human-animal bonds

I rarely talk about my work here as it often doesn't pertain to the purpose of the blog. For those that don't know, I work as a mental health counselor, in private practice. The work can be both very challenging and richly rewarding.

Many of the people I work with have experienced abuse or neglect at the hands of human caregivers. The very adults charged with nurturing the child are the ones teaching the child that humans are not safe to look after their vulnerable hearts and souls. The child is left to devise ways of distancing themselves from the emotional pain of not being validated, valued or unconditionally loved as a means to survive. It is from this place that coping strategies are established and later in life these strategies become mental health diagnoses.

Humans have repeatedly failed them, but their pets never failed to provide unconditional love, like an overflowing spring of validation and nurture in the midst of an unrelenting desert. So many pet dogs and cats function as impromptu therapy animals in the homes of children who are experiencing emotional neglect and abuse. My heart really hurts for the children who grew up in the abuse and neglect without live-in therapy animals to caretake their souls.

I ask all my clients about their childhood pets and I am astonished to hear about the incredible bonds they had with their pets. These moments are precious to me, they are truly sacred. I'll be talking with an emotionally shutdown, surly person about the problems they are facing in their lives and after I hear about their difficult childhood experience, I ask them to tell me about their childhood pets. So often with those children who grew up with pets, I see an instant softening in their face as their heart melts. The stories start pouring out, "when I was five, there was this cat that just showed up and always wanted to be with me..." The tears, the joy, the warmth of their heart is suddenly present before me, proof that their beautiful heart and soul remain alive and protected behind a wall, built from the painful experiences of failed human relationships. Thankfully, with these individuals, there is often a pet-door in that wall which allows animals to freely access and nourish their heart and soul.

With all this said, it may not surprise you to learn that I've been growing more and more interested in the human-animal bond, particularly the role of childhood pets in the human attachment process. I'm not exactly sure how to pursue this further from a career perspective, so in an effort to explore possible options, I just signed up to attend the 2013 International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations Triennial International Conference in Chicago!!! This conference is taking place in conjunction with the 150th annual American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) conference, so it's gonna be crazy nuts!

Many of the sessions look amazing! From what I can tell, it looks like I can also attend the AVMA sessions too, some of the sessions on behavior look very interesting. This will be information overload I'm sure, but I can't wait!

watchful Wednesday

Mr. Oliver has a thing for hanging out on the roof.

Can you spot him up there?

Let me zoom in a bit...

He likes to balance on the peak and snooze!

See that patch of green grass in the background on the right? That's the dog walking area of at our vet's office. I love living next door to the 24-hour vet - it brings great peace of mind.

And speaking of the vet, Buddy was just in for his yearly servicing on Saturday. The vet wanted some of his blood (I'm suspecting she's a vampire.) The only complaint Buddy was talking about was his tummy rub deficiency, which he was sure would be evident in the test results.

The results were mostly good, everything is in the normal range, although his thyroid number is quite a bit higher than last time. So, we'll keep a watchful eye on that thyroid and will try to up the quantity of tummy rubs, if that's even possible!

wordless Wednesday

get it where you can

One skittish Rose

+

One fluffy Nahum

= precarious cuddles

Willow & Nahum's gotcha day!

Yikes! I almost missed celebrating Willow's and Nahum's gotcha day! Four years of gotchadom, can you believe it?!?!

They were rescued together and are still the best of friends.

I'm so thankful Willow and Nahum are in my life - they are such delightful cats!

duty never sleeps

Outside cat comes inside then insists on looking outside. Go figure!

On the mornings when I take Oliver inside for some inside time, he gets up in the window and looks out over his yard. If he sees something he doesn't like he growls a mean and nasty growl. I suppose he's always on-duty.

Milo finds a home!

I got word this morning that sweet Milo has found his forever human!! He was adopted with Luigi, the white and black playful kitten! I'm thrilled that he was adopted with a kitten his age so he'll always have a kitty buddy!!

Milo and Luigi playing together