I have 3 dogs and 3 cats

I love them all to bits, but theres particular ones i will go to if i need to feel calmer and more relaxed.

Dogwise, we have a 13yr old yellow lab called Jess, a 5yr old collie cross called Max and a 12month old chocolate labrador called Daisy. Daisy is going well and truly through her puppy phase and just wants to play constantly so isnt good for the relaxation! Max always makes me feel guiltly, i dont know why...but Jess.... She is perfect for hugs and love. She will literally sit or lie there as long as possible and will nuzzle you if you stop. Shes my calm dog and im going to miss her hugely when the time comes as shes getting on a bit now.

CAt wise....theres Neo whos a big black fluffy moggie with orange eyes about 7 (rescue), Maggie whos a short hair tortie whos also 7ish and Maizie, a short hair black and white rescue. Maizie loves her outdoors and altho when she comes in she lokes to sit on our knees and be stroked, shes very much an outdoory cat! Maggie is very independant and wants hugs when SHE wants hugs, but Neo is my cuddle kitty...just a complete softy and always does the little paw dance on my chest and bless him dribbles with happiness!!

All the others are wonderful in their own right and like i say i love them to pieces and wouldnt be without them, but my two cuddle buddies are my saviours sometimes they really are.

Would recommend a lab in a heartbeat but a puppy is such hard work! We rescued Jess from a puppy farm when she was 10 and shes so laidback and calm, so if thats what youre looking for maybe look at a rescue labs. Unfortunately theres so many about

so YES the right pet can really really help!!

I agree with this! My dogs are my world.They know when I need a little more time to cuddle. They are the best friends I could ask for. Sassi my Sharpei mix can tell when I am going to start having mood swings and will sit beside me through them. Buddy my bassett hound mix well he is my lover. he will come up beside me and let me kiss on him and share my sorrows

This post has been edited by bobbibrowneyes: Oct 4 2007, 03:21 PM

I love labadar retrievers they are the most loving and loyal breed.

i honestly think pets can help alot

There have been many periods in my life where having the company of a pet has saved my sanity.

I think it's because with a pet in the house, it gives me somewhere pleasant to rest my mind.

Without a pet I find my mind just has to think about all the bad things that are going on, and there is no distraction from it.

A pet makes me smile, laugh, feel loved, feel not alone.

This post has been edited by jade222gem: Oct 15 2007, 04:37 PM

I live alone, which I really don't mind. I like having my own place, my own space, but it does get a little lonely sometimes since I don't have my boyfriend here. I like living alone, but I don't think I could live completely alone, I like having my cats to come home to, nothing like having Z and Tabitha greet me at the door when I come home. Well, Tabitha greets me, Z is older and just keeps on sleeping.

I have two brazilian mastifs. They are brilliant, agile, beautiful, and loving. They rank right up there with my husband and children (except that I would never put my child outside for peeing on the floor~perhaps my husband, but definetely not the kids:-). They love me unconditionally, and are often the first to notice that I have come home. They are ever eager to show me attention, and will bolt down the stairs if I am going outside, just so they can hang with me. That's cool. My boys are like, "Uh, no mom, why would we want to go outside with you?" They are amazingly therapeutic. Often I am unable to show affection to people, but my dogs have helped me with this (oddly enough).

at the moment our household has - and i'm not exaggerating - 40 cats. we rescue and care for strays, then rehome them (most of the time - its hard to find homes) 15 are ~2 month kittens, 6 are newborn kittens, 3 mums...these are the strays. the others are cats we have had for a long time and are no longer trying to home.

having 40 cats is a lot of hard work. some need hand feeding, taming, medicating and all sorts. but it is very rewarding, and so in a way it helps the depression. they keep me busy which is good!

I know that my pets give me a reason to get up and go to work. if i didn't have to take care of them i'd probably be a lot worse off than i am.

