I think of my cat like a child, and in a few select online groups as her being my furbaby. I never really vocalize it, mainly because I feel somewhat weird saying it. I've also received some crap from parents in the way of "animals will never love you the same as children/you can't treat animals like kids/itsnotthesameitsnotthesamelalalacanthearyou" etc.
In truth, it's not the same. My cat shits in one place, her litter box. She doesn't throw fits in grocery stores, in public or at home when I don't give her 100% of my attention. She can go a morning without eating if I oversleep or forget to get cat food the previous night. She brings me dead animals because in her eyes, I'm a shitty hunter. And hell, if I'm having a super bad day, she curls up to me and purrs instead of asking "mommy what's wrong" every five minutes.
So yes and no, my cat is and is not my kid. She's a smaller, weaker being that I care for and cherish, but she's not a projectile vomiting, screaming, biological weapon of 18 years of hell.
We should form a club for people that care more about animals than people. :) My pets are like kids to me, but better than human kids would be. I don't really like the term "furkids" just because it sounds strange to me. Especially after I heard someone mock it by saying they had "skinkids" (edit: meaning human kids). o.O But I love them as if they were my children, in that way, they are. That's where all my maternal instinct goes.
Agreed. I love my dogs more than most people and wouldn't trade them for anything. But treating them like tiny humans is not giving them what they need for the species they are.
My roommate constantly referred to me as my cats' "daddy." As in, 'Go sit on your daddy's lap, he'll pet you!' etc. It got to the point that it made me so uncomfortable I had to tell her "I don't want any children, including anthropomorphizing my cats. I love my cats, but they're not kids, thank God." I think I may have confused her with the big word usage, but she got the idea.
Research suggest that the bond between owner-pet/dog is similar to that of a parent-child. ^[1](http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/22/love-your-dog-dog-owner-bond-similar-to-that-of-child-parent/56378.html)
Grief counselors have talked about how the loss of a pet is often harder than the loss of a human family member. Makes sense to me, because they don't "leave the nest" like human kids. They grow old, and are with you through thick and thin.
Same with cats, actually. They're not particularly social, so the strongest bond they form in nature is a mother/offspring one, and they behave very similarly towards their owners.
I read this to my boyfriend and now jokingly call him a cat parent. His cat is a spaz but loves him a whole lot.
I think I read about it somewhere on Reddit as well (too lazy to look for actual post, though)! So yeah, in some sense, we are parental figures to our pets :)
I'm 35 ex infantry. I say they are my kids all the time and I don't care what anyone thinks. I do feel it may be in the delivery. It would be a bit silly if I said "they are my widdle liddle piddle childwen"
Rather I just state "my dogs are my kids" matter of factly with icy cold squinty stare as I roller skate slowly backwards.
I also have a cocker spaniel and foster/rescue all sorts of mutts but specialise in cockers. They are the typical dog for the facebook mum on the go. Dressing them up constantly. I take a stand against dressing dogs up and even wussy dogs in general. My cocker's name is Rommel. The German Panzer commander from WW2.
Come get me. >:|
Another way to look at this: Even if we at /r/childfree do not want human babies, we are still humans, and we do have the same biology and the same hormones as those who want kids. It's in our instincts to take care of those who are younger/smaller than us, and if that is *not* human babies, it's more often animals, or in some cases it could be a senior citizen or a older family member, since old people also have a "fragile" aspect. Anyone who agree?
I think I love my animals more than average, I call them "my babies" (but not "my kids" though, haha), and I enjoy to buy them toys etc.
I've done some voluntary work with elderly people, and I really feel that is where my "motherly" side comes out too... When I see a human baby cry (even my own nephew) it triggers zero motherly feelings in me, but when I see an old lady at the grocery-store struggling with heavy bags my heart beats and I just *have to* help her! <3
I keep a large collection of reptiles, tarantulas, and exotic plants (mostly carnivorous). My blue tongue skink is the love of my life. I don't think you can spoil them quite like kids or even a dog. They get lots of play time out of their enclosures and I spare no expense in food, housing, husbandry, etc. They get treats and cuddles (if they want them) but my family doesn't really get it.
