# How can one be single and NOT have pets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178 "2014-06-19T22:29:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/61 "2014-06-23T14:13:33Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > How can one be single and NOT have pets? One can have allergies. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/62 "2014-06-23T14:26:04Z")
I love plants, pets and children when they belong to other people. Call me selfish, but the only living creature I want to take care of is myself (and sometimes I’m iffy on that). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/63 "2014-06-23T14:50:34Z")
I’ve always had a dog since moving out on my own. But I can totally see single people not having a pet. I mean…some people just aren’t pet people! You don’t want to force it and be in a relationship with a [dog for whom you feel nothing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgOq3ux4ayg). ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/64 "2014-06-23T15:43:10Z")
I have a dog and cat for my daughter. I like both but wouldn’t have them if I were single. They cramp my style. “Want to go to dinner after work?” “Maybe later, I have to go home and let my dog shit in the yard first.” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/65 "2014-06-23T16:12:56Z")
I would totally have a cat if I were single. But then, I have always had cats, even as a kid. I would find it difficult living in a place without a cat, regardless of my immediate relationship status. Thankfully, I never went out with anyone alergic to cats! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/66 "2014-06-23T16:55:14Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > My apartment complex is swarming with 20-something unmarried females who have these giant dogs to serve as their surrogate child. > > It’s pathetic. > > Not to mention the day when one of these girls can’t control her giant attack dog and it tries to tear my throat off. > > Pathetic. > > If one can’t find harmony in his or her own company then a pet is a transparent band-aid on a sad human being. I see loads of single women with large dogs, too, but it’s never struck me as pathetic. On the contrary, it’s always struck me as a sensible security precaution. Austin is a fairly low-crime city, but even so, if a single woman is going to go out jogging alone in shorts and a jog bra, it makes sense she’d feel safer doing so with a large dog next to her. If my wife (or, in the past, girlfriends) were out jogging, I’D feel better knowing she had a dog with her. The dog might give a potential rapist or mugger soem pause. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/67 "2014-06-23T17:36:19Z")
I’d love to have another dog, probably do me good, too but it wouldn’t be fair to the animal & it would cramp my plans. Too many 12-15 hr days. Work, workout/go to some event on the way home; by the time I get home at 9pm, I’m starving! I don’t want to have to deal with anything else until I get some food in me. Even if I get a dog walker (at an additional $), they’re social animals; it’s not fair to leave them alone for most of the day. Last Sat, I drove NW 1½ hrs for a morning event, then drove due S for an late afternoon event that was about 1 hr from home. I made plans to hang out somewhere in the middle during the day; coming home to let Fido out would have meant an extra 2 hrs in the car (& the cost of gas) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/68 "2014-06-24T16:43:48Z")
I am single, and have never had a pet, for two reasons. First, I am not really a “pet person.” Second, with things like SDMB and Facebook around, who’s ever lonely? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/69 "2014-06-25T02:54:31Z")
The methodology itself is very simple: 1. Do not acquire a non-human pet. 2. Do not acquire a human pet. It may also be followed in inverse order. I’m always traveling, am I supposed to be taking 16 flights/month with a dog, a cat… a land turtle? The turtle would probably take it best, but I’m not familiar with the regulations for traveling land turtles, and what if she escapes the hotel room when the cleaners come in? We’d have to chase the land turtle all over the place! Work usually provides me with more socialization than I already want to have. For more, there’s Skype, Whatsapp, the Dope, MMOs… and if and when I’m in one of my “home” locations, there’s neighbors, friends, hobbies, places to visit and houses to take care of. And hey, at least land turtles wouldn’t be at too much risk of sticking their noses on the wet paint or hitting it with their tails, but dogs? The lift in my Barcelona house just got repainted, they had to re-repaint it due to tailmarks. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/70 "2014-06-25T16:13:56Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I find it hard to fathom how anyone can be alive and not have pets, most especially and particularly dogs; they are a part of our tribe in a genuinely unique (as in one-of-a-kind) way and I am always a little surprised by people who do not include them itheir lives and families. My dogs ARE my family, being single and childless as I am, and when I had a partner for ten years, my family was made up of us and our dogs. I have been single most of my adult life. 53 years old. Except for a brief 4 year marriage ( she had a dog ) I have never owned a pet. Love dogs but would not be possible as I am in a wheelchair. I hate cats. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/71 "2014-06-25T17:10:20Z")
Enjoyed having a cat for the first 15 years of my life. Never had a pet for my 17 years of adult single life, nor for the 9 years of my married life. Owning a pet is a responsibility I don’t want. I enjoy not having to think about who will take care of my pet while I’m on vacation, not having to buy food and supplies for it or always make sure there’s enough food out for it. I enjoy not having to walk a dog every damn day, regardless of the weather. I have plenty of things to do and people to see when I want companionship. ---
**Author:** ![Specklebang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Specklebang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Specklebang)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/72 "2014-06-25T17:21:33Z")
I’ve had a total of 20 girlfriends in the course of my 70 year life. While I’m not incredibly ugly, I just don’t have whatever that “sexiness” is that attracts women. So, almost all of my girlfriends found my money to be my sexy parts and that’s why they lasted a year or two or three and then I couldn’t stand them any longer. GF #19 was a great girl. I almost loved her. After 5 years, she asked to get out (I think because she didn’t feel good about having sex with me) but we remained close friends till today. So, since we do almost everything you find in a relationship (provide companionship) I’m not lonely. GF #20 I totally fell for. So bright, so funny, so pretty, so crooked, so big a liar about everything. I gave up in 2007. I’ve had a cat since 1998 when GF#19 and I got a total of 4 cats. When we broke up, I took 2 and she took 2. One of my 2 died in her sleep at age 4.5 and I fell apart (thus vulnerable to GF#20). The other one is a very good, polite, intelligent cat but he is not very romantic. In 2008 I volunteered at the pound and ended up with 2 more cats, for a total of 3. One of them is as romantic as I could hope for. He sits on my lap, he curls up next to me at night. My other cat is fairly romantic, she purrs a lot and sits next to me. st of all, all 3 cats are very affectionate with each other. So, at my house, where I am, are the 3 cats, sometimes competing for my attention. Having lots of free time, I invested in them and learned a little cat language and taught them a few words. They understand ONE, TWO and MANY. They know their names. They know how to say “clean the litterbox” and maybe a dozen other words/sounds. So, I have come to love them with a great passion. I think about them all the time. I miss them when I go out. So, I no longer have any interest in a GF. If I want sex, I can rent beautiful young girls by the hour. If I want to discuss (or listen to) a book, I have GF#19. But most of all, when I want to feel loved - I have the cats - not just any cats, but MY cats who love me back. My life is so much better as a consequence. I wish I had discovered cats long ago, I would have several million more dollars that I wasted on these unappreciative women. I won’t be able to live my life all over again but if I could I would tell myself to get a few GOOD cats and never, ever bother with women. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/73 "2014-06-25T18:13:49Z")
Very easily - I just got a dog last week. I was not barely hanging on before, nearly crushed with loneliness. I was fine. She’s cute and wonderful and awesome. But I can’t just go out when I want or stay late at work or sleep in or just be completely self indulgent for a couple of hours anymore because she needs to be walked and played with and fed and taken out and walked again. I also kind of miss not being followed around the apartment. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178/74 "2014-06-25T18:37:58Z")
I’m single, 53, and have not had a pet since childhood. I don’t mind animals, and will give other people’s pets attention when I visit, but do not care for the responsibility of pet ownership. I’m not the sort who gets lonely or needs constant companionship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-one-be-single-and-not-have-pets/691178.md?page=3)