Change Can Lead to Depression in Your Pet

Well, the kids are finishing up the school year once again. And those of us with children heading off to college know the bittersweet feeling of pride in our child's accomplishments, thrill that we are actually going to have less work cleaning up after them when they finally pack up and head out to the dorms, and that awfully sunken feeling in the pit of our guts telling us that we are losing our best friend. And, realize it or not, your pets are feeling the same way about the changes they sense are in the air.

Whenever there is a change in the family dynamics, whether it is a teenager leaving for college or a newborn baby brought home fresh from the nursery, our pets are one of the first one's to feel that stress. They instinctively know ahead of time that something is changing, though they may not realize exactly what. They can become agitated for apparently no reason, lash out with unprovoked anger, and make a general pest of themselves around the house in a last-ditch effort to get attention. Or, they can become withdrawn and depressed, curl up into the fetal position and mope, become wimpy and whiney, or show less interest in food and play.

If your pet shows any of these symptoms, they should be examined by a veterinarian to be sure that nothing physical is going on. And, if the tests come back negative, don't discount the possibility that your pet is feeling the undercurrents of stress and has become psychologically depressed. Animals are probably more prone to reacting emotionally to their surroundings than their people are because animals are more in tune with their environment than their human counterparts. And to feel safe, they need reassurance that things WILL be okay.

My daughter, Mandee, is finishing up her last year of high school in a few weeks, and we are concurrently preparing for a move to another state. With the shuffle of boxes and items being sold and the house becoming less and less furnished over the past few weeks, I've noticed a slump in my dog Skip's disposition. As I tote things from one room to the next to be packed away, he follows close at heel, looking at me with soulful eyes that almost demand an explanation. And when Mandee comes home from her day at school, Skippy's demonstrative greetings are far more exaggerated than usual. It's almost as though he's saying: "I know you are leaving me, and I want to show you now how very much I love you ... because I don't know if I will get to see you again" .

Our pets center their world around us. If they feel that the family is changing, the very fabric of their being becomes threatened. Their entire world is disrupted. And, that in itself is enough to make ANYONE depressed - after all, they have no control over that change, and fear kicks in. It is essential for us, as pet parents, to ensure our little friends that things are okay, that they are safe, and that they WILL be included in whatever new world the family will face. In other words, your pet needs reassurance that they are PART of the family, and that the family will face that world together. Don't get so caught up in the stress that you feel yourself about the changes going in on in your life as to ignore the signs of internal fear that your furry friends feel when the very center of their world begins to quake. Give them more than the usual dose of love, reassurance, and that feeling of confidence that we give our human children (even as we quiver and quake on the inside with uncertainty) that everything WILL be okay!