playing and wanted to be entertained. Someone needed to be with him constantly through the day.

Our pup even fell sick and we had to take him to the vet many times. He had to be given extra injections and medicines for at least two weeks in order to get better. That delayed his vaccination schedule, and now that he was bigger with sharper teeth, he started biting us and WE had to get injections too! ☹

So, in the end it was not just extra work, it was a LOT of work.

But did we cope? Yes!!—because to tell you the truth, this little bundle of joy had not only walked into our home but also into our hearts. So, when we had to wake at 5 am to help him go potty or stay up nights to comfort this helpless little baby, we didn’t really mind. It was just like looking after a new member of the family.

And do you know what? We were not expecting it, but we also got something in return. In all the sadness around us, in all the gloom and doom and the death and destruction—even the tragic loss of near and dear ones because of the corona virus, it was our pet that became our centre of attention and thus, also our island of solace. We may have been super busy looking after him, but at least we had no lack of entertainment. Whenever we felt anxious or upset, it was he that brought a smile to our faces, or he kept us so busy that we simply forgot our sadness and grief. We smiled, we played, and accepted him wholeheartedly including the work and the joys in equal measure. My mother says she did not give birth to this baby but he is no less her baby than we are!

SO, if you have been considering adopting a pet but have not been sure, then my recommendation would be—JUST TAKE THE PLUNGE!! The joy that a pet will bring will far outweigh the effort and the pain.