This appendix includes short summaries and analyses of each of the relationships described by the returned questionnaires. The questionnaire appears in Appendix 1. Cases are titled by the name of the pet. All names of owners have been removed or disguised.
JESSICA
Owner of the pet lives alone since her husband died. She has two cats, one of them being Jessica, a short-hair brown tiger.
The owner perceives that the "pet is happy when she returns home from work." It is important to her to have a pet to hug, which gives her a feeling of happiness. The pets sleep in her bed.
The owner never feels alone with her pets around; they give her a feeling that they care about her, which may suggest that the pets serve as a partial substitute for the lost partner. The answers to the questionnaire include an emotionally strong description of what a pet means to its owner.
FIGARO
Owner of the pet lives alone with this male cat. She takes care of anything he (the pet) needs, and allows him to sleep anywhere he wishes including the top of her bed.
The pet offers the owner love and companionship. In many ways, the owner treats the pet as a human person with emotions and character. To some extent, the relationship between the owner and the pet resembles the one between a parent and a child. The owner enclosed an interesting "letter" from the pet itself: Random letters typed by the pet.
FINNINGAN
Finningan is a male dog living in a household of a married couple. The wife filled out the questionnaire.
The couple got the pet from a pet-farm. They chose Finningan because he was the friendliest and wanted to be held. The pet sleeps in the bedroom with the couple. Further interviews with the informant and her husband would be necessary to verify the feeling I got from reading the answers -- as if one of the owners misses something in the relationship with the other person and seeks to get that from the pet?
The informant writes about the pet loving to be around humans and about letting people know what he wants. The pet is also characterized as being smart, being amusing, offering comfort, and offering companionship. Finningan brings out a relaxed side of the husband, who becomes childish and playful around the pet.
JIGGER
Male informant lives alone with a 10 year-old male Yorkshire Terrier.
There is a strong emotional bond between the owner and the pet. The owner admits he is highly dependent on his dog: "You have no trouble in seeing who has trained whom." He classifies his relationship with the pet: "How about servant?" The pet is described as having a personality and often being jealous when the owner pays attention to another pet. The owner considers the pet his friend and a member of his small family.
In addition, the pet serves the owner as his contact with nature and gives him a feeling of caring about someone.
SHADOW
A wife, living in a household with her husband and having two cats and a dog, focused on a description of a female dog named Shadow. The couple selected the pet because of special emotions they felt when they first saw and held the pet.
The wife describes the pet as having a strong character. She feels a great deal of interdependency with the pet: "She annoys my great aunt -- Oh, well. My great aunt annoys me."
The pet makes both owners more patient, tender, and caring. She brings people together; around her they talk more. The pet could be compared to a therapy for the owner: "she (the pet) makes me understand that physical contact is just as important as being fed every day."
KATIE
A couple "purchased" a female dog for hunting-related reasons. Initially, the dog was treated as an object but with time their relationship became warmer. The pet became a companion and seemed like a child to the couple. Having the pet satisfies the need to care about somebody.
The pet brings out a different ego of her owners who become more playful, loving, and watchful in her presence. "Her (the pet's) unconditioned love is amazing and very welcomed after a hard day at work."
The pet sleeps in bed with the couple; the informant shares with us that "With Katie sleeping with us, sex is a little difficult. Katie seems to think that she wants to be involved, too! This isn't really a conflict."
SAM AND MAX
A couple with a 6-month-old adopted daughter lives with Max and Sam, 5- and 4-year-old tiger cats. Originally the pets were acquired for security reasons; later they became companions to the family members. The wife writes: the pets "teach me about the value and need for love, nurturing, playfulness, and companionship.... They remind me to let go of unnecessary concerns."
The informant writes about pets' asking for attention and compares it with the behavior of a child. Furthermore, she writes that the couple's relationship with their pets prior to the adoption of the daughter was like a therapy and training: "Both boys (pets) have taught us to be more nurturing. They were an excellent training ground for the arrival of our baby." "Before we (adopted the girl) the boys were our children and we treated them accordingly."
ZEN
A single female lives alone with three dogs. In her response, she focused on a 2-year-old female yellow Lab, Zen.
At the time the informant was choosing the pet at a breeder's, she chose Zen because "she heard my keys jingle in my coat and tried fishing them out." The owner describes pets to be happy to see her coming home. The pets give her a sense of being noticed.
Pets bring out a different personality of the owner. Zen "gets me to act silly with her and get down on my hands and knees and play with her. She helps me lighten up and not be so serious."
Zen seems like a child to the owner: "I hope if I ever have children I can be as proud of them as I am of Zen! I love her very much."
The owner of the pets is a caretaker by profession, and it seems that she has the need to be taking care of somebody also at home, too (i.e., pets). "I feel this (the owner's caretaker role on her job) continues at home as well."
COCA CHANNEL
An adult divorced female lives in a household with her youngest son, age 28. They have 4 dogs and a cat. The informant has a strong emotional tie with the female dog, Coca Channel, about which she writes in the questionnaire: "she is our (her and her son's) baby!"
When the informant was asked by her friend whether or not pets go to heaven, she responded: "IF THEY DON'T [if pets don't go to heaven], THEN I DO NOT WANT TO GO!" Throughout her response, a theme comes up of the owner identifying herself with the pet and the pet acting as a human being. "This household revolves around the dog and that is it! Like me, like my dog, or leave! That is pretty much it!"
