In these hard times, Italian vets are witnessing a new form of dependency, that of dog-owners to their four-legged friends.
Rome vet Daniele Corlazzoli, interviewed in “La Zampa”, the pet journal of the Italian daily “La Stampa” last week, reported many cases of dog-owners attending his surgery to express a myriad of anxieties regarding their pets.
The owners find it hard to leave their animal alone even when they have an important appointment themselves and talk to the dog as if it were their only friend and confidant. In fact, he says, the relationship between dog and owner is distorted, with the human projecting his or her own insecurity onto the dog and becoming dependent upon the animal. In the end it is often not the animals that dott. Corlazzoli has to treat, but up to 100 a day of their owners.
Dott. Corlazzoli explains that people can feel very alone when they have financial problems and they lavish more attention than is normal on their pets, often worrying about them quite unnecessarily. If the person’s friends or family are not dog-friendly, then the owner can easily become even more isolated, shutting himself away with the beloved pet who, in turn, can become depressed.
These owners also find it difficult to make important decisions about their pets – for instance, whether they should have an operation – and almost beg the vets to operate on them instead.
Do you confide in your pet?
