Being with Pets - Jinju Eom

Being with Pets                                       Jinju Eom

When I was 10, I raised 2 hamsters in my house. It was the first time that I had pets. I really liked them but unfortunately I had allergic to their floating hairs, so I had suffered from running nose until they died. For all that, I love hairy animals, especially and cats. It is quite interesting that I like both cats and mice. Anyway, I hope to be with two cats after I get a job. By the way, I decided to think again about being only with cats, not the dogs. There was no chance to be with dogs before because of the reason I said above. But now I am with dogs in U.S.

I have been with my home-stay family over 2 months. There are two sibling dogs in this family. It is the first time to live with dogs. Boy’s name is Ali and girl’s name is Chiqi. They had been curious about me for the first few weeks, and sometimes, they barked at me. But now, we become closer as there was a thing a couple of weeks ago.

There were a few days that I had to take care of them totally because there was no one at home. After coming back home, I was in panic seeing Chiqi. Her face was totally swollen and hives broke out over her whole body. I thought she was stung by bees but I did not know how to do. After contacting to my host mother, I gave her two pills of Benadryl, which is antihistamine medicine. As being in hard time, she really relied on me. Even she awakened me up early in the morning by scratching my door so I brought her bed inside my room and slept together. From that day, we became very closer and naturally Ali became closer too. Now, they always want to be with me so wherever I go, they are next to me. Moreover, they frequently go around my room when I feel bad.

Some research explains that it is beneficial for mental health to be with companion animals and people can get better sense of responsibilities by being with them. At the first thought, I knew these facts in theory but now I know clearly what they are. I am happy to be with them, even I am blue they come and console me. They really cheer me up. Plus, by taking care of them, I can become stauncher. I will miss them when I go back to Korea.