As long as we’re just pointing out the plain and simple facts, her grandchildren are also animals.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one in this thread has that problem.
I think the grandmother was assuming Shakespearo and his wife view their animals as “children.” This was not a bad assumption, IMO, as I believe most people who have more than one cat or dog view them as children. They don’t have human children for one reason or another, and the cats/dogs function as proxies. Seen it many many many times.
If a cat or dog person keeps it to themselves, then I couldn’t care less. Heck, it’s no skin off my back if someone treats their animals as children. But for me, it’s very off-putting when they talk about their animals as if they were children.
If Shakespearo was talking about his cats, then he grandmother was certainly out of line. If he was talking about them, especially as if they were children, I can understand her annoyance.
I do not refer to my kitties as children, but I <3 them lots and lots.
Put me down as one who would have answered “They’re Animals!” with “Just like your grandkids!” automatically and cheerfully 
I am also an animal.
She was rude, but I think I see her point. It would be almost like having her say “I have two grandchildren” and the response is “I have two cars”. There are enough dissimilarities between cars and children to make it almost a non sequitur. Many people would consider the comparison between being a single mom and being a cat owner to be unfairly dismissive of the difficulties of being a single mom.
But it was still rude of her.
Regards,
Shodan
Oh boy. This is not the first time that this topic has come up. I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) not to get embroiled in major flamefests on this board. But the worst one I ever got in was about pets as children. Tempers tend to flare about this.
Word of warning.
‘Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone!’
thunk
‘MOTHER!’
And in our next segment, we’ll get our opinion on whether or not to proposition the only good looking woman on the corner in skid row from noted sex worker expert Admiral Ackbar.
Beat me to it, damn you!
“We are all animals, looking to be angels.”
snerk
It’s just a joke. Grandma didn’t need to be so rude.
I interpreted it the same way. Yeah, cats aren’t kids, but it’s just a joke. Why be so literal minded.
If someone refers to their husband as their better half, are you going to say, “You’re not literally the same person, you know”? No, because that would be douchey. Just smile and nod.
In fact, I’d usually take it as a self-deprecating joke, as if saying, “Oh, they don’t let us try out real children yet, we have to start with cats,” or something similar. (Full disclosure: No kids, one ferret.)
Cat fight!
I heard these things were good.
I don’t think it’s a pet as kids issue. I don’t think of cats as kids and I’m not a feline person at all. But I just think of it as a “Why make a big deal” issue. The OP was making small talk. Why get all snooty on them for that? If they’re making a serious statement or something, yeah, but for a joke?
“From beasts we scorn as soulless,
In forest, field and den,
The cry goes up to witness
The soullessness of men.”
~M. Frida Hartley
Shakespearo - “Well, duh.”
Your response should have been, “And so are your grandchildren!”
As already said.
People with children are often threatened by any comparison of their Exalted Status with anything else at all, and will hotly contest it. being rude to you is a small price to pay for the greater good of stamping out any competition for their holy status.