I love animals. They are beautiful mysteries of nature I can interact with. I’ve had a couple of dogs. But, I have always been allergic to cats. I remember when I was 5 years old waking up and not being able to open my eyes. They were swollen shut for four days. My reward for playing with a cat and rubbing my eyes. Allergy shots followed on a weekly basis. You’d think a phlebotomist would send me running, but acupuncture is my preferred treatment ( after sirsasana). As an adult, I’ve used nettle leaf as a preventive successfully. After a visit with a cat friend, I’d immediately wash my clothes, hair and take another dose of nettle leaf. Most times, if I sat on wood furniture, it would be enough and I wouldn’t need my inhaler.
You wonder how does this correlate to being vegan? Well, I read a vegan post about being thankful to people who respect the personal choice a vegan has made by serving foods at gatherings they can eat. It described perfectly how thankful I was for the people (you know who you are) who cared about making my cat friend visits easier. It reminded me of my children with food intolerances and the friends who go out of their way to have snacks suitable for them. I love these people and how caring and thoughtful they are. Because so few people GET IT. The idiom ‘Walk a mile in my shoes‘ is widely understood, but rarely put into practice.
BTW, ‘pet free’ people are few and far between. So I nurture the friends who GET IT and move on from the ones who don’t. Embrace the human condition, whatever it may be.