Pets.
What does your pet mean to you?
Responsibility. Hard work. Expense. A best friend. Love?
Many things come to my mind when I try to answer this question. Immediately, I conjure up images of fluffy furballs like cats, rabbits, hamsters and, my favourite, dogs; all of which I have had the pleasure of owning as a pet at one time or another. When I think of these adorable animals, I initially think of a loving presence in my home and life. However, I also think of the hard work with pets. Anyone who’s had a puppy will likely know the stress of furniture being chewed, sleepless nights, that first off the lead anxiety or when they eat something they shouldn’t – my last dog actually ate a detergent pod which luckily only resulted in a hoarse bark for an afternoon and I imagine a very odd taste; not quite the treat he’d probably hoped for.
On top of this, I often think of pets as incredible healers for mental health (think of the oxytocin release when a cat is purring on your knee), alleviators of loneliness and in general are a wonderful addition to a family home, especially where there are children. Amongst many things, pets can help children understand a sense of responsibility – think feeding a pet, cleaning their cages, scooping out their poop and walking those four legged friends on rainy days when your children would rather stay in doors . They also allow children to navigate feelings of loss and grief when they inevitably pass away, something I have experienced several time (who knew hamsters only had a life span of two years!).
So where am I going with all of this?
Well, as part of home education, the children and I have taken up learning French and recently, in the topic of ‘family and home’, we learned the translation for pet: animal de compagnie. Immediately, my daughter happened to notice that in English we simply say ‘pet’, yet the French language has an obviously longer phrase which seems to mean something more. I was impressed with her prompt linguistic analysis, and sensed she was picking up on the fact that the French translation is a more elaborate noun phrase with the post modifier ‘compagnie’ meaning company. With this French phrase, I find the answer to my question: what is a pet? Quite literally, they are company and I couldn’t have thought of a better definition.
When I think of my last pet, Jarvis, he was like the best company I’d ever had. Tragically, Jarvis the Beaglier (yes you read it right – a Beagle crossed with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), was killed on bonfire night in 2024 after running away due to the noise of fireworks. The grief that followed the loss of what I can only describe as my closest companion at the time was heart breaking. That first haunting morning when I saw his bed in the hall without him there felt like the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and I didn’t know when it’d shine again. The first winter when the log burner was lit and he wasn’t sprawled out on his mat in front of the heat made our home feel bereft. The absence of a bark every time someone knocked on the door left me longing for the familiar, albeit annoying, sound. Put simply, there was an empty space in the home and my life.
Empathy poured in when I lost the dog, more than any other emotional hardship I’d faced because, well, everyone knows the love they feel towards their beloved pet; their animal de compagnie.
A few days ago, he would have been 5. My daughter and I walked along the promenade near our home where I often walked him on what would have been his birthday. I wasn’t sad, just so grateful to have had him, even for what felt like a short amount of time. Like most other heart breaking moments in my life, I used poetry to express my grief. You can read my poem ‘Man’s Best Friend’ on the poetry page.
