A rather optimistic post.

Today I took my cats, Max and Paddy to the vets for their annual check up.

Paddy was first, he is overweight but healthily so, happy in his own ditzy little way.

Max however, a peculiar animal, who is incredibly shy and refined, was not so okay. The vet noticed a considerably large patch of fur missing under her right leg, she had been licking herself repeatedly. My cat was effectively self harming. The vet said she was depressed and incredibly stressed out, her relationships with the other cats in my house were making her unhappy and she wasn’t coping.

My poor little kitty is ill.

But, this whole little crisis made me think.

Firstly, depression is an illness that affects rather a lot of people, but many don’t perceive it as a real illness because there are no physical deformities or wounds. Depression is a mental illnesses which can lead to numerous other symptoms, such as self-harming, because some people who suffer with depression see it as a way of coping with their illness.

Depression is something that should be acknowledged more because it can affect anyone; wether your a cat, a lawyer, an astronaut or even a teenager.
Just because there are no physical symptoms doesn’t mean a person is not ill.

I was just thinking about this alot over the past few days because it’s an issue which means alot to me. And now with my cat being ill, it makes it more personal. I believe it is crucial that people understand the fact that depression is a medical illness that requires medicines and therapy, it’s not just feeling a bit depressed, it’s a genuine condition and we can’t just to ignore it.