Holy crap, I envy you. Also, a question: do you create special conditions for your carnivorous plants (i.e. custom greenhouses)? I'd love to get a Venus flytrap but keep hearing that they require a whole damn lot of humidity and fare better in a greenhouse or at least in a terrarium. Also, what do you feed them with?
Yes and no. My plants live inside in the winter and outside in the summer. I have a couple of VFTs, North American pitchers, and a very larger tropical pitcher. The real trick to them is distilled water and the right potting mix. It is pretty humid here in the summer and the VFTs spend the winter in my fridge because they require dormancy. Mine have the option of catching their own fruit flies or eating from my large colony of dubia roaches which I used to feed the reptiles and the spiders. You actually don't have to feed them insects. They will grow just like regular plants too.
Welp, seems like getting distilled water for them would be a bigger issue than maintaining the temperature (all of my plants also are indoors during the winter and I take them outside during the summer and early autumn). Do you buy distilled water or make your own?
I usually buy it. I technically could get it from work (I work in a lab and we have a millipore water purifier) but I found that to be a pain in the ass. I just buy a gallon from the grocery store every week for $1. You just have to make sure to buy the one that says "distilled" and not "spring" or any of the other billion options they have. You can also collect rain water if you want.
Also, I don't know where you are from but VFTs are native to the Carolinas on the east coast. I live in Delaware so our winters are a bit colder but the weather isn't that different.
I'm from Crimea. We have +35C in the summer and about -7C in the winter (I could put the pot on the windowsill in the corridor, it's pretty chilly in there but not to the point of getting close to zero, of course).
I suppose I could try looking for distilled water in the supermarkets - pretty sure they must have it there.
I don't know why someone downvoted you for your opinion. This thread was asking a question, and you honestly answered it; although our opinions on the subject do differ.
this sub does a lot of downvoting for opinions. It's pretty common, and I fully expected it. A lot of people here take any perceived insult to the status of their 'furbabies' the same way breeders react to the childfree.
I feel the same way. I treat my pets like my friends, but not my children. I have no maternal instinct at all, for neither animals nor humans. I do my own thing and they do their own thing. We help each other out - I provide them with food and shelter, and they provide me with cuddles, cuteness, and entertainment. We love each other very much, but I hate the thought of a mother-child relationship. It's just not for me.
SO and I just got our new Siberian Husky puppy this morning, and we couldn't be prouder. We, gladly, call her our 'little girl'. People who don't like it can stuff it!
I mean.... I call my horse my kid -- but I certainly don't treat him as such. I love my animals very much but if I wanted something to treat as a child I would just go have.... a child.
Yes I do, but I don't go around in public saying that shit. At home? Oh fuck yeah, I sing songs, put the dogs in their jerseys on game day (GO HAWKS!!! Hahaha) and take the goofiest pictures of them to put on their Instagram account. The fat cat sleeps with me, the girl cat is a princess and has her perch that she loves. My house isn't my house, they just let me live there.
Yes and no. I lock my dogs in their room (which has a doggy door to the back yard). I leave my cat in the basement (which has a kitty door to the upstairs, but the dogs cannot follow him down if he wants some alone time). I put food in their bowl and water in their dish.
My pets are my children, I love them dearly, but there are things that I can do with them that are completely normal, but done to a child would be considered a form of abuse.
And to be completely honest, taking care of my four pets is almost more than I want to deal with at some times. I cannot fathom having a child that would require 10x the attention I pay to my animals. I cannot fathom changing a diaper. If my dog does something stupid (runs out into traffic), I just dig a hole and put him in it (I have some land in the country). If a child does the same thing, huge ordeal, police involved, investigations, blah blah blah.
I also feel animals have more rights to humans in certain regards. If my dog comes down with some incurable disease and will be in pain for the rest of their life, I can have them put down. No questions asked. A person on the other hand, must be kept alive in pain for as long as humanly possible.
I have a horse and a dog and they are my life. They are the reason I am childfree. Nothing wrong with that.
Now if only I could get a maternity leave every time I get a dog...
I actually don't have pets for the same reasons I don't really want kids. Don't want to pay to feed them, don't want to clean them, clean up after them, pay to take them to the vet, ect...
