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Silver Linings: The PhDcat(s)

If you find yourself procrastinating and watching lolcats or kitty pictures online, it might be time to get yourself your own furry friend.

Petting your cat, walking your dog or playing with your hamster are all incredibly valuable and relaxing activities – the type of activities that you simply should build into your busy daily schedule.

The simple presence of having a pet at home, has some major benefits for your health.

However, you might think the time and cost spent on a pet are too much when you are preoccupied with your PhD research. But then again, if you need to postpone all lovely things in life until after your PhD, you’re missing out on too many things, and probably feeling grumpy for that reason.

Another issue you might worry about is the cost of taking care of a pet. If you don’t go crazy in the special pet candies and toys, the expenses for food, litter and the annual veterinary checkup are very reasonable. By all accounts, the cost is negligible when compared to the joy of having a sweet little creature around you.

I’ve written the whole story of me and my beloved Pasha in an earlier post.

Here, again I would like to put things in perspective, and convince you that -if you like pets and have no allergies- it could be very beneficial to take a pet.

Do you have pets, or would you like to wait until after the PhD?

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This Post Has 2 Comments
  1. I was a major proponent of not getting a pet until I was at least in the writing phase of my dissertation. I didn't want to worry about who would take care of them during fieldwork, I didn't want to have to have the extra responsibilities. But honestly- having Gouda the Cat is the best thing I've done for my research. By having him around, I'm able to work better from home because I don't feel lonely. I'm more focused on work, I do an hour of work and then playing with Gouda is more reward. It is so wonderful just having a little guy on my lap while I write. Even now he is next to me. I'm glad I didn't listen to my own pet advice and ended up with a pet. In terms of money, I adopted him so the initial cost wasn't too bad, and his favorite toys are yarn related so I just give him my extra scraps from projects. I love Gouda, and he has made grad school much better for me!

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