They are family to us. Yes, we recognize that they are not on the same level as human family, and with their shorter lifespans we must be prepared to lose them in at most a couple of decades. We adopted a rescue kitten a few years back. We of course took her for a checkup at the vet, and it was determined that she was FIV positive. The rescue group offered to take her back, but we said no, you don’t give away a sick baby. Fortunately, after a few months she tested negative and she is the sweetest and most adorable cat.
Something similiar happened to my family, only without the happy ending. We adopted a little kitten with a twisted front leg. Sweetest little thing in the world-she was the runt of a litter of 13. Sadly, she must have had internal injuries as well, because she developed peritonitis and had to be put to sleep. Even though it hurt more than anything, I’d do it all over again if I had to.
I still miss you, Tess.
I’d say my cats are friends, not family. Friends because I chose them, and keep choosing them when nothing forces me to.
And then Orson steals my pillow and I push my “friend” to the floor with a thud.
Like a lot of others in this thread, our pets are considered part of the family. They’re not on a level with children, but we feel a responsibility to care for them even when it’s not convenient.
We actually ended up making an explicit distinction about this issue when our kids were first old enough to ask for pets of their “own”. We decided that it’s not possible for one of us to have his or her own pet, since they’re on a higher level than property - you may be the person with the primary responsibility for a specific pet (like my daughter and her lizard, which lives in her room), but that pet is still a member of the family at large. If my daughter can’t take the lizard with her to college, for instance, I’m prepared to take over caring for her instead, and that factored into the initial decision to get her.
There’s no question, though, of the pets being on an equal footing with the children. When we had our first baby, we knew that if our beloved dog, who had been with us for years, threatened that child, the dog would have to go. Period. (Luckily, the dog turned out to be as crazy about the baby as we were.)
Our dogs have always been family members. Not as equal with the people, but we believed that a well-behaved pet deserves to live in the house and should have our companionship, just as we expect companionship from the dog. I have moved in and out of the home, like many people do in their lives, and my own dogs were welcomed as much as I when I had to move back in. My parents loved my pets as much as they loved their own dog. They died three years ago. Shortly before they passed away, they had their 16 year old dog put to sleep because she had grown old, was in pain, and they felt it was the kind thing to do. They adopted a shy little terrier from the Humane Society but unfortunately never got to fully enjoy her, as Mom, then Pop, got sick and passed away. So I gladly took their dog and care for her with my own dog. I consider her mine now, as she is one of the things that connected me with them. I have had health problems in the last year and had to spend months in the hospital and in nursing homes. I’m OK, now, but while I was away from home I spent thousands of dollars to have a kennel care for the dogs until I could have them back home with me. Dogs and I are getting along fine and we were all certainly happy to be reunited with one another. I believe animals have a capacity to love their caretakers and appreciate being around us and miss us when they are separated from us. They are not our equals, but we are their custodians, and I believe that compassion for the lower animals is one of the qualities that define us as human beings.
I seem to remember that thread. Dopers were e-mailing you? Damn. They gots issues.
My dogs are my family, in that I spend more time with them than any humans, including my real family. My dogs have seen me through some really rough patches. I truly love them.
I do not believe that they love me, however.
I don’t have any animals at the moment, but when I did they were just pets to me. I grieived when they were died, but not to the same extent I have for family members. Therefore to me they are pets, not family members.
There’s a difference?
My doggies are most certainly a part of the family. I don’t think of them as my “children” or anything - that is mildly disturbing. But they are our pets, and they know their place in the family as well as they know that we would do anything (reasonable) for their wellbeing.
Well, maybe I should clarify my previous statement, lest I be thought more uncaring than I meant. I’ve kept a dog even though he’s got serious behaviour problems, my parents wanted to get rid of him, it’s quite inconvenient sometimes to keep him, etc, and now I’m paying $50 a lesson to try to train a 14 year old dog. I feel he’s very much my responsibility and I’d never surrender that responsibility unless it was in his best interests. My animals are pack, they’re just not my kids. Kids would be cheaper and would eventually learn to talk.
I get pretty upset when fish die because it’s so inscrutable - usually they were fine yesterday and now they’re a’floatin. You figure it was probably your fault. Haven’t lost one in months, though.
All of my family includes pets as a part of the fam. Not as children, though. They’re clearly animals, but they love us and we love them. My parents and in-laws refer to Clarky as their grandcat.
I remember that thread well. So nasty and hateful.
BTW, how did your efforts work out?
The arrogance of people to believe their existence is special. Cats and dogs love and enjoy life like you do. They can be affectionate and also help in house protection. The life of every animal ,I include people, has meaning.
I live in a beagleocracy. Two very spoiled beagles are members of our family.
They are only animals. So are we.
Yea, you know, I wonder how some of the folks who consider their pets family think that the “animals are pets” people are treating their animals after reading some of these posts.
About a year ago, my husband and a group of other volunteers and veterinary specialists mounted a mission to help hurricane evacuees and their pets. The mission was scaled back, and the group did not travel to Louisiana, as initially planned. They went instead to an evacuee shelter at Camp Gruber, in Oklahoma, where they distributed supplies to the humans and saw to the needs of many evacuees’ pets (mostly dogs) that were kenneled there. Some of the pets’ owners had not yet been identified, and these animals were placed in foster care, with images posted on several websites.
Hubby was exhausted when he got back, and he lost income by taking time away from his work. Was any of this worth doing?
According to Bowser, the answer is “yes.”
You and your hubby rock, pinkfreud.
Thanks, Guin! I appreciate that. Most of the doper comments about this have been really sweet, and a couple of kind folks even offered to contribute financially. But the few malcontents were rather persistent (as obsessive whackaloons tend to be), and I did get a look at the dark side of the doper community.
My cat is most certainly family. He is the family that will relocate with me if I need to move, he is the family that sleeps in bed with me when I am sick to make me feel better, he is the family that loves me unconditionally no matter what. He is not a child and I would never think to equate him with one, but he is more important to me than some people.
Well, that’s not really saying much. I have houseplants that are more important to me than some people. They’re better conversationalists, too.
That’s a good way of putting it. I love my pets a lot but it’s absurd to think they’re on the same level as human members of the family.
It’s not an exclusive thing. You can love your wife and kids more, but still love your pets. I love my daughter more than I do my sister-in-law but that doesn’t mean I don’t love my sister-in-law.