I’m a cat lover (indifferent to other pets, though) but I fully appreciate that not everyone is crazy about them. In fact, any time I have someone over for the first time, I immediately announce I have cats and ask if I should confine them. I love it when I go visiting friends and their cats curl up in my lap, but I’m fully aware not everyone shares that love.
By the same token, I only gush about my cats to an audience that I know will be appreciative. All my closest friend are cat lovers so it’s a frequent topic of conversation, but I don’t mention my cats except incidentally when in conversation with people I don’t know well. I guess because I know what it’s like to be stuck with someone who gushes on and on about their dog…or their kid…
My parents were Pet Nazis (no animals in the house), so I never had any pets as a kid except a couple outdoor dogs that got mostly ignored then got adopted to better homes, and an outdoor cat that’s going on like 12 years old now and meaner than a junkyard dog. That and fish but I barely qualify them as pets; they’re more of a hobby.
I’ve struggled with really nasty, near-manic depression since I was a teenager and really bad anxiety problems/panic attacks for the last four or five years. I’ve had to find my own ways of coping because I don’t want to take medication. I can tell you that probably the best thing I ever did was get my pets. I have rats because my place is small and they stay in cages, but personality-wise they’re very much like puppies. They run to greet you when you come home or enter the room, want to be held, take treats, are very smart and playful, a couple of mine will sometimes sleep on my chest. Petting, playing with, and even caring for animals is extremely therapeutic for me. My rats are easier to care for than a cat or dog, too. I’m not overly-fond of cats or dogs (in fact I am afraid of large dogs), or others that run around the house unsupervised and can damage or break things. But rats are small and virtually silent. Even my parents changed their mind about them after having met mine; they volunteered to keep my new baby rat at their place when I went out of town because I couldn’t leave her alone with the adults yet.
I have been a lot happier, more emotionally stable, productive person since I got them. So they are well-worth the pittance of my time and money it takes to keep them.
I like animals plenty. The only time in my life when I didn’t have a pet was that one year in the dorms in college. I have a degree in Animal Science.
But. I do not treat my pets like furry little children. I treat them like pets. The dog lives outside and the cat is never, ever allowed to get on the tables. I set rules for my pets and expect them to be followed, and get lots of compliments on how well-behaved my dog is. People who refer to their pets as “fur children” creep me right out. Dogs in handbags make me shudder. Cats on food prep surfaces make me gag.
I’m also perfectly comfortable raising my own animals for food, although I do have to make an effort to not make pets of them. I like to watch animals in the wild, but I also hunt and fish.
So I guess I like animals, but don’t love them like some other people do.
I don’t tell the little white lies, and it’s led to more than one accusation of being “cold” or “unfeeling”: I’m not; I just reserve my affection for human beings. Well, some of them. The whole “unconditional love” thing does creep me out a little, I’ll confess: perhaps because humans don’t give it - if you want companionship, love or affection, you have to give something in return - liking humans costs, whereas it strikes me that pet love is something of a low cost {emotionally, at least}, risk-free simulacrum. Your cat will stick around if you feed it, your dog will stay if you feed it and pat it, but you don’t have to really give anything of yourself in the same way that you do with people. Is that affection without committment part of the atttraction?
I’m this way too. Several people where I work are dog owners but hate cats. Those people swap dog stories with me, but I don’t talk about my cats with them at all. I always let people–including people like the electrician and HVAC guy–know I have pets before they come to my house in case that will be a problem. Fortunately, all the people who’ve done work at my house are also animal lovers and end up spending time interacting with the menagerie.
When I say unconditional love, I mean they don’t play emotional games. The “love” you get from your pets is not withheld because you didn’t throw the ball one more time or didn’t buy them the designer collar. And it isn’t affection without commitment per se; I have committed to being responsible for my companion animals and in return I get love from them. Many people don’t think that animals “love” and that’s fine–everyone is entitled to an opinion. I don’t believe that all people “love”. I know for a fact that some people will hurt others for no reason at all–I don’t find that trait in animals. It makes them way more fun to live with than most of the people I know.
In case you think that I just have a romantic view of animals, I have raised food animals–up until my grandmother got tired of running the meat room at the tender age of 80 (4 years ago) we always raised and processed our own beef, with the occasional lamb, pig or deer thrown in. My grandparents raised and trained race horses and we always had saddle horses around, so I am quite familiar with the circle of life and using animals for work and food. I still love animals, especially social animals like dogs and horses.
