In memory of the late veteran journalist, Dell H Grecia
Why Pets Make Life More Meaningful
By Dell H Grecia
Women's Journal
In our daily lives, no one is spared from feelings of isolation, especially when in pursuit of our goals and dreams. But like legions of animal lovers, my friend Abe finds comfort in his pets: “It doesn't get too lonely when you have a loyal pet by your side.”
Leo Carlo and his kid pet
If you like animals and have the time and capacity to take care of one, then try having a pet. This was what I learned from my friend, Dr. Abe V. Rotor, a professor at the University of Santo Tomas
In our daily lives, no one is spared from feelings of isolation, especially when in pursuit of goals and dreams. The more aggressive we are in pursuing our vision, the more chances we have that we’d encounter disappointment and frustration along the way. This is because not everyone shares your ideals.
It takes more than intelligence to be aggressive; one has to be enterprising, a risk taker, adventurous, pioneering, and courageous enough to rich horizons ordinary people dare aspire for. It is also said that in our moments of glory, we strive for more. Yet, in our moments of defeat, we sink into the deepest recesses of our psyche, where hope - like sunlight in the deep - is dim.
“You are alone at your lowest ebb,” reveals my friend Abe. “ But it doesn't get too lonely when you have a loyal pet by your side.” A pet dog, for instance, is not “man’s best friend” for nothing. Dogs are universally known to be capable of unconditional love, their loyalty and devotion to their masters unmatched by most human beings.
A. Pets Are Wonderful for your Well-Being
Caring for animals, however, is not a matter of merely acquiring one and having it around the house. Pets need nurturing, which goes beyond merely feeding and providing them shelter. In return, what we call “pet therapy” offers wonderful benefits to one’s health and well-being.
Here, my friend Abe reveals the role of pets in our lives.
1. Pets bring back happy memories. You have advantage over city-bred children if you grew up in the province. Caring for pets fills a gap - they give you a sense of connectedness to animals you knew and loved before. A dog brings sweet memories of the time when you were a farmhand. A pet goldfish reminds you of the fish you use to catch in the rice paddies during monsoon season. Goats on the range, chicken roosting on a tree branch, a kingfisher patiently waiting for its prey by the river, Labang, the bullock chewing its cud while at rest-these are childhood scenarios pets evoke.
2. Take a vacation in the province. While on vacation take the country road, go to a farm and leave all traces of urban life.
“I remember riding on the back of a carabao when I was a kid,” Abe relates. “Back then, time knew no limit, its pace sweetly dragged under the clear blue sky, or under a myriad of stars one didn’t bother to count. You became observant and discovered many things like the aestivating grasshopper and frogs, drawing figures on the clouds.
“Somewhere a pandangera or fantail bird sang its praise and joy, a dalag or mudfish stirred in a calm mountain pond, sending ripples that made the red Nymphaea and lanky reeds sway and dance while a dragonfly was disturbed in its slumber.”
3. Pets in the Wild. Not all pets rest on your lap, respond to your call, or depend entirely
on your care.Carabao, the country's beast of burden and most important pet on the farm.
At home in Lagro, Quezon, City, I maintain several large trees creating a four-layer mini-forest that surrounds our house,” my friend Abe continues. “With the adjoining watershed of the
“There are those birds that pick on the ripe petals of the Ilang-ilang with their beak, thus releasing its fragrance in the air. They then drop the flowers onto the ground in make- believe rites.
“The great painter Lanseer created his masterpiece, ‘Monarch of the Glen,’ from spotting a moose in the wild that apparently posed before him. The animal humbled the painter who put down his rifle and took out a pen and a piece of paper and sketched the magnificent creature. He renounced hunting for the rest of his life.”
4. Pets are priceless. According to Abe, no one sells his pet, much more if it were a family or community pet. Sometimes this becomes a problem.
“At home,” Abe continues, “we fatten hito or catfish in our garden pond. After a few months they are ready for harvesting. By that time my children call them their pets- our pets- so their goes any plan of using the brand-new barbecue stand we bought for the purpose of grilling our fattened hito.
“Yes, it is a paradox in the case of the dogs is seen as a gustatory delight.
“We cannot justify this predilection for dog meat as part of culture or tradition as the practice is not confined to our indigenous people. In our times there are those who are driven by economic necessity.
