The past year has been very rough for me as well. My boyfriend of 3 years was in the hospital and almost died. I was unemployed for over 6 months, and we were having financial difficulties and had trouble finding a place to live, and then after all of that, the relationship crumbled and we broke up after I found out he was cheating. Now I am going to be living on my own and the only companion I have is my dog, who has kept me company throughout this year without pause. I don’t think I would have made it without her.

My girls are always there for me… they don’t care if I’m higher than high or lower than low on the scale.. they still love me the same.

When I’m manic to the point that I start to wander around my apartment because I have so many ideas that by the time I go to do one I’m already moving onto the next my girls always seem to do something that makes me have to stop, breath and help them out…. like my kitten deciding she wants to climb to the top of the cabinet only to not be able to get back down…

When I’m really depressed my girls all flock to me.. they won’t leave my side.. If I don’t pet them they start to pet me… literally.. my kitten will start stroking my face with her paw!!!

They also help more than I will ever know when I get to the point that I don’t want to be around anymore…. because then I think I couldn’t do that to them.. they love me so much and I need to be there for them, I made them the promise of a forever home with me… and I WILL keep that promise to them!

The kittie I’ve had the longest.. Baby.. actually saved us from a house fire… I had started to cook something… forgot I was cooking.. and she kept coming in and out of the room I was in until I followed her to the kitchen to find that the place was filled with black smoke and the stuff in the frying pan was about to flame up any moment.. with her eyes scrunching from the smoke.. she wouldn’t leave my side until I had taken care of ever thing!!!! I love you baby! Thank you!!!

I have bipolar (I prefer to say I have had it, problems have been increasingly rare over the last 15 years, about the same length of time I’ve always had a German Shepherd, perhaps more than coincidence).

Having a dog did not cure the depression, but I think it helped, company, affection, exercise, responsibility (various benefits,not thinking only of myself and my problems, a feeling of responsibilty to family often put me off suicide, responsibility to a pet might do the same, but thinking processes can get pretty feeble).

Most dogs are incredably stable and consistent emotionally, unswervingly loyal and loving and reliable, this has to be a bit of a life raft in the fluctuating emotional world of bipolar, for me it is also a great antidote to the maddening lunacy a large proportion of the human population appear to be devoted to- I’m absolutley certain have a dog helps prevent me from lapsing into ilness when I am well.

Strangely my dog did not seem to think there was anything wrong with me when I was manic, appeared to love it, (a nurse thought she probably though I was a super alpha male), I took her on some pretty outlandish and lengthy adventures.

On the negative side: care of a pet might be sub-standard if a person is depressed and especially if they are manic, (it would not necessarily be unacceptable), both the unwell person and theit pet would need other humans checking on them.

Gradually I started riding myself. And then we bought a horse! We bought a big, gorgeous stallion trained in my daughter’s discipline. He is very calm and sweet. Being with him always improves my mood, just looking at him does, and riding takes all my troubles away.