I love and am fascinated by animals. I’ve always been that way. I’ve been told (though it may be a family myth) that my first word was “dog.” It was more than just getting love and cuddles from our family pets (though I loved that). I really enjoyed teaching and training them as well as learning and caring for their veterinary and maintenance needs. I probably should have been a farm kid!
I’m still very much into animals. I currently have two dogs and a horse. Yeah, the dogs can be messy or destroy things, but I’d rather have dog fur around my house than live without them. I take pride in the fact that my dogs are very obedient and well trained. I still enjoy training and working with them. The horse has required a major shift in my lifestyle. They can be pretty expensive, so I’ve had to make some big sacrifices in my budget. Again, it’s something I enjoy. I love progressing in my riding and the horse’s training. I’m fascinated by horse care and what’s required to keep her healthy and sound. But I love the cuddles too!
I’m with stretch on the “unconditional love” thing. My pets love me (and there’s nothing like coming home and having the dogs greet you like you’re a rock star), but their love definitely comes with a commitment. They require sacrifices (both money and time). I don’t mean that pets won’t love you if you don’t care for them adequately. Many of them do. I’ve seen dogs who love the owners who neglect or abuse them. That’s just wrong to me and not the good side of unconditional love. The good side is that they’ll still love you even if you gain weight, make a fool of yourself, say the wrong thing, etc.
That said, I hate it when people try to compare love for a pet with that for other people, especially a child or a spouse. There’s no way my love for my pets compares with love for other people (again, especially for children or a spouse). Pet are not furry equivalents to people.
I can make fun of my dogs if they’re not as smart as other dogs or I have to protect them from getting bullied at the dog park. I don’t worry about whether my pets are getting the right education, hanging with the wrong crowd, or doing drugs. I can get them fixed! If I want to travel, I can put them in a kennel. If I’m having people over and the dogs are being a nuisance, I can shut them in another room or put them in a crate. When one of my pets dies, I’ll be extremely sad about it. But there’s no way that grief would compare with losing a person I love.
Absolutely. It irks me when someone claims their pet is “just like a child.” One expects to outlive a dog or a cat. One does not expect to outlive a child.
If that was directed at me, I apologize if you thought I was trying to dictate anything. Having had 2 and a half children, and having lost 5 cats and 3 dogs over the years, and loved them all in their own way, I cannot equate the loss of any animal to the loss of a child. But to each his own.
The thing about pets (at least as far as cats and dogs) is that the hair tends to get everywhere, and your house smells like your pet. They can be entertaining, even useful (cats keep mice away and in high-crime areas, dogs are good anti-burglar alarms) but they do smell bad.
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I love them. I’ve lived all my adult life knee deep in cats and dogs. I also have horses. I’ve never met anything four-legged I didn’t like or feel an affinity for. I’m sensible about it, I think. I don’t have more animals than I can responsibly care for, but I’ll rescue and foster where I can, and I’ve never turned away a lost, hungry or ill animal from my door.
I even rescue rats and mice, I can’t see another living creature as “vermin”. I’m rational about it, if one of my cats catches a rat in the shed, I see that as part of the natural order of things and don’t break my heart over it, but I’ve saved baby rats from drowing in buckets of water.
My parents aren’t passionate animal lovers, but my maternal grandfather had a huge affinity with animals of all kinds, and my sister and I inherited his love of beasts.
Part of the reason animals fascinate me so much is because they are not human, they are “other”, but we can still communicate and develop a relationship through the species barrier.
I don’t think of my animals as children though, because I believe that diminishes them, they are not human, they are themselves, feline, canine, equine or whatever. I mourn them very deeply when they die, but it’s a different kind of grief from losing a human I think.
Well, I don’t have children (and don’t want them) and I resent being told I should not feel strong feelings or even love towards anything that isn’t human. Love is a hard (if not impossible) thing to measure, and saying you’re more capable of love simply because you have children is a slap in the face to all of us who choose not to reproduce. I do have humans I love, but that does not diminish what I feel for my animals - I have the capacity to feel love for all.
You just put it into words for me, blackhobyah. I have a strong affinity and affection for animals but they aren’t furry humans to me. That doesn’t diminish the bond at all; it’s an expansion of feeling, not a one-for-one substitute.
