I have a bunny and three (soon to be five) birds. I guess I'm never really alone. As for being motivated, the necessity to care for my pets helps motivate me to do other things. If I can clean three cages, I can damn well take a shower, myself! And if I can take a shower, I can get dressed, ect ect... and, again, it is kinda my pets who give me a reason to keep existing. They need me. I couldn't abandon them
Feeling deserted or avoided is not something I deal with very well.. I get very paranoid and then obsess about the situation, then usually find out I'm wrong anyway.
I'm still learning to deal with being overwhelmed... my favoured approach at the moment is pretty much just to hide away.