# You're not a pet parent, you're a pet owner **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888 "2013-04-28T04:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/21 "2013-04-28T10:23:57Z")
> [@grude](#): > > You’re not a pet parent, you did not birth or father your dog. If you did by any chance well that is fucking freaky and I’d advise a priest or something. > > You don’t have three kids, you have two children and a dog. > > Your dog doesn’t have your last name, the “birth certificate” your vet gave you is a non-official piece of crap printed on an ink jet. I don’t care if it lists you and your spouse as the dog’s parents, you aren’t the parents were two dogs. > > I understand you love your dog, great dogs are wonderful. But you aren’t it’s mother or father. > > I wish pet parent would dissappear from human discourse. So again, why do you care? I have dog that shares living quarters with my family. Is that non-committal enough for ya? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/22 "2013-04-28T10:56:32Z")
I can get behind this. I think it’s crazy to consider your pet a child. I love my cat Rika more than anything else in the world, but if I ever do have kids one day, well it would kind of cheapen things a bit by putting her on the same level as them, wouldn’t it? But I do call her my baby and I say that I gave birth to her, as a way of making fun of people who actually consider pets to be their kids. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/23 "2013-04-28T11:26:29Z")
Yeah, I don’t see why this is such a big deal. My boy is my boy. (Yes, he is a dog, I don’t have children now nor will I ever have them.) He has the same last name as me and if I ever get married, I don’t know, I guess he’ll have to decide if he changes his last name or not. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/24 "2013-04-28T11:42:20Z")
I heartily endorse this OP! What bugs me are the people willing to expend exorbitant amounts of money to prolong the life of a very sick pet. I understand it is love, but misplaced. Let the pet go. There are thousands of others waiting alone in shelters that will pick up the love right where the previous left off. And is it me, or are vet prices escalating do to those fur-parents? ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/25 "2013-04-28T11:44:45Z")
grude, while I’m not particularly enthusiastic about people getting too cutesy either, I must say that in the list of all the horrible things happening in the universe right now, the one in your post is very, veeeeeeery low. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/26 "2013-04-28T11:53:30Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I’d be willing to bet a dollar that Blackjack is not, in fact, capable of human speech. My conure, on the other hand _is_ capable of human speech, or at least a reasonable facsimile. Said vocalizations usually being confined to demands for food, water, and for us to wake up and pay attention to him. ---
**Author:** ![StJoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@StJoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StJoan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/27 "2013-04-28T12:01:10Z")
Of course I am not my cats’ parent – I am their maid, cook, cleaner and full time, all purpose slave.That takes me way, way beyond being just a parent. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/28 "2013-04-28T12:07:28Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > And is it me, or are vet prices escalating do to those fur-parents? Depends on the vet. We briefly used a vet in a nearby small city but left when they built a brand-new clinic with attached training facilities, a grooming salon, a fancy waiting room, and luxurious exam rooms, and their fees leapt up into the stratosphere. When we bring the tribe to see our local tiny-town vet, we stand around with the local farmers in the waiting/storage room surrounded by buckets of cow wormer and swine wash (there are only 2 chairs), then we cart the hounds into the tiny exam room adjacent to the surgery corner, where we hold our own animals while the vet prepares their injections, blood draws, etc. The cost for vaccinating our pack and doing their heartworm tests and so forth dropped by more than half when we switched vets. Being able to watch the fish in the waiting room aquarium at the first clinic was, for us, not worth the price, but some people prefer having a veterinary clinic that looks like a human clinic. Maybe it makes them feel like they’re providing better care. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/29 "2013-04-28T12:50:50Z")
> [@StJoan](#): > > Of course I am not my cats’ parent – I am their maid, cook, cleaner and full time, all purpose slave.That takes me way, way beyond being just a parent. And masseuse. Don’t forget that. It’s the only reason they allow us to live. ---
**Author:** ![codgerone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@codgerone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codgerone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/30 "2013-04-28T13:17:35Z")
[quote=“6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast, post:20, topic:656888”] Good grief **grude**! The expanding and over-priced industry of pet ownership relies on ‘parental guilt’ - and you can’t have that without the appropriate labels! So what’s left? For me, it’s ‘friend’; for 112 years, we’ve been friends. (Ask her.)/QUOTE] That’s one long lived Dalmation. Or have you had 101 of them?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/31 "2013-04-28T14:23:30Z")
