Kiki becomes the key to happiness

Sometimes finding your pet can help you find so much more than you expected 💚

When Casini found her greyhound Kiki, she also found the strength to cope with the pandemic and a new community of human friends!

Casini always knew she wanted a pet. Having grown up around dogs, Casini was waiting for the perfect pet who would easily slot into her city-dwelling lifestyle. When the pandemic blues got to Casini, she knew it was time to bring in a furry companion. 

And when Gumtree Greys matched her with Kiki, Casini was over the moon.  

💞 Meeting Kiki 

“It was Covid so she was brought to me (by her rescue). I remember her sniffing around and then just chilling next to me for pats. I felt insanely excited and nervous to make her feel happy in our home.

I remember the first thing she did was come up for a pet and let me hug her. I knew from that moment I would never let her go again.”

🛏 Kiki finds her space in Casini's apartment

Being an easy-going, low maintenance pet, Kiki easily settled into Casini's home.

Kiki living her best life 💚

“I can’t even express how easy it is to live with her. I take her for walks twice a day, otherwise she just mostly sleeps in her corner.  She's pretty comfortable as long as she has her space. She loves fluffy and soft bedding so we got her a calming pet bed. 

She hasn’t really ever needed more space. There’s heaps of dog parks in Melbourne and she’s more than happy with her walks. She’ll get up at the same time every day and indicate that she wants to go to the park. The only good problem I have is that there’s no sleeping in!

She’s just a happy little vegemite as long as she has me around.” 

🩹A healing friendship

We have seen so many happy tails where a pet’s presence has had a profound effect on their human’s mental health. And each of those stories is a testament to the healing power of pet ownership.

Adoption isn’t just about giving a homeless pet a home, it’s about making a home and building a family.

And it was this unconditional love that pulled Casini out of her dark place during the pandemic.

“I had mild anxiety before COVID, and during COVID  anything that you were experiencing was amplified. So I had a combination of anxiety and depression and having her there made such a difference. Just playing with her and cuddling her, and even keeping a routine because she was relying on me. It forced me to go for walks and keep a routine, and exercise. And that was really great. She was a really low-maintenance dog as well and she just wanted to be near me. Which was something that I could do for her and be with her and that really helped." 

🙌 Finding a community 

Kiki’s arrival didn’t just help Casini find a furry companion, but some human ones as well.

“People who adopt greyhounds are really connected. When I moved to Brunswick (Melbourne), I just met someone on the street with a greyhound and they added me to a Brunswick greyhound group. I now have a really strong network of people who help me out. We meet up, help each other dog-sit, socialise with our pets safely, and talk about different issues we might have with our pets.

It’s nice to have a community where I can ask the little questions. I just moved to Collingwood, and now I’m starting my own group.

Dog parks are a really good place to meet people.“

Casini and Kiki find more friends

Casini also praised the efforts of Kiki’s rescue group, Gumtree Greys, who not only added her to a greyhound support group on Facebook but also kept in touch and answered her questions during the initial settling-in period.

Want to see more adorable photos of Kiki? You can follow her on Instagram at @kikistateofmind.

Casini and Kiki are two happy girls since they found each other via PetRescue! And like Casini, you too could be spending your time snuggled up with your pets! Grow your family by searching for pets on PetRescue. 

With your generous support, PetRescue's adoption platform can continue to connect adorable pets like Kiki to wonderful adopters like Casini. Click here to donate.