Since quarantine started, people have spent most of their time inside their homes. Being inside of your house forces you to spend more time with the other inhabitants of it– pets. Pets have been known to greatly benefit people’s mental health, and in these trying times, that statement still stands. 

Junior Jordan Morey has seven pets, including two dogs and two cats. When asked if she would have had a harder time during quarantine if her pets hadn’t been there, she said yes. “They are the only ones that truly like talking to me, and I know that they won’t leave me and will always be there for me. I definitely think it would have been harder surviving quarantine without them,” said Morey. 

Junior Kimberly Camarena Soto said that her pets benefit her mental health as well. “They were the only thing keeping me from being completely isolated,” she said. 

Even though there can be a large increase in one’s mental health state due to their pets, they can also cause stress, impatience, and other negative emotions to their owners. 

“They’re fun to cuddle with, but sometimes when they’re being really loud I get agitated,” said junior, Liv Pittman. While her pets have both negative and positive impacts to her mental health, Pittman would have had a lot more anxiety over quarantine if her pets hadn’t been there.

Not only has quarantine affected our own mental health, but it has affected our pets’ health as well. We finally have an end in sight to our quarantine due to the official release of the COVID vaccine, but when that happens, we won’t be spending nearly as many hours inside of our house. That new change may have a negative effect on our pets. 

“My dogs used to be ok with not sleeping with me at night, but now they cry and scratch at my door if I don’t let them in. They also used to get onto the couch and bed by themselves, but now they wait for me to pick them up and put them on,” said Camarena Soto. She is worried about how suddenly being away from them so often will affect them. 

Some animals may not experience any changes at all. Pittman said that she did not see any change in her pets’ behavior during quarantine, and that she doesn’t think they’ll be affected after quarantine ends either. 

Whether the end of quarantine causes new problems of separation anxiety to sweep the nation’s animals or not, we must look out for our furry friends who have helped us so much and been there when we needed them to.