With a pet in your life you are never alone
THROUGH lockdowns and isolations, for many people – me included – pets have been a salvation. “Owning” an animal has been both a comfort and a welcome distraction. Now the Government is introducing new rules that mandate the microchipping of pet cats, bringing them in line with the law for dogs. And I could not be happier.
Soon we will have to ensure our cats are microchipped before they reach the age of 20 weeks, and that our contact details are stored and kept up to date in a pet microchipping database. Fail to do that, and we will have 21 days to have the cat chip implanted, or we face a fine of up to £500.
More and more, it seems, the pages of Facebook, and the lampposts of our cities, are pinned with pictures of missing moggies and pooches. I can imagine only too well the anxiety of not knowing what’s happened to your “fur baby”. There are more than ten million cats living in the UK. Almost all of are doted upon by their humans, and yet 2.8 million of them are unchipped. That is a lot of kitties that, should they ever stray, might never be reunited with their families. Eight out of ten stray cats coming into Cats Protection centres are chipless.
Jacqui Cuff, the charity’s head of advocacy and government relations says: “Every day we see how important microchipping is for cats and the people who love them – whether it’s reuniting a lost cat with their owner, identifying an injured cat, or helping to ensure an owner can be informed in the sad event that their cat has been hit and killed by a car. Without a microchip, a lost cat will most likely end up being rehomed, as there is often no trace of their original owner.”
My cats, Faith and Daniel, were Cats Protection rescue kittens and were chipped in a simple procedure. The chip, injected beneath the skin, has a unique number and it’s a comfort to know it can be read by a scanner and checked against a database on which my details are registered as kitty next of kin.
I never want to be without my cats. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of having another heartbeat in my home, however tiny – particularly over the past couple of years. With a pet in your life you are never alone. To put it bluntly, another life to care about, another soul to consider gives you a reason, regardless of how you feel, to get up each day. It gives you routine and structure. This is true not only of cats and dogs, but of rodents and reptiles too. I might, personally, draw the line at watching Corrie while snuggled up on the sofa with a Giant African Land Snail, but whatever, as they say, floats your boat.
I’ve lived with cats since I was five years old. Over the years, since my first cat, Angie, I’ve known and loved and shared a home with nine cats. Some of you will think “it’s just a cat”, but any cat lover will tell you that there’s no such thing. As well as being a loving, if quirky, companion, cats are exceptionally sensitive to what’s going on in our world. Cats just seem to know when something’s not right, appearing beside us at the very moment we need a distraction. Or nestling down with us when we are unwell.
The mental and physical health benefits of pet ownership have been well-documented and scientifically proven. No matter how bad my mood, or how upset I am, it’s almost impossible to maintain a high level of anger once one of my cats rubs up against my shoulder or looks up at me with those engaging eyes. Pet ownership and, in particular, stroking them, can reduce overall blood pressure and calm sudden spikes of anxiety. And animals give us much-needed social support, too, opening up friendships through common interests.
Of course, having pets comes with plenty of responsibilities. They need your time, your dedication and quite a bit of your money, too. You need to be prepared to walk that dog, clean that cat’s litter, keep their vaccinations up-to-date, and interact with them every day. Pets most certainly do not make sensible Christmas presents. But what joy they bring.
If, come the New Year, you feel you’d like to welcome a pet into your home, then please look first at the animal shelters where they will help to match you to a wonderful furry, or scaly, companion. Because it’s true: rescue is the best breed.