Pets/Companion animals

[Jack]

For some of us, animal companions are an important part of enjoying our lives. For others, they are simply allergy inducers. I'm curious as to how many of us have pets, what pets we have and what they mean to our lives.

For theists, does your dominion over animals extend to your pets? Are they supposed to behave according to your wishes? Will they share eternity with you? Do pets have souls?

Humanists, do pets have a right to exist by their own rules? Do you allow your pets to behave naturally, or do you train them? Is the concept of "pet" anathema to your beliefs? Should humans even "own" other animals?

Which animals make the best pets? Are you a dog or cat person...a snake person, a ferret fancier?


I've raised and owned literally hundreds of pets throughout my life. Living is less joyful for me without them. I'm a dog guy outside, when hiking or walking around town, and a cat guy in the house. I've had ferrets, cats, dogs, snakes, fish, gerbils and hamsters, even once raised a wolf for the Fish and Game Department up North. I've had a few dogs I couldn't stand and quickly found new homes for. I've had to put down more than a few of my pets that I dearly loved when they became too old or were injured beyond repair. I consider my pets as mortal as I, and have no more hope for an afterlife for them than I do for myself. But while I'm on this planet, I wouldn't want to live without some form of animal companion.

[PatrickHenry]

I like animals, too Isherwood. I have four cats that eat in my kitchen. One is a special friend that has been with me since 1991, Buddy. A tough guy in his youth, he has aged into a sleepy old man. Last year a squamous cell tumor on his nose cost me $500 for surgery, but it gave him a few more months of life(so far). I love him.

Of the others, one is a girl that I wanted when I saw her as a kitten. A calico with four white feet, we call her "Socks". She's friendly and likes to sit near when we watch TV so she gets fondled.

Then her plain looking sister that my wife insisted we take too, Punkin. She puts up with a little petting but isn't really a friend, just a resident.

The last one is Jimmy, who was born of Socks here in my house. Always treated kindly, called by name and kept here when his brothers and sisters were given away. But he insists on being outside except to eat. Then he cries to be let out again. I can pet him at the food bowl, at the door as he is waiting to get out, and that's about it. He runs away when I open the door for the others to come in and eat... Just a feral type of guy, I guess.

They are all neutered, and get medical care when it is required, but otherwise nothing special to care for them but food and water every day. They are essential parts of the household, though.

[jose]

we have a house cat also two dogs that live outside they are pets, we also breed rabbits for meat and chickens for eggs, it does pain me when i take there lives, but always i try to be humane, but we eat meat and home grown is best

[Osborn F Enready]

Isherwood said: For some of us, animal companions are an important part of enjoying our lives. For others, they are simply allergy inducers. I'm curious as to how many of us have pets, what pets we have and what they mean to our lives. For theists, does your dominion over animals extend to your pets? Are they supposed to behave according to your wishes? Will they share eternity with you? Do pets have souls? Humanists, do pets have a right to exist by their own rules? Do you allow your pets to behave naturally, or do you train them? Is the concept of "pet" anathema to your beliefs? Should humans even "own" other animals? Which animals make the best pets? Are you a dog or cat person...a snake person, a ferret fancier?

I say:
In my family growing up, we had dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, fish and had a relative that had a raccoon.

I became very close with one of our dogs (I always considered mine, because I picked him out when I was very young.) and he and I grew up together. He (Rascal was his name), as many animals, had a distinct personality whether conditioned or natural I am not sure. He was fiercely loyal, not intimidated by the size of his opponents regardless of the species, and was known for his occasional "forays" and "escapes" away from the door or the leash. He would always run off for awhile, and then come back dirty and smelly, full of himself and his instincts fulfilled, ready for a bath and a good scratch and some tugging on an old sock with another sock in the end for grip. He was a family member, and a very loved one at that. We all hated to see him go, and still miss him dearly. ( he was our last dog.)

We also have had several cats, many falling prey to their own curiousity in a growing busy, inner city suburb. They were all indoor/outdoor cats, living in, but going out to roam. All of them were neutered or spayed, but some had kittens before being fixed, and we kept some and gave some away to good homes. Our last cat (Elvis, because he was cool, not because we liked the singer), was by far the most unique cat we owned in regards to personality and preferred existence, and also the only cat we have had to live a full life. We just took him in months ago to be put down, because illness of some type was robbing his control of his bodily functions, and he was in growing constant pain. He helped hold our family together when my mother died, and it was very hard to take him in though I knew it was the best thing for him. He was much too good a cat, a friend to let suffer in constant pain. We all still find ourselves looking or talking to him, listening for or anticipating him. They are all still with us in our hearts and minds, but it does little to ease the pain of losing someone so close, especially when it so often seems the best are lost in the most undignified means when left to nature.

