The power of comfort

Rescued animals need steady routines as they have different baselines than pets that had a stable start

- Nameeta Nadkarni

If you opened social media this week, you probably came across Punch the baby monkey and his Orangutan plushie.

The story of this abandoned baby has struck a chord worldwide as viewers watch him cling to the toy for comfort. The plushie was introduced by his caretakers to support his emotional development after early maternal rejection, and it appears to be helping.

Which brings us closer to home. How do we provide similar stability to puppies and kittens who have been rejected early or rescued from uncertain beginnings?

Bringing home a rescued animal is different from bringing home one that has had a stable start. The baseline is not the same. Early separation, instability, or neglect influences how a young nervous system responds to noise, novelty and handling. What looks like stubbornness may be hypervigilance. What looks like clinginess may just be insecurity. Some rescued pets are extremely “easy”. Families often praise this. In reality, some of these animals are conserving energy because the environment feels unsafe.