Never mind Man’s Best Friend. Meet the WOMEN who insist their pooches are the secret weapon that helped them cope with the... MENO PAWS!
I saw Coco and thought: ‘We’re just the same!’
KAT MASSEY, 44, a mental health advocate, lives with husband Craig, 43, a builder, in North Wales. They have two grown-up children and two dogs, Rio Gold, a 13-yearold cocker spaniel, and Coco Bear, a ten-year-old sprocker spaniel. Kat says:
THREE years ago, I was exhausted, miserable and emotionally lost. Aged 41, I had already been pre-menopausal for several years. From my mid-30s, I’d suffered symptoms such as backache and the occasional hot sweat. You don’t even think about menopause at that age and I just thought I was tired. But when I started suffering from cysts on my breasts, I was told they were a symptom of the perimenopause. Something was missing. I already had one dog, Rio, but he was getting old and had gone downhill since his sister died months earlier. I’d previously volunteered at rescue dog centres and found myself looking at rescue dogs. One day, searching online, I saw Coco, an older dog who needed to be spayed. She was going through all these hormonal changes and looked so vulnerable. I thought: ‘We are exactly the same! I’m lost and you’re lost.’ People said I was crazy to take in an old rescue dog, but I knew it was the right thing to do. We’ve bonded in a way I haven’t with any other dog before. During the menopause, I know if I didn’t have Coco, there would be days when I would stay in my pyjamas and work on my laptop, refusing to see anyone. Now, before I know it, we’re taking a walk in the fresh air.
She’s given my life structure. I’m a ‘to do list’ kind of person and although Craig thinks it’s funny that I write ‘Walk Coco’ on my daily list, it helps me with the brain fog that comes with menopause.
I don’t want to take medication for the menopause for as long as I can. There’s nothing wrong with HRT, but my parents both suffered from manic depression and needed medication. I’ve chosen a more spiritual path.
I’m still having irregular, painful periods as well as night terrors, hallucinations and sweats. The GP would be happy to prescribe me medication, but since I got Coco, my symptoms seem to have lessened naturally. My anxiety has reduced and I don’t feel as lost. Coco has given me hope.