I feel that is one of our biggest honors as people, is to see that our loved ones can see dignity when they pass, and pass in a manner befitting of their wishes and due their respect for their being.

I am an agnostic I suppose, and while I don't believe in any God at all, I don't disbelieve the idea of God, though I doubt it would be anything anyone would know as God. Regardless, I share my life with animals, if they let me share their lives with them. I give them what they need, and they give me what I need, and in the end we are both richer for our mutual service, and our everlasting trust.

I would like to think, I and I believe I am right when I say, I have provided a better life for all the animals I have been a part of, and they in turn have provided a better part of my life, that I will always be thankful for.

Respect is limited to no species, it applies to all I believe.

(I think I dried my eyes about 5 times now, and I will stop typing on this now.)

[LetThereBe]

I have had three pets: two dogs and a turtle. My brothers and I found the turtle in a woods and decided to keep it, we had it about five years or so then let it go again. The first dog was a chow/lab mix named Maggie. She was a lot of fun, pretty high maintanance, but we still liked her. The chow in her never trusted strangers much, so we had her put down when she tore into the leg of a friend of my little brother. I missed her alot.... she was probably put down when I was about fourteen, and I think we had her about two and a half years.

About a year before I moved out my parents got another dog, a high strung Cairn/Westy. She barks enough to wake the dead, but she is so sweet its impossible to stay angry with her.

Lastly, though a theist, I don't think that our pets will accompany anyone into the afterlife.

[PatrickHenry]

Re: the afterlife for pets...

I don't have much opinion as to the possibility. The afterlife is for the spirit/soul, and I don't know what endures beyound the grave for our pets. Where could we draw the line if we start down that road?

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if it were so. I think God has many surprises waiting for us on Judgement Day. It'll be grand, with no pain or regrets. Even those we love who don't make it will be swept from our memories leaving only serenity and bliss.

[phoenix_fire]

I have two fish: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. They are both bettas. Inuyasha is a very deep red. Sesshomaru has a light, vaguely pink body and pink, purple and blue fins.

I also have a cat. I call her Pretty Girl because that is what her previous owner called her and that is what she answers to. She is a tortoise-shell Maine Coon that I have had since eighth grade. She is extremely intelligent, having mastered the doors, cabinets and blinds in the apartment, as well as tapping me on the arm with her paw when she wants to be fed. Sometimes she eats with her front paws, picking up the food and actually putting it in her mouth. At one point when I was in high school, my lunatic neighbor shot out one of her eyes with a pellet gun. The eye is still there, but she is very obviously blind in that eye.

I am extremely theistic, and while I cannot give an answer based on Biblical truth or even arbitrary dogma, I would like to think that I will see my pets on the other side of this life. The Bible does tell us that God cares for all living things, even down to the lillies of the field.

[Critter]

I've always been a cat person. You can't beat having an animal that you don't have to bathe or walk; just give 'em a bowl of food, a bowl of water, and love 'em to pieces and they reward you with love, attention, comfort, and amusement.

I have three currently;

Lucky, a medium-haired calico who's about 4 years old. She was a stray that my ex rescued and brought home. For the first year or so she was scared of anything and everything, but now she's by far my most loyal companion; very rarely is she NOT in the room with me at all times, and it took a lot of patience, love, and attention to get her to this point. I've had her for about 3 years now.

Chloe, a short-haired calico/tortie. The Princess and Supreme Ruler of the Universe. I adopted her from my boss when they found themselves with too many animals. Very sweet and loving cat, with an outgoing personality. She's about 2 1/2 to 3 years old.

Dar, longer-haired black and white cat. Very timid, but very sweet. She was a shelter rescue; she was on "death row" at a shelter up in Michigan. A local "Rescue Organization" put up an ad on Petfinder which I responded to, and even though I had my doubts about taking on a third cat, I adopted her as well. She turned two in November, if the paperwork from the shelter is right.

I consider myself lucky to have found three very good-natured, loving cats, and even more grateful that they now get along well. (First few months with Lucky and Chloe were sketchy...Chloe beat up Lucky, and Lucky, being as sensitive as she is, took it personally and constantly hid and sulked. Chloe beat up Dar, Dar just shook it off and went on with her life. Now Chloe realizes she's got a permanent place here, Lucky realizes that she's not being replaced, and Dar realizes she wasn't brought here to be exterminated. )

[bishop]

i've had 2 dogs, many fish and 2 cats - in that order...

both dogs were mutts (the best kind imo)... my parents got our first dog (teddy) just a couple days before i was born.. he lived about 13 years or so.. lovable yellow lab/golden retriever mix... our other dog, casie, is about 6-8 years old now.. she's real a real pretty mix of rot, german shephard, lab and collie (big dog).. extremely well-trained too. you can have her on the front lawn (no surrounding fences) and water the plants or something - she'll just hang out on the lawn without a leash and won't wander off or anything she isn't supposed to do.. once, a neighbor's boxer came running out of her house and up to casie.. normally, you'd think the dogs would get all riled up and fight, but we just told her to stay and she stayed.. eventually she began growling at the boxer, but by that time the owner came and got her dog.

