Adopting a Shelter Pet is Worth It

Today, as I am typing this, my little dog Maggie is lying down on the hard wooden floor, resting near our cat Ella's litter box. I have no idea why she likes to sleep near where our cat does her business. Meanwhile, Ella is lying all cozy & snug in Maggie's dog bed. Why Ella chooses to steal Maggie's bed when she could easily apply her cat's agile "springs for feet" aeronautics to jump up onto our bed, the couch, or any high surface she chooses, is beyond me. I can only surmise that stealing Maggie's dog bed is Ella's way of enacting vengeance for those times when Maggie steals Ella's cat food.

We adopted Ella from the animal shelter when she was 2 years old. She is now 8. I remember when we first got her, she was so nervous that she hid behind the toilet. She didn't like to be held, & would run away each time we tried to pet her. Now, if we so much as look at Maggie, pet her or speak to her, Ella comes up, rubbing against our chair, our shoes, our legs, you name it. She will arch her tale into a question mark if we scratch it, kind of like the way a dog taps its foot on the ground when you are scratching its belly. Ella is a very jealous, yet very sweet kitty.

We adopted Maggie from the shelter also, 3 years later. She is about 10 now. We chose to adopt our pets from shelters because so many poor animals have endured trauma in their lives, & then they are subjected to further trauma by living behind bars at a shelter, with other animals, in uncomfortable conditions (Maggie had a cement floor in her cage), & no family to call their own. Maggie had been at the shelter for 5 months, & they were giving her away, in a last-ditch effort to find her a home before considering her to be unadoptable & then putting her to sleep. We fell in love with her at first sight. It seems everyone does. 

Photo: all-free-download.com

Adopting a shelter pet does indeed carry its risks. One never knows the background of the pet they are about to adopt, nor what emotional or  physical scars it may carry from its life before it came to the shelter. The animal has been given a checkup by a veterinarian, but shelter vets are not always able to tell if an animal has an underlying health condition or may have been exposed to a disease prior to coming to the shelter. An animal may have been abused, neglected, lost or forgotten by its previous owners. Often times, the animal had a loving home, but its owner just could no longer keep it, due to housing regulations that may forbid pets, financial reasons or health issues of the owners that made taking care of a pet difficult.

We don't know what happened to our cat & dog before they arrived at the shelter. We only know that both required an adjustment period upon adoption - Maggie more than Ella. We have been led to believe that Ella lived on the streets, which explains why she is very skittish when we hold her in our arms out on our front porch, & she hears sudden car noises. Maggie appeared to have been abandoned by her previous owners, as well as seriously neglected. She had absolutely no training, & was not housebroken, which is unusual for a 7-yr-old dog, which Maggie was at the time. She also had severe separation anxiety, & she destroyed a few of our things the first couple weeks we had her, each time we left her alone with Ella. It took a great deal of patience on our part, with both our pets, because animals that are upset, anxious, nervous or traumatized will often act in undesirable ways. With love & patience, they will relax & thrive.

Ella is a wonderful cat. She does make huge messes when she uses her litter box, despite it being cleaned several times a day, & us having found the brand & type of litter that works best for her. She also has to be reminded not to use the carpeted stairs as a scratching post. We bought a cheap floor rug for our living room, which works wonderfully for that purpose, since she doesn't like scratching posts. She sleeps most of the day, & when we are finally in our beds & the lights are off, our home is like the movie "Night at the Museum", with all the cat toys coming to life - especially the noisy bird chirping toy. Oh, & in case we don't hear the noise of the toys, Ella will meow good & loud, just for good measure. 

