Just two weeks into the fall semester, some students are already homesick. However, it’s not just families who are missed – students miss their pets, too, and maybe even more than family members.

Senior Meagan Ruefle said she misses her two cats, Ginger and Sophie.

“Sophie is a male, but we had some gender identification issues…whoops,” Ruefle said.

She said that her mother sends her photos of Sophie lying outside Ruefle’s bedroom door at home, reminding Ruefle of Sophie and how much she misses him.

“I get sad sometimes thinking about how he’s sad when I’m not home, but whenever I get the chance, I go home to see him,” she said.

Ruefle said that she tends to enjoy Sophie’s company more than her family’s.

If she was able to bring Sophie to school with her, Ruefle said that she would do it in a heartbeat.

She said that she believes his presence would lower her stress levels and make her more productive.

“If my roommate wasn’t allergic to cats, I would’ve snuck him in already,” Ruefle said.

Senior Miguel Alisasis said that he has one dog, a chocolate labrador and pitbull mix, named Annie.

“Being a senior, I’d like to say that being away from my dog doesn’t really affect me that much anymore, but I’d just be lying,” Alisasis said.

Going from spending every day of the summer with Annie to not seeing her at all is upsetting, he said.

Alisasis said that he doesn’t think he is negatively affected by Annie’s absence, but that his morale and overall happiness would be drastically higher if she were on campus.

Despite never going home just to see Annie, Alisasis said that she is definitely something to look forward to when he goes home for a weekend.

“Anyone who’s spent time away from their dog knows that there’s nothing like seeing your dog go nuts and being as happy as they could, just because they get to see you again,” he said.

Other students who miss their pets have other ways to cope with the separation from their companions.

Senior Josh Conaboy said that he has one dog at home: a labradoodle named Brody.

“I miss him because he usually just follows me around everywhere at home,” he said.

Conaboy said that he misses Brody but doesn’t think that affects his stress level.

Conaboy said that he thinks fish are the best pets to have on campus because they don’t take up much space and are easy to take care of.

“Looking at a fish tank is pretty relaxing after class,” Conaboy said.

Senior Arielle Sloss said that she has three cats and seeing them is her favorite part of going home.

She said that she feels less stressed around her cats.

“Animals just make you feel better in general,” Sloss said.

Sloss said that she knows a few people in the area who have pets she can visit.