Animal people - Help me understand

Two of my best companions were cats ... one, a Siamese, lived to almost 20 years old. Found her as a stray kitten and, man, she was a bitch for a while.
Over the years, she mellowed. Took her with me when I evacuated during Katrina.
Took in a female ginger (another stray kitten) while looking after my folks. Was so loving. She waited for me to arrive home one day before screaming and dying of an apparent heart attack (hell, I don't know).
I like dogs and had them growing up. However, I will never, ever, put one on a chain.
Thus, don't have a dog.

 

I'm OK with cats, no real yearning to have one and no hatred of having one or living with one.

But dogs? If it was socially acceptable or reasonable to live with 20 rescue dogs and spend every waking hour loving on them and spoiling them, I'd be "that guy." We are on our second and third rescue dog right now, and I swear they are aware of what we have done to save them from what could have been a miserable existence and short life. The love they have for us seems to be limitless.

I'm definitely with John, though, in that dogs have their place. Keep them out of the grocery store, and restaurants, and Target, and everyplace else all these fucking "Emotional Support Animals" people feel the need to drag their dogs with them. If you can't make a run to the Piggly Wiggly for a gallon of milk without the "emotional support" of little Tiger, then hole the fuck up in your house and have everything delivered to you. It's just (another) sign of how the insane facet of society is winning.

 

Love it!

 

My wife brought a cat into the marriage. I’ve brought three dogs so far.

Bless our hearts, we both try to tolerate the other pet(s), but I will always think the cat is a shithead, and she will always think the dog is too needy and high-maintenance.

Yet somehow we’ve made it to 12 years of wedded bliss. In part because I recognize the cat is the last connection she has to her first (late) husband, and she recognizes that our dog is super-loving and great with our kids. We take the bad with the good.

That said, when her cat dies, I’m done. No more cats will ever darken the door of our house again.

 

One good thing about having pets when you have kids is it can teach them some responsibility.

Over the years, my wife and I have had five adopted dogs from the Humane Society shelter (no more than two at the same time, and usually just one). Our son has always helped walk them and feed them, and our daughter always helped brush and groom them. That was part of the deal of having a pet.

Of course, my parents did the same thing, and my dad was clear with me that if we got a dog, picking up the yard was my duty. I'm still doing it 40-plus years later!

 

When my daughter was 17 or 18, our first rescue dog was getting very bad health-wise. Like couldn't go up and down stairs, had incontinence problems and all that.

As a family, we made the collective decision that it was time to end it. She was adamant that she wanted to be there, so he would have loving faces to be with him in his last minutes.

Holy shit, can't imagine a more heartbreaking scene, to be in there as he was put down.

 

Our house lost something when our three cats died within 18 months of each other a few years ago. My spouse determined that although she loves cats (and volunteered at the SPCA for several years), her heart just can't take the pain of losing another. It's a line in the sand that I'd never cross with her.

But that's not to say I wouldn't love to have a little furball curling up on the couch with us. Still.

 

For your situation specifically, this is the big issue. "Big into pets" can mean that they like to foster a dog or two, or it can mean that they're like my sister. She has three children under 10, three dogs, two cats and a chicken coop. They have a couple acres of land, and she and her family like having that many animals. But my wife and I are both in the "never again" camp about staying over in their guest room, after having done it this past Christmas.

For comparison's sake, we have one high maintenance dog who's 12, and we're expecting a baby in like, -2 days. When the dog passes, we might want a cat or two, maybe a family dog when our kid is old enough. But I think there's zero chance we'd have more than two or three pets.

 

I grew up with dogs and the coolest cat on the planet and a few hamsters and parakeets.

This is a friend’s dog that I love and want one just like her one day.

 

I love dogs, but I'm not home enough four days a week to take care of one properly. Cats are walking mewling allergens for me.

I'd rather have a horse, or maybe two horses and a mule, but money though.

 

Think I had about convinced myself to ask her out when I see her this weekend. Then comes word via the Book of Faces that two kittens she has been fostering are now permanent members of the household instead. And the Tony Romo voice in my head going “Ehh, I don’t know about this one Jim!” grows a little bit louder.

 

I think she sounds lovely and delightful.

*says the woman who's about to go out front to feed the feral mama cat who birthed seven kittens nearly two months ago.
**anyone want a kitten? They'll be humanely trapped and spayed soon.