I'll never forget the time when I was eating a blueberry muffin, & Ella finished using her litter box. As cats will do upon using their box, she raced out of the box, ran up the stairs, feet skidding to the side of her, as if her tail was on fire, & a piece of cat litter that clung to her paw, made that dreaded "ping" sound on my plate. To my great relief, she missed the muffin, & I continued to eat my snack. I put my last bite of muffin in my mouth, & right as I was about to swallow, a very strong, pungent, chemical taste with just a hint of floral freshness, saturated my tongue & the roof of my mouth. Eeewwww!!! The single grain of cat litter that I thought had merely pinged off the side of my plate, had actually lodged itself in my bite of blueberry muffin, & it was sitting in my mouth at that very moment. After lots of gargling & swishing with mouthwash, I have not had a muffin since. 

Then there's Maggie. Maggie has buffalo breath. She pants all the time, mostly when you are holding her & are two inches from her face. She also has a tendency to snort -- like a pig. My son affectionately calls her "Pig Dog". She "gacks" after drinking water, which in itself is an interesting sound, & she leaves a little deposit of dog slime after her gacking. But it's the snorting when one least expects it, such as when one is close to her face, staring into those sweet, loving eyes of hers, & then BAM! The product of her snort lands squarely upon one's face, often times, right by one's mouth. Oh yes, good times indeed. Maggie has cancer. We had no way of knowing that this could even be a possibility with her when we adopted her. Many people will just put their pet to sleep after a diagnosis like this, rather than pay a lot of money for treatment. I am not judging those people, because I can't possibly understand their circumstances or the agony they might be feeling at having to make such a choice. But....if you adopt a shelter pet, or any pet for that matter, you should be willing to take on the responsibility of doing all you can to care for that pet if it gets injured or sick...whatever that care entails.

Is it worth it to adopt a shelter pet when a cat leaves litter box crumbs on my half-eaten muffin for me to ingest? Is it worth it when I have to constantly sweep cat litter off the floor because despite having a litter mat to trap the litter, Ella manages to transport that stuff everywhere she goes? Is it worth it to be awakened in the middle of the night by long meows & the sound of a noisy bird cat toy? Is it worth it to bring home a shelter dog, only to have that dog destroy rugs & other furnishings because it doesn't like to be left alone? Is it worth it to have to spend hundreds of dollars on a dog we got at the shelter for free, because she is now sick with an incurable disease, & she needs to be made comfortable for as long as possible? 

You BET it is!!! 

Animals don't ask to be born, anymore than people do. Unlike people however, there is not a system in place to automatically make sure that a baby animal is cared for, protected & loved. Many animals are killed by hawks, coyotes, or cars, if they are strays, or they are sometimes abused, tortured & killed by a sadistic person who thinks it's fun to mistreat an animal. Animals are at the mercy of humans. They have such a capacity to love that we humans don't. That's because they naturally love unconditionally. They don't know the dark side of humans...until someone shows them that side. Their trust can be broken, & they may have some emotional issues if they have been traumatized or abused, but show them love & care, & they will return that love ten-fold. 

Photo: all-free-download.com

When you adopt a pet from an animal shelter, you are making the commitment to love, care for, & protect that animal for the duration of that animal's life. Please don't give it back to the shelter, if it doesn't fit in. Instead, if you are able to find a more suitable home for it, then please try. Whatever you do, if you absolutely cannot keep it, then please don't abandon it to fend for itself. That is the height of animal cruelty. Return it to the shelter in that instance, because at least there is the chance that it could be adopted again, & if not, then it won't die an agonizing death out in the elements, but will die a quick & humane one at the shelter where it has been cared for. Animals at shelters are scared & nervous. Many have been traumatized. Please bear that in mind before you decide to adopt one. That animal is counting you on you take care of it & not to harm it. Don't let it down. 

Some people adopt bunnies for their children at Easter time, & then the same bunnies die from neglect once the novelty wears off. Sometimes people adopt kittens for the same reasons. Animals are not toys. They are living creatures, with fears, emotions & needs, just like humans have. Please don't give a pet as a gift unless you know the pet is welcome, & that the recipient will be able to give it a good home & care for it. Far too many animals are neglected because people take in animals because their kids want a pet, but then the kids don't care for the pet, & the parent doesn't make sure the pet's needs are met. Others adopt a pet as a guard dog, but they see the pet as a device to ward off would-be thieves or ax-murderers, instead of as animals looking for human companionship & love. One should not adopt or purchase a pet unless the person is prepared to do all they can for that pet for the duration of its life. 

