How we say goodbye to the pets we love
House sitting comes with a myriad of benefits. You get to look after cute animals, live in lots of interesting places, save on rent, live a more minimalist lifestyle and become more connected to what you really care about. One of the downsides that gets us every time is how sad it can be saying goodbye to the pets that we get attached to.
When you’ve grown up considering pets as part of the family, you form close bonds with them. Animals, unlike most people, approach their relationship with you without judgement. They are unencumbered by the ego and motivations that form the dark, complex underbelly of many human relationships. They actually help bring people closer together. I’ve found even the most dysfunctional of families can bond over the funny thing the cat just did.
Saying goodbye to pets when they pass away is definitely a grieving process. Four years on from losing our family dog, I still miss him and feel his loss. He’s tied up with nostalgic memories of childhood. Every time I unwrap a present I expect to see his beady eyes there hoping I’ll give him the wrapping paper to bite and tear. Then recently I looked after a dog that I swear was the reincarnation of our family dog. Similar mannerisms and personality quirks. This might not be entirely the most scientific thing to think, but I’m a believer in balancing the rational and irrational in life.
In the Western world death is a subject that is uncomfortable and almost taboo to talk about. As a result we struggle to come to terms with what is the most inevitable part of living, life’s end. Our mental health suffers as a result. Parents often say one of the benefits of getting a family pet is that they can teach their children about death. Coming face to face with our own mortality in the form of our beloved pets teaches us valuable lessons about life and what’s really important about living.
Leaving a house sit, we know we might never see the animals we’ve cared for again. We form close bonds with these pets and get to know their unique personalities. It can be a wrench leaving them but just as human relationships come and go, we realise that it’s all about making the most of the time you have.
The way we see it, we’ve got the opportunity to form a bond with the animals. I had tendonitis in my hip a few months ago and, not being able to walk, spent a whole week working from home. Home happened to be a cosy place in Penrith, near the Nepean River, with two whippets. They have the equivalent vocabulary of a 4 year old, understanding over 50 words. These dogs are creatures of routine. They enjoy the eating little-and-often-diet, drink puppy milk at 10pm and get tucked into their beds so they’re warm at night.
Similarly, we spent a month looking after the most intelligent weimaraner that is truly a special one. Ask him to “get the paper” and he’ll bring it to you in exchange for a treat. Then find it wherever you’ve left it and bring it to you again. And again. Until you unrolled it or hid it somewhere he couldn’t reach. We got up extra early every single morning to take him on a walk. Nothing could have been more of a tonic than to see him running full sprint after a stick. Big lolloping, full-of-energy, full-of-life, he also loved a cuddle. We spent our evenings squished on a sofa with him sleeping, limbs draped over us. He definitely wins the prize for the worst farts. You couldn’t not form a bond with a dog that felt comfortable enough to share such putrid gas exhalations with you.
I always call Keegan a cat whisperer as he has a way of getting even the shyest of cats to feel comfortable with him. One cat in particular shines out. This cat ended up staying at his foster carer’s permanently because no one else wanted him. He’s a bit of a biter and has kidney failure. But what a character. A more people-loving cat we’ve never found. He’ll happily sleep in between our pillows at night and has a zest for life that I wish I could say I would have too when I’m old and ill. The bond has been formed and he’s now one of our favourite sits.
When we’ve had a house sit we like, we do our best to secure a repeat house sitting relationship with the owners. Repeat house sits make our lives easier as we can book up our schedule in advance with places where we already know the ropes. We don’t have to spend as much of our evenings and weekends applying for new house sits and going for interviews. But it also means that we get the pleasure of seeing pets we love again and again.
To increase our likelihood of getting repeat house sits, we put our best foot forward. We send the owners regular updates (doggy pics and cat selfies), give their home a thorough clean so it’s spic and span when they return and, if it’s been a longer stay, leave a thank you card or small gift. We also usually ensure they’ve got milk, bread and a few other essentially to return home to as well and replace any food we’ve used. They love hearing about the things you love about their pets so we always share some funny anecdotes.
We try to think about it less like goodbye and more like a see you later. Whether we get the chance to look after them again or are reunited with their reincarnated spirit further down the track. In the words of Luna Lovegood, the things you love have a way of finding their way back to you, if not always in the way you might expect.