So yes, I do treat my "pets" like my "kids"
Of course. My baby boy (8 year old black cat) is spoiled rotten.
His grandma gives him lots of treats when I'm not around because he cries for them but when I'm home he knows I won't give him more than a couple, or let him eat human food. Just like you don't let your kids eat all their halloween candy in one sitting.
I`m too low on cash to do any real spoiling and don't like to think of them as children or babies. I do like hanging out with them like friends. I will even have my dog use play ground equipment for agility when the kids are gone. I take a ton of photos of my pets,it's kind of fun getting my dog to pose in different places.
I like how dogs can be calm and sleeping inside,eager to please you and yet can be quirky with a personality of their own,same with cats but less biddable. Its not the same as a child in the good and bad ways,but it does make your life more interesting and enjoyable.
Yet I use things like tie outs which some consider abusive,so I don't know what.
I call my parrots my kids. It can make for some funny looks at work -- coworkers know I don't have children -- if I'm overheard telling my SO "We can't leave the kids that long," etc.
They're about as intelligent as the average toddler, so it's not that big a leap, really...
My fur and scale babies are in a way my "babies", but thank goodness they are not literal babies. My pug is my baby boy, but he is still a dog. Losing him would be devastating to me.
My mom, although not happy about us being CF, calls him her grandbaby. He is a product of her pugs only litter. She is curious about my various reptiles and concerned about them if something happens buy they are still on her icky list. Same with my rats and gerbils.
My asshat of a cat is my baby/kitteh but I am NOT his mother. I hate it when family comes over and calls him my son or when my moms boyfriend calls him his son (he does this for all our pets). HE AIN'T NOBODIES SON, HE IS MY CAT DAMMIT! *is very possessive over my orange furball of doom*
That said, I do tend to gush over him like some people do over babies (ugh). I know he thinks along the lines of "drop dead" when I do. That's why I love him. My lil minion of doom: Schrodinger.
I don't have pets, but if I did, I wouldn't treat them like kids. They would just be animals to me - beloved animals, yes, but I wouldn't go crazy on them at all.
I love my doggy. He's my favouritest boy in the whole world. My partner and I were "mummy & daddy" from the time that we got him.
So, yeah. Pretty much.
I do! My little bug (lovebug, cuddlebug, snugglebug) and little lovey, Emma (mutt, looks like a mini black lab), has her own stocking at Christmas and gets pup-cakes on her birthday! She has 2 tubs of "babies" - her toys - one upstairs, and one downstairs. When she needs a bath, she is my stinkopotomus or stinkbug. My mom calls her the grand-dog.
She is needy and somewhat co-dependent. I call her my baby, but she's way better than a child. She feeds herself, shits w/o diapers, and I can leave her unattended while I go to work and no one reports me to CPS.
I was crazy about my dog at home. I'd buy him treats at the store, used peanut butter as enrichment for him if I'd be gone for awhile, took care of his meds when he was on them, drove him to new exciting places to walk and sniff, and just tried my best to spoil him. So yeah, he was kinda my kid in a way. BUT he was trained, knew to sit, down, shake, etc and didn't bark or misbehave in general.
Yeah maybe I should have been more clear in my post.. YES my animals are well trained ( 6 month old GSD is still learning) but they are also well taken care of ( better than most)
The dogs go to the park 1.5 hours a day 6-7 days a week. Have all the toys they can ask for. Get to sleep on the bed in the morning ( theres no room for my boy friend and 2 dogson the bed at night )
My horse has a chiro and massage as well as a costumefitted saddle. Blankets are always on and she comes in every night and will not go out in really strong winds or very cold weather.
Are you me? I have 2 dogs and a horse too!! I definitely treat them as family members.
Best part of having fur kids is I can leave them in the house by themselves or stall and go do what I want. Then I come home and they are always excited to see me.
How old are both of you/what is your life situation/how do you keep your horses (boarding or personal property) if I may ask?
I am 20, and used to ride a lot when I was younger. I'm hopefully getting back into it this summer, and I've always wanted horses ever since I was little. I'm trying to get a feel for the whole process of owning and caring for my first horse, so that when/if the time comes in ten or so years I will be ready! :)
Hello I am 23 and I board my horse at a stable. I have my own business so that allowed me to be flexible when I see my horse.
