Isn’t it amazing how the months fly by. Here we are in October, and in Michigan, the leaves have started to change. Fall in the Mid-west is truly a beautiful time of the year with warm days and cold nights, creating a “fall” smell in the air.
I have been thinking about why pets are such a part of our family. Why losing one is so hard. We love them for their companionship, their obedience (sometimes), their challenges, and their uncanny way of showing affection during those times when we need it most. We become more than attached and spend an amazing amounts of time and money to help them thrive.
According to https://finmasters.com/pet-spending-statistics/
- 1 out of 2 U.S. households own a pet.
- $136.8 billion was spent on our furry friends in the U.S.
- An average U.S. pet owner will spend $912 a year on their dog and $653 on their cat.
My daughter-in-law works in a veterinary clinic and can certainly vouch for these stats. I am wondering how many reading this blog can vouch for these stats as well. We are willing to spend whatever it takes to help our pets heal.
Another reason we are willing to spend time and our resources on our pets is because not only do we love them as previously stated, but pets represent a period of time in our lives. We had two dogs and three cats when my boys were growing up. I loved that time when we were all home on a Friday night (all 10 of us including our dogs and cats). We usually watched a John Wayne movie with all kinds of snacks with our pets curled up beside us hoping one of my boys would drop a cracker. Outside could be raining, snowing, or a bit of both, but we were content and happy in our family room.
I remember another time when we slept outside on our deck. Or when we slept in our tent in our yard. Our pets were right with us. There was no way they would have slept in the house when we were sleeping outside. Of course, we have many more memories with our pets, but I’ll close here..
So, when each animal passed, that time represented passed, too. The heartache of losing such a part of the family as well as how time moved on even when we wanted to keep those cherished moments going forever gives us a double empty feeling.
Yes, pets are a part of the family in more ways than one.
