Pets and my mental health

I believe that pets are incredibly helpful in regards to better mental health. You can tell them things, and yes I know that they really don't understand what we tell them and even if they did, they really couldn't provide much insight into anything. But talking things out loud makes a big difference. Osiris likes to talk a lot, which makes it easy to have a conversation with him. Lumia rarely meows at people, and if she does, she usually meows specifically at my fiancé. It still melts my heart when she goes next to him and meows. The situation is made better because she has such a weirdly cute voice.

Having pets forces you to have a routine according to their feeding schedule. If you own a dog, you also need to take it outside several times a day. These things force you to get out of bed, no matter what.

Your pets love you unconditionally. It's very powerful to feel their love when they interact with you. Both my cats love to take part in everything that happens around the apartment so it's very easy to spend time with them. They're usually always there. I love the feeling of coming home from work and have at least one of the cats come to greet me at the door.

Not much makes me happier than seeing my cats be happy. I melt every time they play with a toy or if they just run around the house. Lumia especially does this for me because she's not as active as Osiris is. Lumia also is so freaking cute when she plays because of her fluffy fur. If I have a rough day, I love to spend the evening around my cats. What I really love is watching my fiancé do stuff with the cats. I feel instantly happier whether he plays with them or talks with them. At this moment he is talking to Lumia and attempting to find out what she wants because she keeps going next to him, staring at him and meowing. We do not understand what she wants, but it's so cute. I just stare at them with a silly smile on my face.

When we sit in front of the tv, the cats will usually sleep between our legs. Osiris likes to sleep on top of a blanket and Lumia likes to burrow underneath one. I love it when Lumia comes to sit next to me and tells me with her paw that she wants to go under the blanket. If I don't have a blanket, she will patiently wait for me to get one. Osiris often goes to lie between my legs but sometimes he curls in my lap instead so I can pet him better. I feel immediately more relaxed if I have a cat next to me.

Petting the cats and hearing them purr is very soothing. Lumia seems to know when I just need to put my face in her fur. She doesn't always purr for me, but on a bad day, she will purr more than usual. You'll have to be very close to hear Lumia's purrs but Osiris purrs loud enough to hear from a distance.

My previous cat, Minni, always ran up to my face if I was crying. If I was sitting down, she would jump on my lap and put her front paws on my shoulders so she could be as close as possible to my face. I don't know exactly why she did it but it was comforting. She was a bit overly attached to me so I suppose she was more sensitive to my emotions. She also loved my singing hobby. She always came running and purring whenever I was singing. She always wanted to be the closest to my face, if my other cat, Vilma, was lying on my chest, she had to lie on my neck. I grew up with Vilma. We got her when I was 9 years old. When she was young she kind of took care of me, and when I grew up and she got older, I took care of her. She was with me for 16 years. Vilma was one of my best friends growing up and she helped a lot with my issues back then. Vilma is also the main reason I now have Osiris, she was half Abyssinian, and I loved her character and everything about her. She made me want to see what Abyssinians as a breed are like.

My cats also help me fall to sleep better. When I sleep away from home, I rarely sleep well because my cats aren't there. They always help me fall back to sleep if I have nightmares. And if I go to the bathroom during the night, it's nice to come back to bed and give kisses to the cats and then go back to sleep.