the fish... well, who gives a damn about fish imo.. the only one worth mentioning was my blue channel catfish.. that guy grew to almost 1ft in length (and he got some extra protein by eating all but one of my cichlids).. i eventually ended up dumping him into a nearby pond.

and right now, my girl and i share our apartment with our 2 cats... they rule... kristi and larry.


i love all my animals, but i don't ever get really attached to them either.. i had to put my first cat down (oscar), and my first dog was put down.. it sucks, but i just look to get another pet when i lose one. a home is incomplete if you don't have some furry animals running around.

[LetThereBe]

Wow, nice photos.

[bishop]

thanks! :)

[Jack]

the fish... well, who gives a damn about fish imo

Hehe, I just had to move mine to a new aquarium today. Pretty little creatures to watch. Damned nuisance to have to maintain. Kind of like the snakes were.

[Athena]

Quote by: phoenix_fire I have two fish: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. They are both bettas. Inuyasha is a very deep red. Sesshomaru has a light, vaguely pink body and pink, purple and blue fins. I also have a cat. I call her Pretty Girl because that is what her previous owner called her and that is what she answers to. She is a tortoise-shell Maine Coon that I have had since eighth grade. She is extremely intelligent, having mastered the doors, cabinets and blinds in the apartment, as well as tapping me on the arm with her paw when she wants to be fed. Sometimes she eats with her front paws, picking up the food and actually putting it in her mouth. At one point when I was in high school, my lunatic neighbor shot out one of her eyes with a pellet gun. The eye is still there, but she is very obviously blind in that eye. I am extremely theistic, and while I cannot give an answer based on Biblical truth or even arbitrary dogma, I would like to think that I will see my pets on the other side of this life. The Bible does tell us that God cares for all living things, even down to the lillies of the field.

If we are to believe those people who communicate with the dead, you will see your pets again. John Edward had a TV show where he communicated with the dead relatives of people in the audience and he frequently spoke of pets who passed over. Also of aborted children! I suspect some people who would rather remain separate from their past, may have some trouble being faced with their past.

[Athena]

Quote by: Isherwood Hehe, I just had to move mine to a new aquarium today. Pretty little creatures to watch. Damned nuisance to have to maintain. Kind of like the snakes were.

I want a Gecko lizard. I am not too much into animals. I did the dog and cat thing when I had kids. It is great when living on a farm, but not in an apartment. A Gecko however, doesn't require a lot of attention and they appear to have so much personality. Now if snakes ate vegetables, I would like a few small ones. I am not into feeding one animal another animal, and anything that eats crickets is also out, because they are so noisey.

Occasionally I walk my granddaughter's dog. It isn't something I would want to do 3 times a day every day. But is nice to visit with the dog when I choose to do so.

[Jack]

Had I known you several years back, I would have been pleased to make you a gift of my cantankerous old female iguana. She was the only vegetarian animal I've ever known who still wanted to kill every human that got within range, myself included. I adopted her from the humane society and evidently she'd been very mistreated when young. As a result humans really pissed her off. I used to let her wander freely in a wired off portion of my back garden (like a 15x15' enclosure with plants, branches, a pond, the works) but she was too free...to attack us, to eat every plant in her area. I was actually relieved when she died of old age.
She hated attention.
She loved vegetables.
She had "personality"...a personality that rivaled that of the Tasmanian Devil on steroids.

[Plasma Snake[D]]

Isherwood, how do you feel about neutering dogs? I think its a sadistic practice that's only there so that our domination extends just that much more over them. I guess having no balls makes you more passive, less resistant. I love dogs myself. I love to see the connections between us. Like the way that a female dog looks very strangely similar to a female human squatting down and taking a piss. I seriously think that both humans and dogs came from a rat like animal back in the day, but thats besides the point. I have a neutered dog and a small female one, the female is in heat and is constantly pestering the male to do something about it, but it sadly seems like he cannot get a boner. Ever.
But I dont see anything wrong with humans owning animals as long as it doesnt get out of hand.

[Jack]

I have mixed feelings. I support adopting animals from shelters, and they're all spayed/neutered before being available. I favor that practice to discourage those who might adopt just to start a puppy mill. But when you raise the animal and he/she is always under your control and you're not adding to the unwanted pet population, then the need to spay/neuter is lessened.
I have no objection to spaying or neutering in general. There are some humans who could profit from such an operation.

[Sonart]

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Quote by: Plasma Snake Isherwood, how do you feel about neutering dogs? I think its a sadistic practice that's only there so that our domination extends just that much more over them.

