Living life without your furry friends

Growing up, my mom wasn’t very keen on having pets as she always says “That they leave hair everywhere and they ruin the furniture”. So, you can get where I’m coming from. I think why my mom was like this because when she was growing up in her family she had three other siblings so it was a handful for her parents and to add to the family would be way too much to handle! So, maybe that’s why she’s never been too keen on having pets?


How did the conversation start about getting a new furry friend? Well, it all started when my older brother James moved away from home down to Newcastle to start his brand new life. A few months after he did move out, myself and my parents were sitting down together and I started to look at cute photos of pets online because I’ve always wanted a pet of my own who I can snuggle up to at night and just have someone there with me when my parents were working five days a week, so I’m mostly at home by myself.
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  After some persuasion, my parents agreed to me adopting my first pet! ( My mom was the hardest to convince but my dad helped me get her to agree! ) So, we started looking online at rescue centres and adoption shelters as we wanted to adopt a furry friend who needs a good home and deserves to have the life it was born to have just like every other animal out in the world!

As we live in North Wales we thought it was best we went for the nearest rescue centre but first, we had to decide what kind of pet we wanted; a dog, a cat or maybe a snake? You never know! 
We came to the agreement of adopting a cat. To be honest with you at the start I was not very excited about getting a cat as I’m not a huge fan of cats, I’ve always been a dog lover! But maybe this was just what I needed to teach me not to judge things until you experience having them yourself! 

A few days later, we all went to the North Wales Animal Rescue. We were greeted so kindly by the staff; they showed us around, asked us what we were looking for and they pointed us out in the right direction. 

We came to the cats that had been moved from shelter to shelter because no one wanted to show them the love or attention they deserved. I met so many lovely cats some of their names were; Ralfey, Pippa, Milo and so many other cuties too! But the one for me was this black and white cat, he had only just moved to this rescue shelter and he was full of energy and he didn’t want me to leave! He was obviously the one for me we clicked straight away! I decided to name him Baloo as he had just moved to the shelter they hadn’t named him yet, so that was a bonus! 
We signed the adoption papers and we were good to go! We took Baloo home and he was a bit wary at first but that’s normal for any pet that’s been taken to a place they’ve never been before. 

A few months passed and I decided to plan a trip away with my friends for a week just travelling around Ireland. I had the best week away but I was missing my little Baloo so I couldn’t wait to get home to hug him! When I got home he was meowing like no tomorrow it was so cute and made me smile like a Cheshire cat! 

The next day I let him out as you know cats love exploring but I didn’t realise that would be the last time that I saw Baloo. Normally Baloo comes back for his food for the evening but no sign of him so I started to worry. My mom thought I was overreacting but I knew something was wrong! We went out searching for him up and down the street, no sign of him. So, I went back home to tell dad we couldn’t find him but then I come to the window by the front down and I see my mom walking out someone’s garden with a bin bag, then when I knew he was gone. The emotions that I experienced at that moment was unreal and to this day I still can’t explain the hate I was feeling on myself for letting him out. I started to blame myself for what happened to him but in the end, I came to my senses it wasn’t my fault, these things just happen with no explanation. We still don’t know what happened to my little Baloo but I just cherish every single memory that I made with that trouble maker. I will always remember he was the reason I smiled each day because it felt like I actually had someone to reach out to, always. 

• Mel.