Comments on: Passings

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:10:40 +0000

Jams, I will certainly miss the ‘further adventures of Ted, the evil feline genius’, admittedly not as much as I miss Mimi, but she was special. Your pictures told a story that engaged people in the personalities of Ted and Mimi. The pictures were the key to their personalities, and a tribute to their lives, as short as they were.

OWL and Steve. there is something wrong with people who can’t connect to animals. Losing them is hard, but they provide joy when they are here. One of the neighbors can’t have pets because of his allergies, but he interacts with the neighborhood animals knowing full well that he is going to have to go home, take a shower and benadryl after he does it. It is the human thing to do.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 05:44:47 +0000

“I realize that some people will never understand the attachment that people have for their animal companions, and I feel sorry for them.” – Bryan

Truer words were never writ! Our pets ARE family; their deaths are as deaths of family members. My sincere condolences to jams and NTodd.

By: oldwhitelady

oldwhitelady — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:12:19 +0000

My condolences to Jams and NTodd. It is terribly hard to lose a pet.

By: jamsodonnell

jamsodonnell — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 18:36:08 +0000

Thanks Bryan. We miss Ted terribly. We seriously thought that Robyn would be the next to go.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:03:48 +0000

People derive health benefits from pets, including a reduction in blood pressure, and a check on anger. They provide consistency in the life of older people, i.e. you have to take care of the pets, so you have to get up and do things at specific times.

Dogs are now being trained to work with people with PTSD, as they have with other disabilities.

There is a lot of truth in the statement – ‘if you want a friend, get a dog’ because they don’t care what you look like, where you buy your clothes, or any of the other superficial things that often define the human version of friendship.

Strapping his dog on the top of his car pretty much defined who Rmoney really was.

By: ellroon

ellroon — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 08:31:34 +0000

It’s fascinating how some people try to deny a pet’s personality or belittle the bonding that has occurred or suggest that a person is somehow weak for caring for a species other than human. Over several months my sister coaxed a very grumpy feral cat to first not flee when she brought food to his spot in her backyard, then to allow her to be present when he ate, then to allow himself to be gently patted, then finally to allow his badly matted fur to be trimmed and brushed. He now lives right outside her bedroom sliding glass door in a small plastic pet house with towel bedding and bowls of water and kibble nearby.

The fear and suspicion turned to grumpy acceptance and then turned to trust. (All I get is furious hissing as he flees into the bushes.) My sister delights in his acceptance of her and he definitely has become attached. Pets and people need each other.