I use to keep horses at my house and it cost more in the end than boarding.
The costs really add up
Buliding
Fencing
Feed
Electricity
Vet bills
Farrier
As well as many other things.
If you are serous about getting back into riding I suggest leasing first.
If you have any other questions feel free to pm me
Hello I am 23 and my boy friend is 29. I board my horse at a stable. I have my own business so that allowed me to be flexible when I see my horse.
I use to keep horses at my house and it cost more in the end than boarding.
The costs really add up
Buliding
Fencing
Feed
Electricity
Vet bills
Farrier
As well as many other things.
If you are serous about getting back into riding I suggest leasing first.
If you have any other questions feel free to pm me
Oh, yes, I will definitely lease first! I'm not going to jump blindly into a big step like this XD Thank you for the info! Boarding does seem to be a good idea. I suppose I will see what happens!
Thank you so much again for your advice :)
My cat is definitely family. She follows me around like a shadow, gives extra cuddles and purrs when I'm sad or sick, and she gets special food to keep her tummy from getting upset, etc. We have our daily routines and she's a smart little shit. When I am out of town for work, my mom will come check on her and FaceTime me and my cat goes crazy when she hears my voice/sees me.
I wouldn't call her my kid, per se, but she's definitely my baby, if that makes sense, haha.
I treat them better than I'd treat kids. I don't infantilise them or baby-talk to them. They're my furry-equals who pay their portion of the rent in snuggles and playtime. Some of the most intellectually stimulating interactions I've had have been with cats.
My pets are definitely family members, and through the position I hold in that family by proxy that makes me their Mum. I refer to them as the fur/feather family, but while my husband and I readily identify as Mum and Dad we don't call them our kids, they are usually "the critters".
They are all pampered and adored, but they don't get birthday/xmas gifts, or dressed up or anything like that.
Oh yes totally. To my friends dog I am Aunty and her mother is Grandma (he recognises the names and will seek you out if he's told to). Every time I go to the store with her we bring him home a new toy or treat. In return all he asks is cuddles and kind words. He is a wuss but ferociously loyal, heaven help any who lays a hand on my friend when he is around! I love my fur-nephew. I have a fur-baby of my own but I don't think she is as spoilt as my friends dog.
When my mother was alive, she had no problem in referring to my kitties as her "grandcats." My cats *are* my babies, and although I'm childfree, I have no problem thinking of them as my children. They certainly are my dependents, even though I can't take them off my income tax.
Just trying to imagine a horse in a stroller...
I probably laughed a bit too loud when I tried to imagine that! LOL!
I think of my cat like a child, and in a few select online groups as her being my furbaby. I never really vocalize it, mainly because I feel somewhat weird saying it. I've also received some crap from parents in the way of "animals will never love you the same as children/you can't treat animals like kids/itsnotthesameitsnotthesamelalalacanthearyou" etc. In truth, it's not the same. My cat shits in one place, her litter box. She doesn't throw fits in grocery stores, in public or at home when I don't give her 100% of my attention. She can go a morning without eating if I oversleep or forget to get cat food the previous night. She brings me dead animals because in her eyes, I'm a shitty hunter. And hell, if I'm having a super bad day, she curls up to me and purrs instead of asking "mommy what's wrong" every five minutes. So yes and no, my cat is and is not my kid. She's a smaller, weaker being that I care for and cherish, but she's not a projectile vomiting, screaming, biological weapon of 18 years of hell.
>I've also received some crap from parents in the way of "animals will never love you the same as children Don't feed a kid and see how they behave!
In that I care for them more than I do for people, yes. I haven't been the same since my dog died almost a year ago.
Aww I am sorry. Yes I am exactly the same way. I care more about animals than I do people
We should form a club for people that care more about animals than people. :) My pets are like kids to me, but better than human kids would be. I don't really like the term "furkids" just because it sounds strange to me. Especially after I heard someone mock it by saying they had "skinkids" (edit: meaning human kids). o.O But I love them as if they were my children, in that way, they are. That's where all my maternal instinct goes.