> [@StJoan](#): > > Of course I am not my cats’ parent – I am their maid, cook, cleaner and full time, all purpose slave.That takes me way, way beyond being just a parent. The feline I serve allows me to open and hold doors for her. I don’t think of it as a parent/child relationship. More of a Cat/servant type. Or Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley type. _“Good night, Ranger. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in your sleep.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/32 "2013-04-28T14:23:59Z")
> [@grude](#): > > You’re not a pet parent, you did not birth or father your dog. I didn’t birth or father my son; I adopted him. Am I not his parent? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/33 "2013-04-28T15:16:52Z")
I do not refer to myself as my cats’ mom when talking to other people, but sometimes when I’m talking to them, I will refer to myself as “Mommy”. I hope this bothers you immensely. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/34 "2013-04-28T15:58:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I do not refer to myself as my cats’ mom when talking to other people, but sometimes when I’m talking to them, I will refer to myself as “Mommy”. > > I hope this bothers you immensely. yep - I’ll call my dogs anything I like. “you people” sometimes, or “stinky butt”…I’ve been known to call myself their Mom. you don’t like it? tough turds. little tootsie roll type turds. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/35 "2013-04-28T16:05:44Z")
The only thing that bothers me is when people use the term “furkids” to refer to their pets. Grraaaaah. No. Just, no. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/36 "2013-04-28T16:17:16Z")
I’m a pet mommy. Although I recently found out I must be a bad pet mommy, because I didn’t provide therapy for my dog who doesn’t like to take walks. I thought the sensible thing to do was like, you know, not make him go for walks anymore. If he doesn’t enjoy them and all he’s going to do is pant and try to go back home, why would I want to torture him by making him do it. Obviously I was wrong, I should have hired a therapist and MADE him go for walks and ENJOY it! My cavalier attitude towards therapy must have caused irreparable damage to my poor dogs psyche. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/37 "2013-04-28T16:24:20Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > What bugs me are the people willing to expend exorbitant amounts of money to prolong the life of a very sick pet. > > I understand it is love, but misplaced. Let the pet go. There are thousands of others waiting alone in shelters that will pick up the love right where the previous left off. This attitude bothers me. I understand not spending exorbitant amounts to keep a pet alive if its quality of life is no longer good. But to imply that they’re replaceable–each of my cats has a distinct and unique personality. They all have quirks, habits, and mannerisms, and they all interact with us in different ways. I love each unique one of them. They are not interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/38 "2013-04-28T16:38:28Z")
> [@The\_Surb](#): > > This sounds suspiciously like you don’t really care, you are just trying to get a rise out of people. Let me help. > > Maybe for your next trick you could expound on: > > circumcision > cat declawing > tipping > dog poop > and a limited audience but one of my personal faves, motorcycles-loud pipes save lives > breast feeding vs formula. And #1, avatars. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/39 "2013-04-28T16:42:16Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I didn’t birth or father my son; I adopted him. Am I not his parent? I’ve been waiting for someone to come in and say this. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888/40 "2013-04-28T16:54:51Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I can get behind this. I think it’s crazy to consider your pet a child. I love my cat Rika more than anything else in the world, but if I ever do have kids one day, well it would kind of cheapen things a bit by putting her on the same level as them, wouldn’t it? I don’t think “cheapen” is really the word you’re looking for. It’s a lot more than that- people calling their pets their “kids” and themselves as “parents” basically trivializes parenting real human children, which if you have a child, you know is 100x harder than managing a mostly autonomous adult animal. That’s why it annoys me when people do that- parenting children is fucking difficult, and having a couple of dogs or cats is just not, by comparison. Sure, there are moments that are difficult with pets, but it’s not really comparable for the most part. Beyond that, it’s just too saccharin-sweet and cutesy to really be taken seriously, and kind of sad, if you ask me. Of my circle of friends, who are all between about 33 and 45, most of us are married, but of the married couples, only 2 of us have real children, and the rest dote on their animals, and it’s kind of sad to see- most of them would actually be good parents, but for whatever reason, they don’t want kids, but turn around and treat their animals the same way, and I can’t help but think sometimes that they might do everyone a service if they adopted some children, or did Big Brothers/Big Sisters, rather than waste a bunch of money, time and affection on a dog or cat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-a-pet-parent-youre-a-pet-owner/656888.md?page=3)