NITRO
A family with three children got a dog from SPCA. The dog brings the family together by being the center of playful activities.
BERT
Bert is a male Schnauzer living with a single female. The owner kisses and talks to the pet and treats him as her own child. She claims she loves the pet: "I couldn't love him (the pet) any more if I gave birth to him"
The owner of the pet notices that people become nicer when they are around her pet.
HONEY
A pit-bull lives in a household with three individuals. The informant writes that the pet gets depressed if one of the family members is away from home for a long time. The dog has a very human character; not only is it described as being able to feel and think as a human being; the pet is also a "strategist and will plot out a plan of action to attain a goal."
The pet has several effects on the humans living with it. On the one hand, it cheers people up and makes them feel close to nature: "Honey makes us an inter-species family." On the other hand, the pet brings stress into family: "she is an expensive and high-maintenance dog but this is a household that handles stress well."
Although there is a high trust relationship with the pet, the owners would never dare to stare the pet directly in the eyes because they believe it annoys a pit bull.
LEX
Lex is a 2.5-year-old male cat, taken care of by an unmarried couple. The pet is like a child and the best friend to the couple. The pet gives them "unconditional love."
The questionnaire was answered by the female of the couple. She stresses that SHE is the one who takes care of the pet and that the pet is most attached to HER.
BUTTLER
A bachelor lives alone with his "cat, a black-and-white female about eight years old." He has a strong emotional attachment to the pet ("anyone who cannot get along with her is not welcome").
The pet gives the owner a feeling of doing something good: "she (the cat) has seen the best and the worst of me and seems to accept the complete person." The pet helps him believe that he himself is a good person.
BOOMER
Three students formed a household at the beginning of their graduate studies in a rather unsafe urban setting of Chicago. They had not known each other from before. After a traumatic experience of burglary in their apartment, they decided to obtain a dog for security reason. Gradually the pet became an important part of their life. On an individual level, each owner had his/her own rituals with the pet. The pet brought out natural, relaxed personal qualities in them. More importantly, the pet brought three strangers together by having them "cemented together because (they) were forced to always communicate and to know what the other(s) were doing."
The three individuals were put to live together artificially and had little in common. This analysis suggests that they all were strong and different personalities from each other. The acquired pet became their only common denominator and has in a way institutionalized their relationships. The dog was their "problem child," a scape-goat, something they were able to talk about; by paying attention to the pet they avoided discussing their interpersonal relationships, which in fact never existed. The informant states: "you could say that Boomer was our common solution to a traumatic event (the burglary) that bonded us together. He kept us bonded all the way until the household broke up." It seems that they never communicated among themselves until they started sharing the responsibilities for the pet. "It was very sad when we gave him up. I don't remember whether it was D- --- or D-----, but one of them went with me when we gave him to another family."
The relationship among the three students is well illustrated by a photo the informant enclosed. On the photo, the three students are not touching each other in any way. However, each one of them is touching the dog.
MELVIN
Melvin is a dog, living with a couple, who has been together for 3 years now. They treat the dog as their own child.
The selection of the pet was solely a responsibility of the female of the couple, perhaps symbolizing giving birth. The division of responsibilities for the pet reminds a traditional division of responsibilities for a child: she takes care of the dog, feeds him, and offers him support; her male partner, on the other hand, is a "recognized master" and is able to train the pet; the pet listens to him more readily.
BUTCH
A family with two children owns a dog. Every family member knows exactly what his/her responsibilities with the pet are. They treat him much like a child or another family-member.
The pet is a source of unconditional love. He brings out happiness in the family. They smile more; the pet calms down stress and emotions. Especially the youngest son, 16, finds comfort in the pet: "Whenever Stephen is upset he seems to hold the dog."
SKITTLE
A single female lives alone with two cats and a dog. She seems to treat one of the cats, Skittle, a neutered male cat as her partner. She sleeps with the pet in her bed with the pet's head on her shoulder; the pet likes to cuddle. Sometimes the owner perceives Skittle as being jealous.
The owner of the pets states that the animals bring more life into her day. They "help to make my house a home." "Since I live alone, I believe I need more than just myself."
DEE DEE
A couple has a dog and two cats. They share responsibilities for the pet, Dee Dee, the way they would do that with a child. The female of the couple states: "My pet is like a child to me -- an opportunity to care for an animal and in some small way give back to the animal world some of devotion domestic animals have shown mankind."
TARA
A single man lives with two dogs. Tara is his companion, a stabilizing force calming him down and a therapy for the owner.
INOKO
Inoko is an eight month old female dog, the baby of the family. as perceived by a couple and their children. There is some competition for attention between one of the children and the pet.
Inoko brings the family together through new experiences and shared responsibilities. She helps the family members realize their personal as well as their family borders, and in doing so they get to know themselves better.
SAM
A married couple treats Sam, their 8-month-old dog, as their only child. "Dad" trains and plays with the pet and "Mum" takes care of the rest.
The informant states that the pet "is an extremely important addition to our family." The animal brings out positive aspects of the individuals; "his (the pet's) unconditional love makes us smile." Only, sometimes, the pet annoys the couple -- that is, "when he is hyper."