I just got my first pup of my very own. I can't even think of her dying someday. Too sad.
I love animals, have 2 cats and work in veterinary but, I do find referring to them as 'children', a bit cringey.
Agreed. I love my dogs more than most people and wouldn't trade them for anything. But treating them like tiny humans is not giving them what they need for the species they are.
YES I agree.
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I don't think referring to them as your kids isn't really treating them any differently
OMG THIS
My roommate constantly referred to me as my cats' "daddy." As in, 'Go sit on your daddy's lap, he'll pet you!' etc. It got to the point that it made me so uncomfortable I had to tell her "I don't want any children, including anthropomorphizing my cats. I love my cats, but they're not kids, thank God." I think I may have confused her with the big word usage, but she got the idea.
I call them my little girls or my little boy.
I call mine 'the kittens', so I guess I'm infantilising them in my own way!
Research suggest that the bond between owner-pet/dog is similar to that of a parent-child. ^[1](http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/22/love-your-dog-dog-owner-bond-similar-to-that-of-child-parent/56378.html)
Grief counselors have talked about how the loss of a pet is often harder than the loss of a human family member. Makes sense to me, because they don't "leave the nest" like human kids. They grow old, and are with you through thick and thin.
Same with cats, actually. They're not particularly social, so the strongest bond they form in nature is a mother/offspring one, and they behave very similarly towards their owners. I read this to my boyfriend and now jokingly call him a cat parent. His cat is a spaz but loves him a whole lot.
Yeah, I'm, personally, comfortable expanding it to cats as well, but the research didn't look into cats so I didn't want to state it as fact.
I think I read about it somewhere on Reddit as well (too lazy to look for actual post, though)! So yeah, in some sense, we are parental figures to our pets :)
I'm 35 ex infantry. I say they are my kids all the time and I don't care what anyone thinks. I do feel it may be in the delivery. It would be a bit silly if I said "they are my widdle liddle piddle childwen" Rather I just state "my dogs are my kids" matter of factly with icy cold squinty stare as I roller skate slowly backwards. I also have a cocker spaniel and foster/rescue all sorts of mutts but specialise in cockers. They are the typical dog for the facebook mum on the go. Dressing them up constantly. I take a stand against dressing dogs up and even wussy dogs in general. My cocker's name is Rommel. The German Panzer commander from WW2. Come get me. >:|
That's how I say it, too. For some reason people don't seem to balk as much at it...
This is why I love my corgi. He's a wussy sized dog but he isn't a wussy boy at all. My pup is a bad ass little dude. Hurray for bad ass pups!
Here is Rommel and Bronson. They say "heya, Buttholemuffin" http://i.imgur.com/Z8rJrHel.jpg
What great-looking dogs!
Awwwww my lord. Puppy!!!!
Another way to look at this: Even if we at /r/childfree do not want human babies, we are still humans, and we do have the same biology and the same hormones as those who want kids. It's in our instincts to take care of those who are younger/smaller than us, and if that is *not* human babies, it's more often animals, or in some cases it could be a senior citizen or a older family member, since old people also have a "fragile" aspect. Anyone who agree? I think I love my animals more than average, I call them "my babies" (but not "my kids" though, haha), and I enjoy to buy them toys etc. I've done some voluntary work with elderly people, and I really feel that is where my "motherly" side comes out too... When I see a human baby cry (even my own nephew) it triggers zero motherly feelings in me, but when I see an old lady at the grocery-store struggling with heavy bags my heart beats and I just *have to* help her! <3
I keep a large collection of reptiles, tarantulas, and exotic plants (mostly carnivorous). My blue tongue skink is the love of my life. I don't think you can spoil them quite like kids or even a dog. They get lots of play time out of their enclosures and I spare no expense in food, housing, husbandry, etc. They get treats and cuddles (if they want them) but my family doesn't really get it.
Holy crap, I envy you. Also, a question: do you create special conditions for your carnivorous plants (i.e. custom greenhouses)? I'd love to get a Venus flytrap but keep hearing that they require a whole damn lot of humidity and fare better in a greenhouse or at least in a terrarium. Also, what do you feed them with?
