Can Pets Replace Children?

What do people and the professionals say?

Having pets is the most natural thing in the world. Most of us grow up with pets and cannot imagine our lives without them. Pets fulfil various roles in people’s lives, some in the most natural forms. But in other cases, an owner’s relationship with their pet can become a bit unbalanced, or as some would term it, a bit weird.

In this article, we will be discussing how pets often take the place of children. In some cases couples can’t have children, or they don’t want children, and in other cases older couples struggle to cope with ‘empty nest syndrome’ and their pets help to fill the gap.

Real-life scenario

Susan van der Merwe* says that she most certainly suffered from empty nest syndrome when the kids left home. “I already had two cats when the children spread their wings – whether I needed to fill the space or looked for something to take care of, I would never know. However, the urge to get dogs was there and I did.”

Filling the gap

Do the dogs fill the gap left by the children? Susan says she suppose it does. “I interact with my dogs all the time – talking, playing and there is loads of affection and laughter. I have to tell them off when they are naughty, take them to the vet when they are ill, and I always ensure that they eat healthy.”

Is it normal? “What is the ‘norm’ and what is considered ‘balanced’? I don’t dress them up or treat them like children – I treat them like dogs. I am always concerned that if they are not allowed to act like dogs, it will confuse and stress them,” explains Susan.

She loves the presence of her three Dachshunds around her: their smell, the affection she receives every moment, and the excitement when she returns after five minutes or one week away for work, even if her husband is there to take care of them.