Photo: all-free-download.com

Sometimes when one adopts a shelter pet, that pet will get sick or injured, & the family may be caught off guard & unable to provide the necessary veterinary care for their pet. If that happens, there are organizations out there whose goal it is to assist those pet parents who cannot afford the necessary veterinary treatment for their pet. One only has too Google "veterinary assistance programs" or "veterinary financial assistance" or some other such set of keywords, to see what assistance programs are available for one's local area. Other ways that one can prepare for the unexpected veterinary expenses such as an injury or illness, are to apply for "Care Credit", which is a credit card for veterinary care, that most veterinary clinics accept, or to apply for veterinary health insurance. Check with your local vet to see which programs they accept. 

There are many things to consider when deciding on whether or not to adopt a shelter pet. Most people wonder what it is that THEY are going to get out of it, & how it will affect THEM. Sure, there's the cost of veterinary care, food, replacing objects that may be destroyed by an upset pet at times, & the inconvenience of finding someone to care for your pet when you have to be gone for an extended period of time. And yes, adopting a shelter pet does bring with it a sometimes trying adjustment period for families & pets. Sometimes our pets will drive us nuts, especially when a cat gets into the bathroom trash & leaves Kleenex on the floor, or a dog gets into the kitchen trash & makes a mess. Or how about the accidents in the home or the barf on your favorite rug? Or how about the icky hair ball that your cat left on your bed? Let's not forget the delightful "dead mouse" gifts that some cats love to present to their families. What is it though that our pets have to put up with from us? Hmmm....didn't think of THAT now, did you?

Your dog may be lying down peacefully sleeping, & you can tell he is chasing something, as his tale is wagging, his legs are twitching, & he is doing a sort of muffled barking in his sleep. It is SO cute. When WHAM! All of a sudden, a human comes in from the other room, making a loud noise, asking someone a question, running the vacuum cleaner or turning on the TV, & the dog jumps up suddenly, startled awake from a wonderful dream. Or how about the many times when we humans want to pet our dog or cat. Most cats will make us go to them & then some will run away right as we are about to pet them. But we expect our dog to come to where we are. Nevermind that our dog might have been lying down all comfy cozy. We call, they come. No exceptions. 

Or how about the many times we cook foods whose aroma can send our dog into olfactory ecstasy, as they can only dream of getting just a morsel of the heavenly delight, only to watch us eat the whole thing right in front of them, without so much as a tiny piece? Or what about those times when we're not watching where we are going, & we step on, sit, roll over with our chair, or trip over our pets? And then there's the many times when we leave them home alone without so much as a second thought. We're not being cruel to our pets - we're being human. But despite our human-ness, our pets love us unconditionally anyway - even when we drive them crazy. Surely we can do the same for them.

Photo: all-free-download.com

The love, joy, delight, amusement & friendship you will receive from a pet in need of a loving home, is above & beyond far greater than any hardship or toll that one could ever think they would have to experience if one adopts a pet from a shelter. Just make sure that you are a person who does not see an animal as "just an animal". If that is your viewpoint, then please let someone else adopt the pet instead. Be prepared to consider that if you are not comfortable spending time in a hot car on a hot day, or out in the freezing cold for long periods of time in the winter, then neither will your pet be. If you don't like to have to wait 8 hours to go to the bathroom, your pet likely also doesn't like to have to wait to relieve itself. These are things to consider. If you have a heart that is willing to love an animal & consider how it feels, instead of just seeing it as a creature void of feelings & needs, then there are so many wonderful animals waiting for a loving home. What are you waiting for? They are surely worth it! 

Photo: all-free-download.com