“At one time hundreds of letters were received by Congress, endorsing the passage of bill to prohibit the killing of dogs, more so the catching and rearing of dogs for food. As most of these letters came from the US Europe , we can only appreciate the importance of dogs in the heart of the people who have a deep regard for pets - and a reverence for life. The bill was never passed.”
5. From dolls and toys to pets. When dolls and toys are no longer scattered on the floor and stairways but are neatly kept in cabinets and glass cases, Abe explains, we know adolescence has arrived for our children. It is a time of transition from childhood to adulthood, from fantasy to reality, sweet nothings to serious matters. It is no longer Alice in Wonderland but Sweet Valley High.
Pets provide the bridge to this new phase in life to millions of adolescents. This is why pet shops abound. There is at least one pet shop in every mall, two or more around a public market or “busy center” in Metro Manila as shown in the survey made by Abe’s students in Field Zoology at the UST Graduate School
Aquarium fish vendor prepares his merchandise for the day.
Many more are strategically located around schools and churches, not to mention ambulant pet peddlers you meet on Sundays at busy sidewalks. These pet shops sells aquarium fish- from guppies to the giant aruwana; common birds like maya (rest brown and grey with pink beaks known as mayang costa), lovebirds and parakeets. Four-legged pets include guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits.~
Part 2 - Pet Therapy to Combat Depression
and Addiction
“You are alone at your lowest ebb.” - avr
More than the pleasant company they give, and sometimes the risk they take in giving us security, pets share our pain. They even get sick when we do. Our fever and aches seem to be relieved as they lie close to us. They help dry our tears, soothe our nerves, and break the monotony of our surroundings.
Marlo talking to pet dogs, and vice versa.
In our period of anxiety, when our body and spirit sag under the weight of modern living, we seek refuge to something we find comfort – and if needed - a meaning to life. We seek for answers to many whys we only ask when we are down.
In our period of anxiety, when our body and spirit sag under the weight of modern living, we seek refuge to something we find comfort – and if needed - a meaning to life. We seek for answers to many whys we only ask when we are down.
Good books, programs and music provide us recourse all right. They teach, inspire, and challenge us. Yes, we reflect, we meditate; we bridge the self, the being with the omnipotence. We search for the past, bringing out the hidden guilt into catharsis, and the pleasant into renewed reminiscences. At the end we are left asking for more. It is not a deliberate demand for more. It is the opposite. It is a need for nothing but silence, something that silences our probing mind, our throbbing heart, and our tense muscles.
Let us learn from pets. Their reactions are pure and simple. Their message needs no words as a writer once exclaimed, “What words can describe the feeling of a cat purring on your lap, a puppy lapping your face, a goldfish popping bubbles of air and glistening in the prism of sunlight?”
When finally we reach home to continue rest on doctor’s advice, we soon find ourselves facing boredom. Boredom is when we cannot do the things we want to do. The incapacity to do things because of our poor state no longer challenges us. While we can still plan out things we often loom at the edge of uncertainty and fear, something we may not have experienced before. To many of us the feeling is retreat, and we do not know when we will even resume our normal lives again.
No one is spared of these moments in his or her lives. And the more aggressive we are the deeper is the wound, and the longer it takes time to heal. It takes more intelligence to be aggressive which has various facets, such as being enterprising, risk taking, adventurous, pioneering, and courageous. These take us into the horizons ordinary people dare not tread. It is said that in our moments of glory we strive for more, yet in our moments of defeat we find ourselves in the deepest recesses where hope like sunlight in the deep is dim. “You are alone at your lowest ebb,” I once wrote.
Pets help patients conquer depression, a condition that may lead to nervous breakdown, neurosis and even suicide. Millions all over the world, especially in industrialized nations fall victim to this modern day disease. Many become unwilling victims of drugs. Many lives are ruined if not treated early or on time. Pet rider
Pets compensate for the lack of feeling and concern in modern day living. They heal the wounds of broken relationships. They fill up the vacuum of absence. They buoy the sagging spirit; they accept us when we are rejected. They give the human touch to high tech and specialized medicine. Everybody seems busy doing his thing. After a hard day’s work, a dog wagging its tail meets us at the gate, begging to be touched, revealing unashamedly how much it had missed us. A pat and some fast food leftovers may be all we can give, but our pet soon settles down as if it has all the contentment in this world. It is because it has found our company again.
