[RA & Pets] The Rewards of Pet Parenthood

**[![][1]][2]THE REWARDS OF PET PARENTHOOD**

_By: Missy Chauvin_

I've had RA for 42 years and for all those years I've also had pets because I absolutely love animals. Plus when you're sore and in pain from the RA & the only thing you can do is rest on the couch, there's nothing better than a furry friend to cuddle up with you. For the majority of my life I've had miniature daschunds (wiener dogs). They are the perfect pet for people with RA because they're little & easy to carry if you need to and when they get older 90% of the time they get arthritis in their back (as they have such a long spine) so the two of you can comfort each other! Throughout the years I've been blessed with Tuffy, T.J. (Tuffy Junior), Penny, Oscar, O.J. (Oscar Junior), and now Molly (all mini wiener dogs). Molly is now 14 years old. She is light brown and although she can't hear or see very well anymore, she knows the sound of my voice and whenever she hears me come home her little tail wiggles so fast that sometimes I think she might take off like a helicopter. She loves to give me kisses and she always knows when I need someone to hug or snuggle with when I'm feeling blue! She suffers from arthritis too and when she gets up in the morning, the two of us stretch and then try to walk to the stairs to go upstairs for breakfast. This is quite a task for the two of us as we both have a lot of morning stiffness. I'm sure we'd make quite the "You Tube video" on our crazy early morning routines. She somehow knows when I need comforting from the pain of my RA and I return the favor by comforting her when I see that she's in pain too! We are the perfect pair! Sometimes in the winter when I'm so cold and my joints are very sore I'll snuggle under a warm blanket with a heating pad and Molly will be right by my side too. In the fall when it's damp and cold, Molly has a hard time going up and down the stairs, it's then that I carry her and I know on the days that I'm so sore that I can barely do the stairs that she'd carry me too if she could! Instead she waits for me patiently at the top of the stairs and when I

[1]: http://rachicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/pet-center-150x150.jpg (rheumatoid arthritis and pets)
[2]: http://rachicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/pet-center.jpg

URL: http://rachicks.com/ra-pets-the-rewards-of-pet-parenthood/