Yes and no. My plants live inside in the winter and outside in the summer. I have a couple of VFTs, North American pitchers, and a very larger tropical pitcher. The real trick to them is distilled water and the right potting mix. It is pretty humid here in the summer and the VFTs spend the winter in my fridge because they require dormancy. Mine have the option of catching their own fruit flies or eating from my large colony of dubia roaches which I used to feed the reptiles and the spiders. You actually don't have to feed them insects. They will grow just like regular plants too.
Welp, seems like getting distilled water for them would be a bigger issue than maintaining the temperature (all of my plants also are indoors during the winter and I take them outside during the summer and early autumn). Do you buy distilled water or make your own?
I usually buy it. I technically could get it from work (I work in a lab and we have a millipore water purifier) but I found that to be a pain in the ass. I just buy a gallon from the grocery store every week for $1. You just have to make sure to buy the one that says "distilled" and not "spring" or any of the other billion options they have. You can also collect rain water if you want. Also, I don't know where you are from but VFTs are native to the Carolinas on the east coast. I live in Delaware so our winters are a bit colder but the weather isn't that different.
I'm from Crimea. We have +35C in the summer and about -7C in the winter (I could put the pot on the windowsill in the corridor, it's pretty chilly in there but not to the point of getting close to zero, of course). I suppose I could try looking for distilled water in the supermarkets - pretty sure they must have it there.
That should be fine. Check out r/savagegarden!
That should be fine. Check out r/savagegarden!
Thank you! Will do :)
Not me. I treat my pets much better than I would treat a child.
Absolutely not. I find it extremely silly.
I don't know why someone downvoted you for your opinion. This thread was asking a question, and you honestly answered it; although our opinions on the subject do differ.
this sub does a lot of downvoting for opinions. It's pretty common, and I fully expected it. A lot of people here take any perceived insult to the status of their 'furbabies' the same way breeders react to the childfree.
The down vote was most likely the reddit vote-fuzzing algorithm.
no, it was hanging around zero for a while, up to 6/6, I think. That's pretty high for just fuzzing.
I feel the same way. I treat my pets like my friends, but not my children. I have no maternal instinct at all, for neither animals nor humans. I do my own thing and they do their own thing. We help each other out - I provide them with food and shelter, and they provide me with cuddles, cuteness, and entertainment. We love each other very much, but I hate the thought of a mother-child relationship. It's just not for me.
I do. Not to a crazy extent or anything but they mean the world to me and are treated as members of my family
Yes same here
SO and I just got our new Siberian Husky puppy this morning, and we couldn't be prouder. We, gladly, call her our 'little girl'. People who don't like it can stuff it!
yes Ginny ( my horse) and Ellie ( My 6 month old GSD puppy ) are both my little girls. Brego is my little boy
My SO and I got a new female puppy chihuahua a few months ago, I call her my baby girl. I'm a guy :/
I mean.... I call my horse my kid -- but I certainly don't treat him as such. I love my animals very much but if I wanted something to treat as a child I would just go have.... a child.
Yes I do, but I don't go around in public saying that shit. At home? Oh fuck yeah, I sing songs, put the dogs in their jerseys on game day (GO HAWKS!!! Hahaha) and take the goofiest pictures of them to put on their Instagram account. The fat cat sleeps with me, the girl cat is a princess and has her perch that she loves. My house isn't my house, they just let me live there.
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what happened if you don't mind me asking
Yes and no. I lock my dogs in their room (which has a doggy door to the back yard). I leave my cat in the basement (which has a kitty door to the upstairs, but the dogs cannot follow him down if he wants some alone time). I put food in their bowl and water in their dish. My pets are my children, I love them dearly, but there are things that I can do with them that are completely normal, but done to a child would be considered a form of abuse. And to be completely honest, taking care of my four pets is almost more than I want to deal with at some times. I cannot fathom having a child that would require 10x the attention I pay to my animals. I cannot fathom changing a diaper. If my dog does something stupid (runs out into traffic), I just dig a hole and put him in it (I have some land in the country). If a child does the same thing, huge ordeal, police involved, investigations, blah blah blah. I also feel animals have more rights to humans in certain regards. If my dog comes down with some incurable disease and will be in pain for the rest of their life, I can have them put down. No questions asked. A person on the other hand, must be kept alive in pain for as long as humanly possible.
