Elizabeth Scott in her Stress Management issue in 2007 says that people always think that the ways to reduce stress in life, usually techniques like meditation; yoga and journaling come to mind. These are great techniques, to be sure. But getting a new best friend can also have many stress relieving and health benefits. Human friends provide great social support and pets can provide excellent stress relief and other health benefits—perhaps more than people (unless you’re someone who really dislikes animals or is absolutely too busy to care).
To have them in my life, I had too many impossible comments on ‘what-so-waste-on-having-one’ and many people seeing them as a burden than anything else. It just helps me to being insane every time I see them. It’s virtually impossible to stay in a bad mood when a pair of loving cat’s eyes meets yours, or when a super-soft cat rubs up against your hand.
I had miscarriage 3mths after my wedding and the sad about losing the future baby which I’m not sure either has form to be a human, has growing more with the nasty comments about my cats. I know that, long ago, doctors used to routinely advise pregnant women to avoid cats, leading many women to give up their cats as the ‘Toxoplasmosis’ can cause miscarriage.
For so many years, changes of technologies has developed such an antibody for a pregnant woman to survive and just for the info to all the pregnant lady out there, one study in 2000 of several large European studies actually found that the largest risk of Toxoplasmosis in pregnancy was from eating undercooked meat, and cat ownership was rarely a problem.
Outdoor cats tend to be exposed to Toxoplasmosis far more frequently than indoor cats; Toxoplasmosis in indoor cats is rare. Toxoplasmosis are most commonly found in rodents and raw meat, so a cat who lives only indoors is unlikely to be exposed unless the owner regularly feeds the cat raw meat.
The means of transmission from cat to owner would most likely be through exposure to cat feces and it's safe to wash the hands in between changing cat litter and touching their mouths. But just for a tip to all the pregnant ladies from Krissi Danielsson:
• Get someone else to change the cat litter if you can and if you can't, wear gloves and wash your hands carefully after changing the box.
• Change cat litter daily; Toxoplasmosis are infectious between 1 and 5 days after the cat defecates
• Do not feed your cat raw meat, and keep your cat indoors.
• Be careful around stray cats and kittens, and avoid getting a new cat while pregnant.
• Keep outdoor sandboxes covered, and wear gloves when gardening in case an outdoor cat has defecated in your garden.
Ok, back to my cat’s story. Pinky is the first cat that we adopted while Tommy and Quinny are given by my mutual friends one month after Pinky with us. We consider Tommy & Quinny as a twin cats! Three of them are not sharing the same color at all since Pinky is white, Tommy is grey and Quinny is black! They only have one color each! Good choice right?
We gave Pinky’s name when his mouth, nose and ear happen to turn to pink color when he is hot. So my friend calls him as hubby’s junior due to this pattern. My hubby will automatically change to pink when he is hot too. I think that they have bond tied relationship somewhere! =)
My cats are too playful but actually when I look at them playing, any worries whatsoever just melt away and disappear. Now they are grows to almost 1 year. Tommy is the cutest among them and his size (which is bigger than other two) makes him more special. Holding him like a holding a baby in the arm. Quinny is the cheeky one and she loves to play with the tissue roll. If by happen we forget to hide the tissue from her eyes, then we should expect the room filled the small pieces of tissue. Pinky? He is our favorite. He loves to bite, love to scratch his nail to our skin and we seem used to have his mark all over our hand. He is the only one who can understand us well, when we down… he is too and we are angry to him, he ran like a hell.
Now Pinky has changed a lot! Maybe due to ‘mengawan’ time. He loves to stand next to the window and make the ugliest sound most of the time (we got complaint from the other tenants now! So embarrass). We tried to match him with other female cat and you know what happened? He went and fought with her!
So yesterday, we had decided to let him go as he wishes and had given him many messages (which I confirmed he didn’t understand any of it =)) before he goes to ensure that he can take good care of himself and far away from the danger, don’t get starving and dehydrated. We both had a ‘drama-queen-scenes’ and of course, I cried! Finally, I open the house door, and he ran quickly to the stairs… that was the last time I saw him yesterday. *tears in the eyes*
After half an hour (on the same day too), someone knocked our door and one Malay guy came into the picture:
“Sir, is this your cat…..”
Hahahahaha, we used to have bond tied somewhere and he really meant together with us. My Pinky is back again! And again! =)
From the moment, I don’t want to lose them. I want to see them growing right in front of me. I know that this is crazy to feel that way to just a pet, but for sure I have attached to them so much. I love to see when they are playing, sleeping in my comforter and how the fight each other for a toy.
If you or your children have a pet and had attached to them so much, there is nothing wrong with the feeling. If you have a chance to look after them, take it and if they had change your life as a whole, let it. Let the process make you or your children more appreciate the life through them. Nobody said it’d easy, but they just promised it would be worth it. At least we know how to love human being than no others.
Tommy & Quinny
Pinky while sleeping
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