Animals and the Child Free

I have two cats. And, they're not my "children," but I can tell you that I'm one of those people who can see a baby and go "meh, so what" and who gets squicked out watching those birth shows on TV, but if I see kittens or puppies or some other cute animal I turn into a blabbering idiot and animal birth shows make me cry...

Yep, I'm stupid. Don't care, either.

I have 2 cats and I call them my babies or my girls - but never my kids, children or daughters, 'cause those are just too close to brats for my liking.

My Grandma is one of those bitches who always said that if her cat got sick, she'd have him put to sleep. Well, the poor boy just dropped dead, out of nowhere. He was 13. And, yeah, he's better off dead. I can't trust anyone who thinks of pets as expandable "things". When I adopt a baby cat, it's forever.

i love all animals, more than humans, i want a huge family of animals, dozens of dogs, dozens of cats, have a family of animals, fathers, daughters, mothers, sons.. a sort of continuity of family, in an animal way. cats, birds, dogs, lizards, frogs, are all more important to me than humans.

i adore dogs, i want as many as i can afford, in as large an area as i can afford. dogs are my best friends, my babies, or as i call polly bob.

animals are closer to me than people, and yes i am a man. i would sooner save an animal than a human, anytime.. (with a few exceptions close family BUT only close).. and yes i am that anti human. and anti social

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

We have 3 cats and they are definitely our kids ! We've spent more on their medical care than our own. My beloved "T" who passed on 2 years ago is still in my heart - he is one of the finest souls I will ever know. I just love cats and so does DH ! A home is not a home without a kitty (or 2 or 3). In the new year, we would like to adopt or foster another boy so our Mort will have a "little brother". Breeders should not have pets - they don't care for them properly and treat them like a piece of furniture or worse. Totally pisses me off !

This summer was tough on the C household where pets were concerned. Two of our furfamily had to be put down to inoperable cancer. We lost oldest cat and our oldest dog. They were great losses and we mourn their passing.

Now we have a sweet little Heinz 57 puppy named Murphy and a loveable psychocat named Desiree. I don't know for the life of me where my wife got the names, but they so fit them! When we are on vacation, my CF cousin and her husband take them in for a pet vacation and they have a blast. Desi growls when we come to take her home and Murphy whimpers.

We love 'em to death.

I have three kitties and a dog and while I have never called them 'my children', I feel they still are. I love my furbabies so much - hell, I'll even hold them and cradle my kitties like a mother would with an infant. If someone handed me a baby, I'd probably walk away or drop it. Unlike human children, my furbabies bring me actual joy, as in the kind I don't need to pretend to have if I had sprogs. My mother seems to get irritated by the kitties occasionally, but I know she still has a soft spot for them. When I found a stray in the backyard a couple years back and started feeding him, my mom screamed at me about it. Then she decided she didn't want this cat to freeze to death (I think we found him in November), so we took him in "just until spring". I think my mother intentionally forgot to let him back out because I got so attached to him, and eventually my mom told me we have to name him something that's short so it would be easier to say when she yells at him to get off the table...and so is the story of how I got Kippy.

People who consider pets to be disposable frighten me. It's kind of scary how many grown people think of pets as little more than living toys or accessories that get boring, like the fucktards who get their brats rabbits for Easter, and then the poor things all end up at the shelter because Junior got bored with it or it wasn't any fun or it was too hard to clean its cage. Grr - I want to beat the shit out of people like this.

Cambion Wrote:
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> I want to beat the shit out of people like this.

Me too. They are heartless and soulless. Every time I look at my baby girls, I can't imagine how anyone could possibly want to hurt a beautiful tiny innocent creature like them.

I am going to make a comment that I hope doesn't offend anyone.

Some pet owners are WORSE than BNPs. Case in point. The "Dog Stalkers". These are people that take their animals with them everywhere they go and even take them into businesses.

I used to work at a car dealership (and please forgive me if I told this story) answering the phones, running messages to the service managers, ringing up credit card deposits, and also taking payments for repairs.

My first priority of the job was to answer the phones, and they could go off at any time and tie me up.

One time, this woman walks up to my window with her full grown Irish Setter next to her. I think she was a little miffed that noone was really around to stop what they were doing to adore her dog (which is what happened A LOT, and it always caused work to backlog). As she approached my window, my phones start going nuts. I look to the woman and acknowledge her and say quietly, "Ill be RIGHT with you". She then gets this horrified look on her face.

I answer the nine or ten calls, page them out and proceed to go back to the woman with a cheerful "I'm sorry for that. How can I help you?" She starts going off on me about how SHE was there FIRST and I should attend to her BEFORE answering the phones, because, after all, she is here NOW...blah blah blah.

Luckily, the BMW service girl was at her desk and heard this all going down and walked over to her and said "Actually, she DOES have to answer the phones first, ma'am." The woman got all huffy and then went on to ask me if her car was done. Um, lady, you dropped it off what, an hour ago?

So here is what was running through my head "I know, ma'am, that you're a VERY important person, who has so many important things to do and important people to see.....WITH YOUR DOG."

I'm so glad I don't work there anymore.

I take my two little Chihuahuas everywhere with me. I have one of those "doggie purses." Nobody knows they're there. I don't make a big deal out of it, and I don't expect anyone to gush all over them, as though they've never seen a dog before.

I don't like dog stalkers, either. They're just rude.

SO and I take the 2 dogs or 2 of the cats (the other 4 don't like to "travel") to Superpetz all the time. It's great, and they love it.