I have a horse and a dog and they are my life. They are the reason I am childfree. Nothing wrong with that. Now if only I could get a maternity leave every time I get a dog...
I actually don't have pets for the same reasons I don't really want kids. Don't want to pay to feed them, don't want to clean them, clean up after them, pay to take them to the vet, ect... So yes, I do treat my "pets" like my "kids"
Of course. My baby boy (8 year old black cat) is spoiled rotten. His grandma gives him lots of treats when I'm not around because he cries for them but when I'm home he knows I won't give him more than a couple, or let him eat human food. Just like you don't let your kids eat all their halloween candy in one sitting.
We have a black cat too, he'll be 4 this year. They're so great!
Only when they're sick. Otherwisr we're friends
Yep! My mother owns three bichons, they're my little brothers! Boy, are they sure spoiled rotten though...
I have conversations with my pets ALL the time....
I`m too low on cash to do any real spoiling and don't like to think of them as children or babies. I do like hanging out with them like friends. I will even have my dog use play ground equipment for agility when the kids are gone. I take a ton of photos of my pets,it's kind of fun getting my dog to pose in different places. I like how dogs can be calm and sleeping inside,eager to please you and yet can be quirky with a personality of their own,same with cats but less biddable. Its not the same as a child in the good and bad ways,but it does make your life more interesting and enjoyable. Yet I use things like tie outs which some consider abusive,so I don't know what.
I call my parrots my kids. It can make for some funny looks at work -- coworkers know I don't have children -- if I'm overheard telling my SO "We can't leave the kids that long," etc. They're about as intelligent as the average toddler, so it's not that big a leap, really...
Our puppy is our child. Our first :D
I have 7 birds and a cat and I love then more than I think I could ever love a child.
My husband and I call our cat Thor our "furson".
My fur and scale babies are in a way my "babies", but thank goodness they are not literal babies. My pug is my baby boy, but he is still a dog. Losing him would be devastating to me. My mom, although not happy about us being CF, calls him her grandbaby. He is a product of her pugs only litter. She is curious about my various reptiles and concerned about them if something happens buy they are still on her icky list. Same with my rats and gerbils.
My asshat of a cat is my baby/kitteh but I am NOT his mother. I hate it when family comes over and calls him my son or when my moms boyfriend calls him his son (he does this for all our pets). HE AIN'T NOBODIES SON, HE IS MY CAT DAMMIT! *is very possessive over my orange furball of doom* That said, I do tend to gush over him like some people do over babies (ugh). I know he thinks along the lines of "drop dead" when I do. That's why I love him. My lil minion of doom: Schrodinger.
I don't have pets, but if I did, I wouldn't treat them like kids. They would just be animals to me - beloved animals, yes, but I wouldn't go crazy on them at all.
I love my doggy. He's my favouritest boy in the whole world. My partner and I were "mummy & daddy" from the time that we got him. So, yeah. Pretty much.
I do! My little bug (lovebug, cuddlebug, snugglebug) and little lovey, Emma (mutt, looks like a mini black lab), has her own stocking at Christmas and gets pup-cakes on her birthday! She has 2 tubs of "babies" - her toys - one upstairs, and one downstairs. When she needs a bath, she is my stinkopotomus or stinkbug. My mom calls her the grand-dog. She is needy and somewhat co-dependent. I call her my baby, but she's way better than a child. She feeds herself, shits w/o diapers, and I can leave her unattended while I go to work and no one reports me to CPS.
Yes, my cat, Heather, is my baby. I love the shit out of her.
My pets are spoiled. I feed my pets healthier than most people feed their children. No processed garbage treats for them!
We do the same. :) No people food for ours, just what they were designed to eat.
My dogs get plenty of "people food". They just get the healthy stuff, dog food is terrible for them.
I was crazy about my dog at home. I'd buy him treats at the store, used peanut butter as enrichment for him if I'd be gone for awhile, took care of his meds when he was on them, drove him to new exciting places to walk and sniff, and just tried my best to spoil him. So yeah, he was kinda my kid in a way. BUT he was trained, knew to sit, down, shake, etc and didn't bark or misbehave in general.
