Unconditional love ... unconditional acceptance ...
Unconditional love ... unconditional acceptance ...
Well, you might not agree with me, but to me, besides God Himself who showers unconditional love and acceptance to mankind, the next in line I think, would be domestic pets that some of us are fortunate enough to keep.
The beloved dog of a good friend died - not because of illness, but because of an infection that sets in suddenly, causing havoc in his brain such that it caused seizures to him and disorder. Of course, this good friend was very sad watching her beloved dog suffering in such state. But I guess the heartache besides seeing the dog wrestling with agony and pain is the decision to decide to put it to sleep to shorten its suffering. What a decision! If you think it's a decision that is made at the snap of a finger, then you're really wrong! Buckets of tears accompanied that one "simple" decision.
Someone once said, for us, a domestic pet (cats or dogs) are just pets, but in their eyes, we mean everything to them. I guess for some who keep pets out of excitement and novelty, perhaps they will not be able to understand the strong emotional attachment and bond developed between us and them. But for those who seriously devote their time and life to caring for the animals, that emotional bond and attachment are beyond words. In fact, most of the time, we consider our little kiddies a part of our human family - one that shares our joy and delights, one that brings us much cheer in moments of struggle and pain.
I for one, get upset with people who made comments like, "why be so upset? it's just a dog (or a cat) - just get another one lor!" I think these are people who don't understand what keeping pets mean. While it might be true that they can be easily replaced with another new pet, yet the bonds developed over the years with these little kiddies are just beyond description.
Call me silly or what, but I always grief whenever I lose my pets - anyone of them. My first pet was a little white mice (somehow I like animals that are furry and white, and the best are those with button eyes - oh, they really charm me!!) and I was only Primary 3 or so when I kept it. How I cried when it died. Later on when I was older, mum and dad finally allowed us to keep a dog (which my brother-in-law needed to give away because of the HDB ruling that only allows 1 dog per household) and we were given a pomeranian (my favourite breed of dog because of its foxy face that just melts my heart). He was already named Rocky when we took over him and he stayed with us for less than 3 months before he died of kidney failure - poor Rocky had hard life when he was young, being mistreated by his first owner before he was given to my brother-in-law. As a result, his physical constitution was never strong to begin with. Guess, what puffy eyes I had when Rocky died, even though we were together for only 3 months!
I could not get my mind off the love Rocky gave and the attention I gave to him, we got ourselves another pup (another pomeranian!! =) and we named him Rocky as well. He was my favourite - real favourite. We had him for 9 years until he had to leave us because of heart failure. It was most agonizing seeing him struggle and gasping for breath till the very last. Puffy eyes again, definitely!!
Perhaps many might say, "why give yourself all these trouble of agonizing over the loss of animals over and over again" but I'm not sure how many would really understand the kind of love animals can give to their owners. Yes, I do agree, the emotional pain is difficult to bear when they have to leave us one day, but still ...
This good friend of mine (and I believe many other pet owners) understood perfectly how much these little kiddies meant to us - and the joy they gave to us, the unconditional love and acceptance they render to us.
"It's just a dog!" ... or "It's just a cat!" - NOPE, they are more that that!
Well, you might not agree with me, but to me, besides God Himself who showers unconditional love and acceptance to mankind, the next in line I think, would be domestic pets that some of us are fortunate enough to keep.
The beloved dog of a good friend died - not because of illness, but because of an infection that sets in suddenly, causing havoc in his brain such that it caused seizures to him and disorder. Of course, this good friend was very sad watching her beloved dog suffering in such state. But I guess the heartache besides seeing the dog wrestling with agony and pain is the decision to decide to put it to sleep to shorten its suffering. What a decision! If you think it's a decision that is made at the snap of a finger, then you're really wrong! Buckets of tears accompanied that one "simple" decision.
Someone once said, for us, a domestic pet (cats or dogs) are just pets, but in their eyes, we mean everything to them. I guess for some who keep pets out of excitement and novelty, perhaps they will not be able to understand the strong emotional attachment and bond developed between us and them. But for those who seriously devote their time and life to caring for the animals, that emotional bond and attachment are beyond words. In fact, most of the time, we consider our little kiddies a part of our human family - one that shares our joy and delights, one that brings us much cheer in moments of struggle and pain.
I for one, get upset with people who made comments like, "why be so upset? it's just a dog (or a cat) - just get another one lor!" I think these are people who don't understand what keeping pets mean. While it might be true that they can be easily replaced with another new pet, yet the bonds developed over the years with these little kiddies are just beyond description.
Call me silly or what, but I always grief whenever I lose my pets - anyone of them. My first pet was a little white mice (somehow I like animals that are furry and white, and the best are those with button eyes - oh, they really charm me!!) and I was only Primary 3 or so when I kept it. How I cried when it died. Later on when I was older, mum and dad finally allowed us to keep a dog (which my brother-in-law needed to give away because of the HDB ruling that only allows 1 dog per household) and we were given a pomeranian (my favourite breed of dog because of its foxy face that just melts my heart). He was already named Rocky when we took over him and he stayed with us for less than 3 months before he died of kidney failure - poor Rocky had hard life when he was young, being mistreated by his first owner before he was given to my brother-in-law. As a result, his physical constitution was never strong to begin with. Guess, what puffy eyes I had when Rocky died, even though we were together for only 3 months!
I could not get my mind off the love Rocky gave and the attention I gave to him, we got ourselves another pup (another pomeranian!! =) and we named him Rocky as well. He was my favourite - real favourite. We had him for 9 years until he had to leave us because of heart failure. It was most agonizing seeing him struggle and gasping for breath till the very last. Puffy eyes again, definitely!!
Perhaps many might say, "why give yourself all these trouble of agonizing over the loss of animals over and over again" but I'm not sure how many would really understand the kind of love animals can give to their owners. Yes, I do agree, the emotional pain is difficult to bear when they have to leave us one day, but still ...
This good friend of mine (and I believe many other pet owners) understood perfectly how much these little kiddies meant to us - and the joy they gave to us, the unconditional love and acceptance they render to us.
"It's just a dog!" ... or "It's just a cat!" - NOPE, they are more that that!
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