By Julia Williams
I’ve long held the belief that “pet people” are a special breed. I don’t get on that well with people who don’t love animals, don’t want a pet, or have a pet but see it as “just a dog” or “just a cat.” To me, there is no such thing as “just a pet.” My animals are family. And my pets have always been there for me. They don’t place conditions on their love, and they don’t shun me when they think I haven’t lived up to their expectations.
My pets deserve my all…and they get it. I would do anything for my sweet, special furry feline friends. I know, too, that I am not the only one; not by a long shot. At least once a month, I come across a heartwarming story that perfectly illustrates the depths of a person’s love for their animal companion.
People do extraordinary things for their pets. Several years ago, I read about a man who floated in warm water with his 20 year old dog, every day for up to an hour, to ease the dog’s arthritic pain. The emotionally moving photo of him gently cradling his dog went viral; the love between dog and man was obvious.
Other stories recount how people fit their paralyzed dogs with wheelchairs so they can still run and play. People get bionic legs for pets who have lost a limb. They make concessions for their old, incontinent cats who can’t make it to the litter box. They feed their cat with kidney disease every few hours, every single day, because it helps to reduce acid buildup. People take their pets to cancer specialists and cardiologists. They do anything in their power to help a terminally ill pet have the best last few days, months or years.
Yet here’s the thing: if you commended these people for the remarkable devotion and care they’ve given their pet, most would say it was nothing. Not that they mean their actions were inconsequential, just that they did what needed to be done for their loved one. Their pet’s health and happiness required them to step up, so they did. It’s what “pet people” do.
I’ve had my own experience with this recently. My cat Mickey has kidney failure, and I discovered that one of the best things I could do for him was give him subcutaneous 
fluids regularly. I live 20 miles from my vet, and taking him in every other day for fluids was really not an option. I knew I had to learn how to do this at home, like countless others have done for their own cat. It didn’t seem overly difficult, unless…um…you have a needle aversion, which I do. Needles fill me with dread. I cannot look at the needle when my own blood is drawn at the lab.
Yet one day, there I was at the vet’s office, watching the tech as she taught me the proper procedure. I held that needle in my hand for a good long while before finally finding the courage to stick my cat. When it was over I nearly passed out. However, I did it (yay me!) and now I administer the fluids by myself at home. It’s not fun by any means, and needles still fill me with dread, but my cat needs me to be brave…and so I am.
What this fluid-giving experience has taught me is that sometimes, “stepping up” means doing things for your pet that are outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes it means finding the strength to do things that make you anxious or afraid. What some pet people do for their beloved animals may seem extraordinary to non-pet people. I can tell you, though, it really isn’t. It’s just fulfilling that promise we made to our pet when we brought them home. We promised to love, cherish and care for them from that day forward, for as long we were blessed by their presence. We do what needs to be done for our beloved pets, because anything less is unacceptable.
Photos by Julia Williams
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