Not to be overly blunt, but I find this attitude to be ignorant, foolish and sad. Dogs are not wild animals... as a species they have become wholly dependent on us to protect them. The only 'sadistic practice' is the necessity to euthanise tens of thousands of unwanted dogs in this country every year. I have two dogs now, following the two who lived out their lives with me. All were rescued and all were neutered and spayed, and they've lived nothing by happy, healthy lives. When each of them in turn lives out their life, I'll very likely save another pound puppy and immediately have them spayed or neutered.

The only logic for not doing them that favor is if one wants to responsibly breed dogs... for some reason other than simply providing puppies. While still - somewhat - a dog show fan, I'm becoming less enamored of the whole dog show scene, in which dogs are bred strictly for specific conformation. I enjoy seening beautiful breeds, but the inbreeding of Champions is slowly destroying many genetic bloodlines.

I much prefer watching Agility competitions, in which talent, teamwork and spirit - usually discovered in rescued dogs - is more important than carefully inbred conformation.

-------------------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff... my two knuckleheads. I have a smallish, 13 yr-old male Golden {mumble mumble} mix - my guess is maybe some setter - named Britain. Bright orange with white stars on his chest and face, he still runs gallantly around the dog park trying to keep up with my 3 yr-old female... uh.... coyote?... named Mali. My guess is she's Golden Lab mixed with, maybe, Whippet. A short pale lab coat on a 50 lb whippet-like body and a sweet coyote face. She's a rocket, a ball-seeking missile.

I rescued Britain as an 8 week-old pup, and for the next two years I dispared that he had a brain in his head. Turns out he was exactly the opposite... too damn smart for his own good, and as he got out of his terrible twos, he turned out to be incredibly trainable. He's also a bit of a surf punk. An alpha dude who, in his youth, felt obliged to challenge any and every new male dog who showed up at the dog park. "Hey dood, this is my beach!" Not your typical golden, to say the least.

I tried all the standard conventional wisdom... flatten him to the ground, command voice, teeth, yada yada. What eventually worked was the 'Time Out'. He started a fight, without fail the leash went on, he goes in the car, and I go back to playing with my other dog for the next 15 minutes while he mournfully watched from the car. Took three times and he figured it out. From then on, I'd watch his body language when another male came over to sniff him up and the moment that lip rose, I'd bark out his name and he'd promptly trot over to me, sit right at my feet and stare up at me with a big grin... y'know, like, "Who me? Nah, I wasn't starting anything! Honest." Good boy

Even now, at 13, the lil dood still shows attitude if he thinks another male is taking a few too many social liberties.

When I had to put down Britain's previous female packmate, Asia - (you seeing a pattern here ) - I rescued Mali from the pound when she was about 1 yr-old. She was a tad shy, and it became apparent that she'd never been raised with other puppies. She didn't have a clue about how to play with other dogs, and often took enthusiastic solicitations for play as aggression and would react by defensively fighting back. Now three, she's come an incredibly long way, playing joyfully with many of the park regulars. She prefers a good long chase, although she sometimes freaks out the other runners who, despite going flat out, can't escape the constant cheek resting playfully on their shoulder. She's very fast.

If you hadn't guessed, I'm a dog park denizen and we're blessed here in San Diego with an abundance of such parks. The three of us go daily, sometimes twice on weekends, and most of my social circle revolves around the other owners I've met there. The majority of those folks are clear eyed dog lovers who know dogs, the behaviors inherent in various breeds and understand that that dogs are not little people.

Hence my firm opinion on spaying and neutering.

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[Jack]

The dog person side of me finds it hard to pick a favorite breed, as like you, most of mine have been mutts. Most had a predominant breed, but for the most part were mixed.
I always felt goldens were just big doofuses, friendly to a fault and very easy going. Your account surprises me a bit. I didn't know goldens had that in them.
Two breeds I've really enjoyed being around were Newfoundlands and O.E. Sheepdogs. I guess I like big, goofy dogs. I've had a pair of each and a Newfy puppy, and all were a joy to be around.
In fact, I must have a thing for mutts, too. Nearly all my animal companions have been mixed breeds. The only purebred dog I've ever owned was a Keeshond, and the only cat was an Abyssinian.

[underbear1]

I've had pets my entire life, mostly cats, but a significant number of dogs too. My current pet is a bichon freise named FOOFY, he was a stray I adopted. his name came from a term used in the movie "Parting Glances" one gay character asks another," if this outfit made him look foofy (too gay or too obvious)?"
I thought what was foofier than a queer with a little white poodle looking dog.I have also raised and showed horses and ponies, had tropical fish, bred Persian and Birman cats,and had a lousey year with a half moon parrot(don't ask!)