{"id":3486,"date":"2022-04-16T11:48:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T07:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2023-03-30T12:49:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T08:49:50","slug":"adopting-a-furry-friend-will-change-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/2022\/04\/16\/adopting-a-furry-friend-will-change-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Adopting a furry friend will change your life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adopting a pet is not always easy, but it changes your life in unimaginable ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Noel Ceriani<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember biking around my house and seeing this tiny kitten following me around and hiding behind bushes whenever I got too close. Every time I rode around, I would notice her sweet meows and she would follow me, which I found to be very adorable,\u201d said Hind Al Matrooshi, a journalism student at the American University of Sharjah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter some time, she became comfortable with me and I fed her. I continued feeding her everyday and I just couldn\u2019t resist, so I decided to take her to the vet and the rest was history.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When adopting a pet, adoption shelters are the usual place to go. But sometimes, taking in a street animal is better as those animals don\u2019t have a place to stay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Al Matrooshi, taking in her cat \u201cwas easy because she was a stray kitten so there weren\u2019t many complications when adopting her,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose to adopt a cat because it is better than shopping for one. It gives a home to a kitten that’s already born rather than having it end up on the streets,\u201d said Hala Nasar, another AUS journalism student. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Leia enjoys being taken to walks on the beach (Photo: Noel Ceriani).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

However, for others owning and raising a pet was never planned but after the opportunity presented itself; saying no was not an option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nasar adopted Olive from her cousin who wanted to give up the cat because he had no time to take care of it. She offered the kitten a home. Now, she says her decision was the right one and she wouldn\u2019t want any other cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking care of a furry friend is not just for fun but also for our wellbeing. It can be both fun and therapeutic. Animals help their owners by providing them with company and by helping them grow as a person. They can also aid those battling mental health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s amazing how a dog can change your mood in a few seconds if you’re having a bad day and I have a lot of fun playing with him,\u201d said Sabrina Pereira, a dog owner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was my first responsibility as owner, so I had to mature to be able to educate him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria Ceriani says having her cat Leia around makes her feel very happy and calm. Being accompanied by Leia helps calm down her anxiety and nerves, especially when she pets her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOwning a cat definitely changed my life for the best. If I ever became too exhausted or sad I would lay on my bed and I knew I could count on my cats to make me feel better by cuddling with me,\u201d Al Matrooshi adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nasar said that \u201cI learned that pet therapy is a real thing and Olive makes me feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, people spend a lot of time on the Internet or their jobs, so exercise and relaxation are rare activities in some people\u2019s routines. But the moment they adopted a pet, everything changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like it changed me that I have something to look forward to and someone to take care of. I love spending time with Biscuit and he\u2019s good company and taking care of him is a nice part of the process,\u201d says Amira Ihardane, an AUS student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adopting a pet is not always easy, but it changes your life in unimaginable ways.  By Noel Ceriani \u201cI remember biking around my house and seeing this tiny kitten following me around and hiding behind bushes whenever I got too close. Every time I rode around, I would notice her sweet meows and she would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,28],"tags":[17,48,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-3486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-feature-articles","8":"category-features","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-lifestyle","11":"tag-sharjah-uae"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}