We see people out and about a lot with their toy sized pooches in tow and we always make a point to fuss over them, the pooches always seem to know how special they are!! LOL

My husband and I have two hamsters that we adore (I dote on them, actually). My hubby is allergic to cats and dogs (and while I like both animals, I consider them to be too similar to children, especially dogs), and we live in an apartment, so hamsters were the perfect choice for us. We got our girl, Petit Four (she's a long-haired Syrian or "teddy bear" hamster) in March. She's such a sweetheart and loves meeting new people. She came on our honeymoon in July with us because we were driving to N.C. and we didn't have anyone to watch her for the 9 days we were gone. I got our boy, Mirepoix (a short-haired Syrian) in August...he was an impulse gift from my mother while we were exploring a local pet shop. Mirepoix was the only hamster I picked up who wasn't pregnant (this shop had the sexually mature males and females mixed in the same cage!) or didn't try to leap from my hand. He sat still and let me pet him for 15 minutes, so he came home with me. He took a little longer than Petit Four to warm up to us, but he's so tame and charming now...he loves hanging out on our bed with us at night while we watch TV. I don't understand how anyone could choose ugly, smelly kids over adorable animals! We bought a tiny wire xmas tree and I'm making little wrapped cardboard boxed so we can pose Petit Four and Mirepoix for pictures. Then we're going to have holiday photo cards made with their picture and send them to our friends and relatives! I'm sure some relatives will think we're strange, but if they do, maybe they won't pester us to have human children!

I wish I could take my kitties out with me. My bigger one would growl, but my tiny one would love it. I certainly prefer seeing doggies out and about than brats.

Never referred to any companion animal as a child or anything like it. Nor did I ever refer to myself as one's owner or similar term. They always seemed to own me rather than vice-versa!

After my recovery from lymphoma this past summer and autumn, my friend Dorine presented with a loveable kitten I named "Maude". She has a very deep "meow" and reminded me of Bea Arthur, hence the name.

Congrads on your triumph over Lymphoma! That's such great news. Animals are fantastic therapy on so many levels.

Yes, congratulations on your recovery from lymphoma; and also on your new kitty Maude. Great name btw, i love it when animals have names that suit their faces/personalities. Your cat must have made quite an impression on you if she reminded you of Bea Arthur!
I don't have any pets at the moment; our last cat died in april of this year and i'm still not ready to adopt another. We have one kitty who calls around regularly just to be fed (he belongs to a neighbour) and we call him 'Johnny Cat' (as in johnny cash). He's a bit of a character, a bit gruff, and refuses to be coddled.

Super old post being resurrected here, but...

Our two humane society pups are our treasure. One is a sweet chow mix and the other is an "I love to love you" lab-hound mix. They are best buds. The lab will, upon invitation, leap up to put her "arms" around me and stand up to give me a hug, with a huge goofy smile on her face. Got to be the cutest pet behavior I've ever seen.

Our town debated an urban chicken ordinance but to my disappointment vetoed it. Though I've picked up some tips on urban chicken sites. One tip is to, um, answer any neighbor questions by calling the birds "Rare Australian Gulley Fowl...show birds...wonderful pets."

I love our kitties, especially my Siamese mix. A feral calico hangs around and sprogs every so often; I've tamed several of her offspring including the Siamese, who is now 4 years old. But I'm one of those unusual people that cats generally come to of their own accord anyway—especially unusual as a man, because men "aren't supposed to like cats". (Personally, I think many dogs tend to be a bit on the dopey side, but I still like them and prefer even them to most people.)

A cat's affection is generally unconditional. And no cat has ever told me I'm too fat, too ugly, too broke, or any other negative remark. Unlike some people I've dealt with, including my abusive natural father.

I consider our cats as part of the family, too. Most of them are cats we rescued -- for a while, someone in my neighborhood was abusing and torturing cats, and sometimes those cats managed to make their way to my house. By the time we've nursed them back to health, lived with them for months, and seen how grateful they are for a loving home and gentle care -- and how cute and funny they are -- yeah, they're definitely family!

Animals/pet as children? I think that is wierd for Childfree folks but hey I go no problem with that. I think it's good. I got a cat and it is more cute than a human baby that's for sure.
Other people thinks that is sad but compare to humans or say human kids. At least you don't go through burden. Think about it.

Why pets are better that human child? because:
- You don't go through burden
- You not a wallet (education, clothes, etc)
- Takes 1/4 of energy than raising child
- Doesn't make mess
- None of this 18+ year burden
- They don't scream
- Environment friendly

If you guys got more that benefit for having pets than human kids, please add.

We've got 5 cats and 2 dogs, I cannot imagine my life without them. What a lonely existence it would be if we could not own pets.

Gigabyte Wrote:
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> Animals/pet as children?
I do not think of my pets as my "children", I wouldn't insult them like that.
>
> Why pets are better that human child? because:
But then again...
> - You don't go through burden
Mmmm...my cat has found some portal to the eighth dimension, so when I can't find her I kind of freak out.
> - You not a wallet (education, clothes, etc)
Some days the only reason I work is to make money to buy her cat food.
> - Takes 1/4 of energy than raising child
This is true.
> - Doesn't make mess
My cat is incontinent now, and even when she wasn't I still had to clean her box every day.
> - None of this 18+ year burden
My cat is 19.
> - They don't scream
But she does snore so loud when she sleeps under my bed that I can hear it.
> - Environment friendly
Kind of, except for the puppy training pads she soils on a daily basis.

> If you guys got more that benefit for having pets
> than human kids, please add.
With the above in mind,
-She's small and doesn't take up much space.
-She never wants to use the stereo, DVD player, or any other electronic devices.
-She doesn't wear my clothes, steal my meds or booze.
-She always makes me happy when I see her, it's her special magical power.
-She's crabby, like me.
-My husband loves her. And I love his cat, who is literally the sweetest cat in the world.
-She'll never disappoint me
-She is super cute.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

Thanks Feh