I do have a cat, he’s asleep on my bed. I guess he does actually help because I always have somebody in my room with me, even when I feel like crap and I’m alone, he’s usually, he’s usually there with me, so it is nice to have just some, some other thing that’s like living in the room with me and that I can kind of speak to, I guess. My friend um found a lot of comfort in her cat and used to like talk to him when she felt sad, so I know that some people really, like really value having their pets there, and almost like a, like an outlet to speak to you that you know they’re absolutely not going to judge you, so I think that’s, that’s really nice, but, but I don’t think my cat’s that, that much of a support for me, but I definitely like having him around.

Well I feel lonely when I do miss home, when I miss my mum, when I miss my nanny when I miss my town and how quiet and peaceful it is over there. Yes then I do feel lonely for, well my cat is helping me also a lot so it’s not like I’m, you know, completely by myself and I must say that definitely, she definitely brought like loads of light into my life.

I also think weirdly when I say this but it’s something I did notice, so I had a cat for year and then she died and then during the first lockdown I got adopted this cat which and I think just having another being in the household when you live on your own, you know, having just cats, it changed things for me. I felt a lot more happy in that sense. Although she drives me insane, scratching the furniture and the carpets but just having that creature in the house, although she’s very vocal but we don’t have conversations, just having that, you know.

I don’t necessarily need company. I like company but if I’ve going to be here by myself all week, I’m not worried plus the fact I’ve got my dog, you know, which does help. I’ve never had a dog before until I came here.

Does he help with loneliness then?

Yeah, he does. He’s not exactly the cuddliest of dogs but yeah you can’t really choose your personality, you know.

My daughter is now 26, um, so I live entirely on my own except for a dog and a cat, for whom I am extremely grateful under present circumstances. I’d also say that having a dog or a cat is a darn sight better than having nothing at all, and if you can’t afford either of those a house plant is good, something that needs you to look after it.

I tell you what I did used to like when I was with my ex-partner is we had a dog, and you really used to find a sense of community when you were dog walking because obviously you’d bump into the same people walking their dogs at the same time and that kind of thing, so that was kind of sense of community and a sense of friendship in that respect. And actually next year I’m thinking about getting a dog because I think it’s going to be really good for my mental health to get out with the dog and also meet people, meet other dog walkers, because you’ve got that thing in common, you talk about the dog, but then you start talking about other things. So I’ve really missed that aspect of my life since I’ve not had a dog, so I’m working towards getting one next year, and hopefully that will make things a little bit better as well.