Epiphany while buying cat food
This is an article that I wrote awhile back, but I came across it recently and smiled to myself. I wrote it after I had gone through a major event in my life that knocked me back a few pegs and caused me to have to restart my life in a lot of ways. I toyed with whether or not to reprint this because it wasn’t a commentary so much on shelter work. But then I realized that it is commentary on my commitment to my animals; which in the greater context, speaks to the commitment to all animals and their owners/guardians.
You see, my pets have been with me through thick and thin. And sometimes very thin. Back when I was much younger and struggling to support myself alone on a meager shelter salary, there were definitely close calls when I thought, “Great, I am going to have to live in my car with my critters”. Luckily, I always managed to pull through. But in all of those times, giving up my animals was never an option, or a glimmering thought in my mind. They were my rocks; my children. Permanent fixtures in my life that would be there “until death do us part”.
And now, as I prepare to utter those same vows to my wonderful fiance in less than a year, with my two dogs there as the “fuzzy witnesses”, I realize that the next exciting chapter in my life is a new beginning for my whole furry family. Our reward for having stuck through it all together; the good times and the bad times.
So here is my old article, “Epiphany while buying cat food”, and it comes with two comments:
1) I rarely have any sympathy for people who simply give up their pets; regardless of the circumstances surrounding it. Where there is a will, there is a way, and you wouldn’t give up your own kids because “times got tough”.
2) The day that I got to put my pets back on “the good food” made me appreciate what I had so much more.
Epiphany while buying cat food
I had an interesting epiphany while buying cat food at the grocery store the other day.
You see, having been in the animal care profession for 12 + years, I know first-hand the importance of quality dog and cat food. I have personally lectured those with dogs and cats on how vital proper nutrition is in animals, and the difference between higher quality, and lower quality, pet food.
On the other side of that, I have also personally seen people neglect their animals to the point of starvation, and thought to myself with disgust, “Would it have killed you to spend 50 cents on a can of Friskies?”
So there I was, at the grocery store, with a very cheap bag of cat food. Why? Because the tides have changed in my life, as can happen to all of us, and I have had to pick myself up, and dust myself off, from a recent major life change. As such, I have had to go back to the very basic commitments that I have made to the animals that I have taken-on in my life; food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, this does not mean the very best, and very expensive, food that they have eaten in the past. I simply cannot afford that.
As I saw a woman glance down at my bargain cat food selection, I felt myself automatically getting defensive at my assumption that she was judging my choice, and I came up with a laundry list of explanations for my “failure” as a pet-parent; “I am doing the best that I can”, “I am going to put them back on the expensive food as soon as I am on my feet”, “they seem to be doing ok on this stuff”.
After she glanced down at the bag of food, she looked back up and said, with a slight smile, “I lost my cat about a year ago to cancer; I sure do miss her”. I quickly let go of my own insecurities, and as I began offering my apologies to her for her loss, it hit me; I will not be ashamed that I cannot afford the best food out there right now. I will take pride in the fact that, despite my current struggles, I am making my pets care my top priority. I will take pride in the fact that I am keeping my basic commitments to always provide food, water, and shelter.
And I will never again make assumptions about someone else for buying the “cheap stuff”. Hey, at least they’re trying.