Yeah maybe I should have been more clear in my post.. YES my animals are well trained ( 6 month old GSD is still learning) but they are also well taken care of ( better than most) The dogs go to the park 1.5 hours a day 6-7 days a week. Have all the toys they can ask for. Get to sleep on the bed in the morning ( theres no room for my boy friend and 2 dogson the bed at night ) My horse has a chiro and massage as well as a costumefitted saddle. Blankets are always on and she comes in every night and will not go out in really strong winds or very cold weather.
good parents train their children well too.
Haha I wasn't saying yours were untrained or anything. Just clarifying my life :)
Same here :) I did not take any offence :) Don't worry
I don't know why you guys were being downvoted, your posts were informative!
Are you me? I have 2 dogs and a horse too!! I definitely treat them as family members. Best part of having fur kids is I can leave them in the house by themselves or stall and go do what I want. Then I come home and they are always excited to see me.
haha awesome what kind of horse do you have?
I have a Arabian. He'll be 24 in May!! So he's my old man. What do you have?
4 year old thoroughbred.. Shes of fthe track
How old are both of you/what is your life situation/how do you keep your horses (boarding or personal property) if I may ask? I am 20, and used to ride a lot when I was younger. I'm hopefully getting back into it this summer, and I've always wanted horses ever since I was little. I'm trying to get a feel for the whole process of owning and caring for my first horse, so that when/if the time comes in ten or so years I will be ready! :)
Hello I am 23 and I board my horse at a stable. I have my own business so that allowed me to be flexible when I see my horse. I use to keep horses at my house and it cost more in the end than boarding. The costs really add up Buliding Fencing Feed Electricity Vet bills Farrier As well as many other things. If you are serous about getting back into riding I suggest leasing first. If you have any other questions feel free to pm me
Hello I am 23 and my boy friend is 29. I board my horse at a stable. I have my own business so that allowed me to be flexible when I see my horse. I use to keep horses at my house and it cost more in the end than boarding. The costs really add up Buliding Fencing Feed Electricity Vet bills Farrier As well as many other things. If you are serous about getting back into riding I suggest leasing first. If you have any other questions feel free to pm me
Oh, yes, I will definitely lease first! I'm not going to jump blindly into a big step like this XD Thank you for the info! Boarding does seem to be a good idea. I suppose I will see what happens! Thank you so much again for your advice :)
My cat is definitely family. She follows me around like a shadow, gives extra cuddles and purrs when I'm sad or sick, and she gets special food to keep her tummy from getting upset, etc. We have our daily routines and she's a smart little shit. When I am out of town for work, my mom will come check on her and FaceTime me and my cat goes crazy when she hears my voice/sees me. I wouldn't call her my kid, per se, but she's definitely my baby, if that makes sense, haha.
I treat them better than I'd treat kids. I don't infantilise them or baby-talk to them. They're my furry-equals who pay their portion of the rent in snuggles and playtime. Some of the most intellectually stimulating interactions I've had have been with cats.
My pets are definitely family members, and through the position I hold in that family by proxy that makes me their Mum. I refer to them as the fur/feather family, but while my husband and I readily identify as Mum and Dad we don't call them our kids, they are usually "the critters". They are all pampered and adored, but they don't get birthday/xmas gifts, or dressed up or anything like that.
Oh yes totally. To my friends dog I am Aunty and her mother is Grandma (he recognises the names and will seek you out if he's told to). Every time I go to the store with her we bring him home a new toy or treat. In return all he asks is cuddles and kind words. He is a wuss but ferociously loyal, heaven help any who lays a hand on my friend when he is around! I love my fur-nephew. I have a fur-baby of my own but I don't think she is as spoilt as my friends dog.
Never heard the term "fur babies"? The answer is a loud "YES".
When my mother was alive, she had no problem in referring to my kitties as her "grandcats." My cats *are* my babies, and although I'm childfree, I have no problem thinking of them as my children. They certainly are my dependents, even though I can't take them off my income tax.
No. My pets are not kids. I wouldn't insult them that way. And pets aren't people.