Pets are the best. My family has I think always had a dog(s) plus/or hamsters. (Mom never allowed me to have a rat, but thats ok, because I´m a little afraid of them anyway )

When our dog died some time ago and we had no animals at all it felt like home soul was gone. I mean seriously, my own home didn´t feel like home anymore and that is a weird feeling. Then we brought a kitten from my grandmothers and everything started becoming normal again after a while. I mean cat is a very different from a dog, but just as adorable.

My dog and three cats are one of the only reasons I think I'm still alive. Life has no meaning for me anymore, I don't care if I live or die. But, I would never take my own life because I'm afraid of what would happen to my pets. A lot of people can't understand that about me. My extreme love for animals (not just mine a either...I'm going to school to be a vet. tech). Especially my boyfriend. He's always bugging me to get rid of my cats. When I imagine this place without any animals in it, it's like looking into a huge void. I'm home alone so much and having the company of my pets is the only thing that keeps me sane.

However...they're also the source of some major stress. We're not very financially stable at the moment. Loki, my beautiful golden retriever, has really bad allergies. I have to buy him a premium food to keep the vet bills to a minimum. It costs $60 for a 33lb bag. Actually, if I hadn't been volunteering at our local animal clinic for the past 5 months and if the vet hadn't neutered my male kitten, Dexter, and treated Loki for his ear infection for free...I'd be deep in debt to credit card companies right now. Not to mention the cost of cat food, litter, toys, tags, etc etc. Of course, the biggest problem of all is that I'm on assisted housing and I'm not even supposed to have animals at all. We have five (including my boyfriend's dog). One of them a 55lb golden retriever. We have inspections every month or so and I go crazy cleaning the house from top to bottom so that no evidence of my pets remain. The kitties go to my boyfriend's mother's for a few days and the dogs go to my uncle's. I constantly worry that they're going to find out. It eats at me all the time. But, when I imagine the worse case scenario...it's not getting evicted and having nowhere to live...it's having to give up my animals to stay. I agree that my life would so much easier and stress free without animals, but I'd probably also be dead.

I have fish and they keep me occupied when i'm lonley just watching them grow and live in their little world.

Dogs are very healing to me-I walk dogs for a charity and having depression and OCD with a terror of smells or anything on my hands affects everything in my life except when i'm with dogs which to me is like a dream.

Well, I wouldn't be here today typing this post if it weren't for my feline families! I tell my doctors that the only thing that has pulled me out of the abyss (many times) has been Love----the love for my cats, not humans. HA.

Love is the only energy that can permeate the type of depression I have (severe, recurring Major Depression, atypical)

~bravetwilight~

This post has been edited by bravetwilight: Apr 1 2009, 06:07 PM

I have mixed emotions about this. The part about getting proper care i see where they are coming from. When i went to the crisis center yesterday i had the option of being admitted then I could have seen a p-doc right away and talked to consillors but WHO'S GONNA LOOK AFTER MY DOG.

Sometimes i feel sorry for my dog because i find it hard just to open the back door to let him out and I should be walking him

On the plus side he literlly has not left myside since i have felt like this...every once in a while he will raise his head look at me sigh and go back to sleep...sometimes he will sit up and lick my hand...he knows i am sad and he doesn't judge me or try to make me feel better he just accepts it. I think if he wasn't here i would be worse off. I actually got him when the kids moved out because i was lonely and felt like my babies didn't need me anymore...now he is my baby...and spoiled more then the kids were

Love this. Thank you.

I love my pets. They give me something to let everything out on without judging me or talking back!

hi. my dogs definately keep me going. they never judge you like humans do

my dog helps me maintain my sanity. As she is part border collie, I take her out every day, and I love it.

I also know how she is when I'm not around. She wouldn't survive. She is what keeps me around on my really bad days when I'd rather disappear.

It's also so nice to have her around when I am in bed or at home from work. She's quite snuggly, and I feel so deep down happy when she sleeps next to me.