There’s a special thrill to stepping outside of human constraints and bonding with another species on its own terms. They’re very expressive, if one takes the time to learn how their ways. Companionship with another social critter is an honor and a gift.
Indifference to animals isn’t a character flaw, IMO. I don’t understand how people aren’t fascinated by their subtleties and touched by the trust and generosity they so often extend. But hey, lots of people are entranced by things that leave me completely cold and baffled. Different blind spots and all that.
Love dogs (except the little hysterical non-stop-barking breeds). I have been able to go up to Pit Bulls and Dobermans with no problem. I love dogs and they know it. I would love to have a German Shepard someday
I loathe cats and they know it too…I have been to many a friends’ homes and their cat(s) will zero in on me and hop on my lap or shoulder. The friends are usually in shock “my cat has never gone to another person in 10 years!” Those cats come to me simply to irritate me. No, I would never throw a cat against a wall or speed up my car when they are crossing the street, but I avoid going to homes that have cats.
Other animals? Well, fish are kind of fun to watch for awhile, but a friend had several aquariums and I know what a pain in the ass it is to keep them, so they are out.
Like white rats, fish are relaxing to watch but I know aquariums are a pain in the ass to keep, reptiles leave me cold - so to speak - and pet birds, well - keeping a flying animal in a cage simply seems wrong to me - the same reason I am not a big fan of zoos.
That’s an interesting viewpoint, and from the tenor of most of the posts here you probably speak for a lot of pet owners. It probably says something about my psyche that the only pets I could ever conceive of owning, if it weren’t for the hassle of maintenance, are reptiles, which are about as far removed from warm and loving as you can get {reptile owners, please feel free to disagree}: and yet I have a young son and two little nieces, whom I love playing with. Likes kids. Doesn’t like animals. Go figure.
I thought that was an interesting viewpoint too. I love having pets around. Homes without pets seem kind of odd to me (speaking in secret NZ speak-secret only because it involves outside cats! It does not surprise me that cats are the number 1 pet here. People like them to come in for a pat and purr after work and then they like them to bugger off outside and do their business. Cats are the lazy Kiwi’s pet. Feed them, pat them- the job is done. They run around outside doing whatever it is cats do then come and curl up on the bed).
Personaly I prefer dogs, poor needy dogs. AWWWWWWWW.
I am pathetic. I eat sheep, cows, chickens and pigs cheerfully. Need a mouse killed? EEEEEEEEEEEEEK. You want to kill a spider? MURDERER!
Oh and I think Ants are very cool, I will spray them though.
I’m largely indifferent towards them. As a kid, I had dogs, a cat, parakeets, and finches. Loved 'em all dearly. As I moved into adulthood, my attitude changed. Just now, there is a parakeet in the house. It belongs to my daughter. Since I have shared custody of the child, it is just me and the bird here much of the time. I feed him, clean his cage, and interact with him (to keep him tame), but feel no attachment to him. He’s just another household chore.
Chalk me up with Case Sensitive as far as pets are concerned. I’m indifferent to them as far as their existence in other people’s lives. I certainly would not consider having them as part of my own. My take on pets is that they are furniture with a pulse that requires far more attention than having it’s pillows fluffed and vacuumed out regularly. I just don’t need or want that in my life. Never have.
My kids have birds and I inherit their care once in a while when they are away with their mother for an extended period of time. I take care of them because they are my children’t pets. But I don’t enjoy them and am frequently annoyed by the noise the birds make.
Having said that, I’d have dogs if I lived in the country with a piece of property large enough to have them the freedom to run around and amuse themselves. But they’d live in a heated barn and I’d be washing them outside. I’m squimish about dog hair in the house and washing animals in the same tub I bathe myself and the kids. Certainly wouldn’t permit animals in our beds.
I grew up on a farm. Our animals were respected, cared for, and never abused, and yet every animal there definitely had a purpose. The dogs guarded the livestock, the chickens laid eggs to eat, cows gave milk, etc. As a result I have a somewhat unsentimental view of animals. I grew up seeing the lifecycle on a farm, seeing animals be born and die. I liked my animals, especially my cats, but they were still animals. It completely befuddles me when people treat their pets like children – dressing them up in costumes and giving them birthday parties, for example. It’s a dog, descended from wolves that once stalked the endless forests. Don’t put a clown hat on it, that’s just embarassing.