Pet Depression

The Causes

Pet depression is actually a profound psychological problem encountered by many pets. Here, the word “depression” is used liberally to describe unhappiness. The cause of it, though, seems simple enough. Most of the time, pet depression is triggered off by long-term hunger or boredom, resulting, most likely, from the owner not taking care of his or her pet for a long time. Many times, owners, because of their various tasks in or outside of Neopets, neglect their poor pets, not feeding them, not playing or reading or paying attention to them, or in short, leaving them in a Dying state. Many times this is not done on purpose—after all who would want to see their pets as hungry and miserable souls? But once in a while there will be this case of an owner who refuse to feed their pets, because they want to sell their free omelette for a profit. These owners are usually more Neopoints-oriented, and make no effort to sustain their pets’ lives. This, therefore, results in pet depression.

Another cause of pet depression is the aspect of unfavourable events. For example, your pet’s favourite Hularoo was stolen by the Pant Devil. Depending on your pet’s character, the sadness may pass off within a few hours time when you buy him a new toy to play with, or it may sink into depression for days.

Besides these, your pet may also suffer from pet depression because it has been bullied by the big Grarrl down the street, or it had just been painted pink, which may be its most hated colour. Whatever the case, when pet depression sinks in, the owner must take active measures to cure it, or it can become a permanent trait of your beloved pet.

The Symptoms

To tell whether you pet has pet depression, we can look at various symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms are evident, for example, a sulk that wouldn’t go away, or a constant look of worry. Most of the time, however, the pet become reclusive and reticent, and if you find that your naturally voluble pet is suddenly more comfortable hiding under its bed, then most probably your pet is suffering from pet depression. If you log in one day and see that your pet is extremely emotional and low on happiness (i.e. it’s mood is as low as “depressed”, which probably means it is on the verge of turning blue), and not its usual chirpy self anymore, this can well be a symptom of the illness. If your pet is “dying”, yet will not eat any food that you give it, even if it is its favourite gourmet food, then your pet is very likely in the league of the depressed. The surest way to tell that your pet is depressed, though, is when your pet turns blue. That, however, means your pet is already in its late stage of depression, and curing it would take a much longer time and effort.

The Cure

There is no one cure to pet depression. The way to treat the illness will depend on the cause of it, or in other words, the root of the problem. For example, if you pet is depressed due to the fact that you spend more time with your Neopoints than with it, then you should take some of those Neopoints and splurge on your pet, and spend more time playing and feeding it. Of course, I do not encourage over-indulging your pet so much so you become broke by the end of the day and your pet become too spoiled, but using some of your Neopoints on your pets once in a while can only do them good. If it needs your company and companionship, nothing will work except you spending quality time with it. Bring it to the Roo Island Merry Go Round, or play card games with it.

If your pet feels miserable because it just had its beloved possession stolen, or is blasted by the Snowager, or is bullied by a Skeith, or simply dislikes the colour that you painted it, then you should sit it down and talk to them, and make sure that it understands that unfavourable happenings are only part and parcel of life, and most of the time, are few and far between. Besides, material things come and go all the time, and what is more important is the Neopians around him who love it. This way, you pet can not only be cured of pet depression, it can mature in thinking as well.

The Conclusion

Prevention is always better than cure. If you play with and feed your pet every day, no way is he or she going to sink into pet depression. If you don’t want your pet to have to endure all that emotional suffering of depression, then please—keep your pet company, and at the same time teach it to face tribulations with courage. Encourage him to come out of his protective shield, tell him that the Mutant Scorchio is just a Neopet like him and, can well turn out to be a friendly pet. Convince your pet that it life is not so difficult anymore if he would just embrace everything that happens to him, whether it’s good or bad. It is never easy, of course, especially for a really young pet, to do so, but this is one of the best ways for your pets to grow, not just physically, but in mental maturity as well.

With that, I end this article, and until we meet again, keep your pets joyful so it might not sink into depression. Always remember to be patient with your depressed pet, follow the above instructions, and very soon, any sickness of the kind will be detected early and successfully cured.