The cacophony of creatures, and not the me kind
Thu Sep 25, 20:01 | RandomMy family is a pet family. I’ve never lived without a pet in the house.
Dogs since passed that I can remember: Benji (who was one of my first words), Simon, Ceasar, Kalee, Kalon.
Cats: Cleo, Tigger.
Birds: Munch, Dick, Harry, Jesus (Hay-zoos, a turkey breed with a cross on his forehead), one male pheasant whose name escapes me who chased after lawnmowers, and a number of unnamed or un-name-remembered pheasants and turkeys.
We’ve also had snakes, a rabbit (Kim), a hamster (Niblet), a rat (Mr. Mousie), a turtle, a newt (Lee), and countless fish and crayfish and frogs. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone here, but for as long as I can remember we’ve been taking care of animals.
Currently my parents have a dog (Rosco), a turkey, and two cats, and take care of my sister’s pet mudpouts. They just got two new puppies – a black lab and golden lab for Rosco (yes, the dog has pets). The dog now has pets because he needed the company. A year ago, our last black lab Kalon passed away of old age and they now want Rosco to have someone to play with again.
My sister has two cats (one belongs to her live-in boyfriend) and a relatively new puppy. The puppy is really energetic and chews holes in the wall.
My aunt has four cats, though since two are sisters she refers to them as one pet. One has a nervous system disorder and is a horrible little animal who destroys things, one was abused by her previous owner and is afraid of most people or sudden movements or being touched, one or the sisters is brutally fat and incredibly vocal, and the other one is orange (and is pretty much the most normal cat you’ll meet).
All in all, everyone probably pays more than $600 annually to keep the pets going, and that doesn’t count care time. I just don’t understand the idea at this point: they cost money, take a lot of time, and you have to clean up after them. It’s having a child that dies after twelve years and never has any real returns except possibly emotional (and that’s not when you’re reprimanding them for destroying yet another one of your nice shoes).
I’m not sure how I feel about my parents’ dog’s new dogs. I won’t have the chance to properly get to know them and live around them, so they’ll never react to me as a family member. They’re unnamed and needing training, and with everything my parents push so hard to do I’m wondering whether two new pets will wear them down too much – my dad’s sixtieth birthday party was last weekend, and my mom’s not far behind.
I think another part of my new pet issue is that I always treat them the same as similar pets, and can’t really acknowledge new personalities in animals. These puppies will be treated the exact same as Kalon whether they’re like her or not. My parents’ cats are the same way – I expect them to be just like my old cat Tigger (who we suspect was eaten by a predatory bird), even though her personality doesn’t line up at all with the two new ones.
I guess I don’t want new pets, I want my old ones back. It’s a pretty solid aspect of my personality – once something is gone, I don’t like having anything to fill its place because it isn’t the same and doesn’t make what’s missing come back.
I am really, really looking forward to living without pets in my new apartment. I just don’t have a need for cleaning cages and litter boxes, their crying for attention when I’m busily working, food and water demands racking up higher bills, or coping with their eventual demise. I also like having all of my makeup brushes remaining uneaten.
Pulling this off will be a flight of fancy The snack cake curse and other things to do
You should get a fighting fish – they’re pretty & they don’t demand much in the way of attention, cleaning or affection. And once you have the fish & a container of food, there are really no other costs… You don’t even have to listen to a bubbly filter all the time. For under $10 you can have a relaxing fishy.
— Erin Tue Sep 30, 09:47 #