We often think how wonderful it would be to have a pet to keep us company. Before entering veterinary school, we also seriously considered adopting a cat to spend the four years of veterinary student life together with us. But until now, we are still not ready to keep a pet.
Why?
The changes in international student life and income are beyond our control.
Among international students, cases of rehoming or even abandoning pets are not uncommon. Many times it is not entirely irresponsibility, but life changes too quickly. Courses, internships, part-time work, visas, moving house, if any one of these goes wrong, the original plans will be disrupted.
Returning to our home country during holidays.
If we take the pet back home, we have to worry about the safety of air travel or sea transport. If we do not take the pet back, we will miss several months of its growth and need to find reliable boarding.
The cost of keeping a pet is higher than imagined.
Daily food and toys can be afforded by living frugally; but if an illness costs thousands or tens of thousands, we may not be able to pay immediately. For international students, funds are most likely dependent on support from parents. But using money provided by parents for study on pets makes us feel somewhat uneasy. Pets, like people, also need to consider taking pet health supplements, especially as they age. We must not neglect providing nutrition and improving immunity to prevent various diseases.
Having seen too much in the hospital, we clearly understand what keeping a pet means. Over more than ten years, we are responsible for its health, illness, and ageing.
So what if we still feel the urge to pet cats and dogs?
In fact, there are ways to satisfy the desire to be around animals while also providing real help to society and animal welfare.
Many shelters recruit volunteers. Common animals include cats and dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even horses. The work mostly involves cleaning, feeding, walking dogs, and companionship. It may look ordinary, but for animals living long-term in shelters, these things are very important.
If volunteering is still not enough, we can also try fostering young animals for shelters.
The picture shows the kittens we fostered for Kitty Bungalow in Los Angeles.
The meaning of fostering is to help kittens socialise in a home environment, allowing them to better adapt to living with humans, develop more stable temperaments, and become easier to adopt. At the same time, it reduces space pressure in shelters.
Author: Sim K
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