Resistance is futile: The rise of the super furry animals

Me + Miles = happy days

You may have already noticed in previous blogs that I am a bit of a pet lover. I am, I’ll fully admit, a sucker for the animals, witnessed by not only my willingness to dogsit Cedric the Viszla at any time & my swift falling into love with my mate Allison's gorgeous French Bulldog Miles, but also by the numerous pets I have kept over the years. In the early years I had a series of confectionarily named hamsters (Caramel, Toffee & Rolo since you're asking), who seemed to pop their clogs with alarming regularity. I graduated up the rodent stepladder to the gerbils Yogi and BooBoo who, if I remember rightly, met their untimely end after a row over a particularly succulent looking chunk of cucumber. I also had a very fine border collie by the name of Henry, who though slightly mad was very dear to me, and well… more on him later. I had rabbits by the names of Radar & Silver, the latter most remembered for an unfortunate mating incident where a friend’s rabbit proceeded to mount her at the wrong end. Ouch! Think of the teeth! Both these two fluffy friends went to that giant rabbit hole in the sky at the hands (or should that be paws?) of the dreaded beast, the urban fox…  Enough of the gloomy pet death tales maybe, and yes, I’m sorry about that, but it’s on my mind at the moment following a recent conversation with my aunt, so I just can’t help myself.

Blowing a raspberry at life

First I must tell you a little about my aunt. There seems to be a thing that runs in that side of our family’s female line, that we are massive animal fans, and none more so than she. She has five cats, as well a very fine and patient (well, he’d have to be with all them cats) dog called Jago. My favourite cat is Yoda, who holds the adorable qualities of being both very affectionate and rather stupid (and no, that’s NOT how I like my men…. well only sometimes). On an adorable side note, Yoda’s particular charm is his tongue, which being that bit too long for his mouth, is permanently protruding as if he’s blowing a huge raspberry at life (which I’m sure he would be if he were only a little smarter to understand it.) Anyways, I digress…. Unfortunately, last week I got a rather tearful message from my aunt who broke to me the sad news of the demise of Yoda’s mum Marmi, who was brutally whisked from this world courtesy of her neighbour’s violent dog. She was naturally distraught, but one of the things she kept repeating to me was the fact that ‘it’s only a cat’ as if I were somehow going to judge her for her tears. Of course I would not, being such a keen animal lover myself, but I think the statement that ‘it’s only a pet’ is something us pet owners have all had leveled at us at some point (mostly by those around us who are without such animal adoration in our lives), and unfairly so as pets really do become such a massive part of our lives.

My beloved Henry

You wouldn’t think electronics purveyors Samsung have much to do with this, but as a partner of Crufts dog show they recently carried out a survey which reported back that 9 out of 10 dog owners consider their pet a ‘fully fledged’ member of the family. Furthermore, half of all dog owners said they would be sadder if their pet passed away than if their uncle, aunt or grandparent did. I certainly know that when my beloved collie Henry passed away I was distraught. I got the news he was off to the vets for his final curtain while I was travelling on the 73 bus through Kings Cross. I was sobbing, snotting & generally scaring off all my fellow bus riders so much, I got that rare occurrence of a spare seat next to me all the way home, practically unheard of during rush hour.

Look into the eyes.... 

But why is all of this outpouring of grief? Are they ever ‘just a pet’? Well, thanks to a friend who firmly holds the belief that dogs are evil manipulators trying to take over the world (well he would say that, he’s a cat owner!) I am now equipped with information about what it is that builds the doggy-human bond so much. He pointed me in the direction of some recently released research in Science which found that when dog owners (or as my cat owning friend refers to them, ‘their human overlords’) look into the eyes of their pet, there is a chemical released called Oxytocin, also known as the "cuddle chemical”. This hormone is responsible for encouraging bonding between mothers and their offspring, both human and of the more furry nature too Furthermore, it is also involved in both partner bonding and that within social circles. When you take all of this into consideration, it is no wonder we love our canine chums so… but hold up! The release of oxytocin is not just restricted to our relationships with children, lovers, friends and dogs, but actually all pets in general.  A study in 2014 of the same hormone showed that the more pets you’ve had in a lifetime, whether dogs, cats or even goats (hat tip to my father there, AKA the Goatherder General of New Jersey), corresponds with higher levels of the cuddle chemical being released.

Unfortunately the influence of longevity of her pet relationships is rather bad news for my aunt. She has owned dogs for as long as I can remember, and her still remaining family of cats look set to be around for a long time yet, not withstanding the neighbours dog. However, she needs to remember the wise words of (the only sometimes batty) Sigmund Freud who reportedly said that “Time spent with cats is never wasted”, and should she need a hit of the huggle hormone (as I’m now calling it) she need not look far to gaze into the kitty eyes of Pooky, Moose, Yoda, Wednesday, Holly or indeed the ever patient (& much beat up) Jago. While it may not make up for her sad loss, it might make the blow that much softer to bear, and frankly who could blame her, after all, they are all so much more than ‘only a pet’.

Jago & my aunt. Happy dog walking days.