Feel good factor? Pets are one among them

Dr Kriti is an ardent dog lover and had no qualms affectionately petting even street dogs. Although her first experience with her pet (a Pomeranian) named Jackie was when she was five-years-old, it wasn’t until 2017 that she got her second pet.

It’s an unusual story as initially Caesar, her yellow golden Labrador retriever wasn’t supposed to be her pet but her friend’s pet whom she had accompanied for adoption.

However when Kriti first saw Caesar when it was just 21 days old, she was overjoyed. That was the moment when she first held him in her arms and that was just surreal.

"I remember myself just holding him in my arms the entire day and affectionately patting him throughout the day and on reaching home feeding him with cerelac," expressed Kriti.

She further added, "Caesar became such an integral part of me and my family’s life that I used to take him along to my clinic in a basket. However, my mom was upset with me for adopting Caesar knowing that I would get hopelessly attached to it."

Kriti says that her father and Caesar are inseparable. Caesar routinely wakes him up by putting his paws over him every morning and then jumping on to his bed grabbing a biscuit from him and then sheepishly getting cuddled between her mom and dad.

Spending time with Caesar is relaxing and helps all four of them de-stress and feel good. Whenever anyone of them is upset or having a bad day, he somehow senses it and runs to their side. Similarly when they come home after a long day at work, his eyes light up seeing them and comes running across the room and hugs them.

"Caesar has now easily overtaken me and my brother in becoming their most cherished kid. Pets no doubt have a huge emotional and calming impact on the family they are with," shares Kriti adding that her mom who initially used to be aloof from pets has now become so attached to Caesar. A lot of times it is Caesar that has a great soothing effect on her.

"Now that I have been married for six months and live in a different city, I face time with Caesar daily and he displays his tantrums, anger and playful moods thereby making me smile," concluded the pet lover.