By J.D. Eddy, Editorial Editor
Having an animal around is good for your mental health. I also feel like having an animal in the house makes me more responsible. Keeping up with my cats’ food, water and cleaning her litterbox has kept me on top of my daily activities. I stay on top of my homework, keeping my house clean, doing laundry, taking out the trash – basically any activity that I do daily or weekly.
These are only some of the things that having an animal in my house has helped me improve upon. I know that some places do not allow animals, and some people don’t want animals. But this is just something that can help you improve upon things that you do each day.
For certain, having a cat has helped me in many aspects. Before I rejoined the football team and got the cat, I would have days where I would not get up at all, not even to go workout. I would make food, do my homework and play video games.
Sure, this sounds like fun, but my mental health began to deteriorate. I was sad, not liking the way that I looked and not wanting to be myself at the time. When I got the cat, I always wanted to get up and play with her, keep her from tearing up things in the house or show her the rest of the house, considering that my roommate is allergic to cats.
If you do go get an animal, you would want to buy a puppy or a kitten. I work at a vet clinic outside of town, and there was a cat that was abandoned by its family because they were having a “dispute” in their household.
The real thing is that they sent the cat up there to get a hernia fixed, to get spayed and get her shots. After that, the original owners said they would call after they moved to Oklahoma City. If you can believe it, the call never came.
So, after about a month of us failing to get her adopted, I decided to get my emotional support animal paperwork for my new cat, Raven. I want to say how great it has been, but she is only 10 months old, and my patience is not the greatest sometimes.
But I’m trying to be better for her. I say that as she is chewing on my arm and walking across my laptop. She is a pain sometimes, but all in all, the cat has made me a better person than I would’ve been without her.
If you’re looking for an animal to adopt and don’t want to go somewhere that is too far away, there is a place around Alva called Creature Concerns.
It is a fostering program for animals. The organizations is constantly looking for individuals who want to adopt the animals they have.
Most of the animals come out to the vet that I work at. So, if you’re looking for an animal to adopt, look no further than somewhere here in Alva. It has helped my mental, physical, emotional and even spiritual well-being.
I talk a lot about mental health and certain things that can help to improve it. I am back in football, and I am in the master’s program, so I want to maintain my mental health and share experiences that helped me improve my overall well-being.
It is enough for me to know that my knowledge can help to better someone’s life that is not my own.
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