Part 3 - Henpower: Therapy with Chicken
HenPower, an organization in Britain is gaining popularity in many parts of the world. Hen therapy is an addition to therapy with other animals. Hen therapy has been found effective to the elderly in combating loneliness, depression and isolation, other infirmities as well.
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Guardian: The hen project, which is supporting some 700 residents in more than 20 care homes in north-east England, was launched in London last week. Photograph: David Charlton/Equal Arts
Here is an excerpt from the Guardian.
In the north-east, where Henpower is now well established, volunteers known as “hensioners” have been taking hen road shows to schools, community events and to other care settings. The original Henpower site – sheltered housing in Wood Green, Gateshead – was set up four years ago.. .. Wood Green hensioner Alan Richards, a retired taxi driver, was recently awarded the prime minister’s Point of Light award for his volunteering with the scheme.
In the north-east, where Henpower is now well established, volunteers known as “hensioners” have been taking hen road shows to schools, community events and to other care settings. The original Henpower site – sheltered housing in Wood Green, Gateshead – was set up four years ago.. .. Wood Green hensioner Alan Richards, a retired taxi driver, was recently awarded the prime minister’s Point of Light award for his volunteering with the scheme.
When I was a kid, my dad raised chicken, open range, on our spacious house lot. It was peacetime, just after WWII. I delivered live chicken and eggs to the convent where Chinese refugees were housed. Other than generating income, raising chicken - as well as a dozen goats and a family of carabaos - was therapeutic to dad and the three of us, his children, as we tried to cope up with the trauma of war and the economic crunch that followed.
We had other pets as well - dogs and cats - sweetly calling them names we love to hear. To doctors, this is also therapy. So with having a garden of vegetables and fruits, and ricefield we fly kites, and gather fish (hito, dalag gourami, ar-aro, tilapia) come end of monsoon. Our orchard was home of many birds (panal, perperroka, pandangera, maya, house sparrow, kingfisher and oriole), and some transients like herons, on their migratory route. How we loved to listen to birdsongs, and to keep company with them at work and play. They gleaned at harvestime, followed the plow for prey, built nests and tended their young. These, doctors affirm to have therapeutic value.
"Many studies have looked at the value of therapy animals in institutional settings. Although the reports are anecdotal, they show that the creatures can ease agitated behaviors that accompany dementia and help with loneliness. Animal therapy visits may lower blood pressure and promote well-being." says Guardian.
What is in a chicken, in a hen for that matter? Well, first of all she lays egg regularly, with or without the presence of the male or rooster. Fresh eggs are nutritious and regarded second to milk in importance in the diet. In fact, fresh egg taken fresh has medicinal and therapeutic value. Dad would reach out from a hen's nest newly laid eggs, and make a tasty mix with steaming rice in a large bandejado or serving plate. What a complete breakfast during the war and after! Or he would down an egg himself directly from the shell. It's good for the sickly and the convalescent.
Second, hens are amiable, especially when trained as pet. Like the rooster (except the purpose of raising it for the cockpit) the hen is a faithful companion and she is not as demanding in food and care as say, the dog or cat. Her muffled cockling sound is comforting like the purring of a cat. And her being a mother has a comforting effect as well, particularly to the lonely and depressed. The incubating warmth under her wings is comforting to the old and young as well especially in cold weather.
Third, hens are caring, from incubating the eggs to rearing the chicks to weaning age, And the cycle which takes a month or two is repeated. Indeed the whole process imparts not only knowledge but awe, love and care, bringing old and children close together, a social connectivity vital to our society.
Designs of chicken coops. There are modified usually improvised designs based on local conditions like climate, area, neighborhood, and most important, size of poultry
But what a radical change there is in poultry in our postmodern! The word chicken rings louder in fast foods chains than in the home. Home grown chicken however defies statistical record - 80 percent of the chicken population are still raised on the backyard, free range and in chicken coops.
We had other pets as well - dogs and cats - sweetly calling them names we love to hear. To doctors, this is also therapy. So with having a garden of vegetables and fruits, and ricefield we fly kites, and gather fish (hito, dalag gourami, ar-aro, tilapia) come end of monsoon. Our orchard was home of many birds (panal, perperroka, pandangera, maya, house sparrow, kingfisher and oriole), and some transients like herons, on their migratory route. How we loved to listen to birdsongs, and to keep company with them at work and play. They gleaned at harvestime, followed the plow for prey, built nests and tended their young. These, doctors affirm to have therapeutic value.
"Many studies have looked at the value of therapy animals in institutional settings. Although the reports are anecdotal, they show that the creatures can ease agitated behaviors that accompany dementia and help with loneliness. Animal therapy visits may lower blood pressure and promote well-being." says Guardian.
What is in a chicken, in a hen for that matter? Well, first of all she lays egg regularly, with or without the presence of the male or rooster. Fresh eggs are nutritious and regarded second to milk in importance in the diet. In fact, fresh egg taken fresh has medicinal and therapeutic value. Dad would reach out from a hen's nest newly laid eggs, and make a tasty mix with steaming rice in a large bandejado or serving plate. What a complete breakfast during the war and after! Or he would down an egg himself directly from the shell. It's good for the sickly and the convalescent.
Second, hens are amiable, especially when trained as pet. Like the rooster (except the purpose of raising it for the cockpit) the hen is a faithful companion and she is not as demanding in food and care as say, the dog or cat. Her muffled cockling sound is comforting like the purring of a cat. And her being a mother has a comforting effect as well, particularly to the lonely and depressed. The incubating warmth under her wings is comforting to the old and young as well especially in cold weather.
Third, hens are caring, from incubating the eggs to rearing the chicks to weaning age, And the cycle which takes a month or two is repeated. Indeed the whole process imparts not only knowledge but awe, love and care, bringing old and children close together, a social connectivity vital to our society.
But what a radical change there is in poultry in our postmodern! The word chicken rings louder in fast foods chains than in the home. Home grown chicken however defies statistical record - 80 percent of the chicken population are still raised on the backyard, free range and in chicken coops.
Part 4 - Chicken soup
I wrote this article as a lesson on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People’s School on Air) about chicken soup claimed to be the best food for the convalescent. I received favorable audience response which I find interesting to research on. But it was my experience with my ailing father which I wish to share here.
I say it is true. Chicken soup is a “miracle” food, and herbolarios will support me. Here are the rules for the recipe. Or the specifications of the kind of chicken to be served.
Karurayan is the term in Ilocos for a pure white native chicken which does not bear any trace of color on its feathers. It is preferably a female, dumalaga or fryer, meaning it has not yet reached reproductive stage. It is neither fat nor thin.
Chicken soup, originally Filipino, tinola with green papaya and siling labuyo (red pepper) tops.
Usually the herbolario chooses one from a number of recommended specimens. He then instructs and supervises the household the way the karurayan is dressed, cut, cooked into tinola (stew) and served to the convalescent. He does not ask for any fee for his services, but then he takes home one or two of the specimens that did not pass the specifications.
Chicken soup as a convalescent food is recognized in many parts of the world. Because of its popularity, chicken soup has become associated with healing, not only of the body – but the soul as well. In fact there is a series of books under the common title Chicken Soup - for the Woman’s Soul, Surviving Soul, Mother’s Soul, Unsinkable Soul, Writer’s Soul, etc.
Of course, this is exaggeration. Nonetheless it strengthens our faith that this lowly descendant of the dinosaurs (Archeopterex) that once walked the earth has panacean magic.
Try chicken soup to perk you up in these trying times. But first, be sure your chicken does not carry antibiotic residues, and should not be one that is genetically engineered (GMO).
By the way, I was a participant in the rituals made by the herbolario I related. I was then a farmhand and I was tasked to get the karurayan. Our flock failed the test, but I found two dumalaga with few colored feathers. I plucked out the colored feathers and presented the birds to Ka Pepe. They passed the criteria, his specs.
Three days after, I asked my convalescing dad how he was doing. “I’m fine, I’m fine, now.” He assured me with a big smile.~
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NOTE: Dogs and cats are most commonly used in pet therapy. However, fish, guinea pigs, horses, and other animals that meet screening criteria can also be used. The type of animal chosen depends on the therapeutic goals of a person's treatment plan. Pet therapy is also referred to as animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Internet Part 5 - Angora Bunny, a Family Pet
Fluppy Bunny, a family pet, QC
She is Fluffy for her cottony fur,Silk to the touch, easy to comb;She's always around, never gets far,Even when you're not at home.
Angora rabbit coat - a question of ethics (Internet)
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