Dads who didn't want pets - a classic : cat

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 216 points 2 days ago (7 children)

As a Dad who doesn't want more pets, I'd just like to clear something up.

We don't dislike animals. Our heart doesn't grow three sizes when you bring one home and catch us cuddling with it two days later.

I fucking LOVE animals, and I will cuddle the fuck out of anything that would let me, but I also know that nobody else in the house will make sure it's fed and cleaned up after. So, no you can't bring another animal home because I've already got enough on my plate, but when you do it anyway, be prepared for it to be MY little buddy.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 127 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Obligatory pic of one of my 4 little buddies.

[–] riquisimo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I love your little buddy.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 61 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Exactly. I will add that as much as I love animals I really hate the loss of them to the point I basically don't want to get them each time. All the get lots of animals folks seem super heartless in some ways. Yeah your sad but not I never want to go through it again sad. I also feel guilty that I can never give the animals quite enough. Not enough walkies. Not giving them enough attention.

[–] Nelots@lemmy.zip 24 points 2 days ago (11 children)

You gotta move on through the grief, accept that they're no longer with you, but that you gave them the best life you could. And maybe realize that giving another pet a good life doesn't mean you're replacing or forgetting your last one. Some people are just better at it than others, they aren't being heartless.

That said, people who get a new dog a week or two after their previous one died are insane to me. That just feels disrespectful.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

We got a new cat a week after our very old one died because the apartment was so achingly empty without her. She'd basically raised our kids and was perfect in every way. She was ill for long enough at the end for us to take time telling her that, and grieve while caring for her and loving on her and waiting until the first available time for the home vet to come so she wouldn't have to go anywhere. And whisper it again into her fur as she took her last breath.

Afterward we looked around at all the things we had to make her comfortable and realized that while no one could ever replace her, there were other old cats sitting in shelter cages who needed love too.

We went to the city shelter and wound up with a cat who is disabled, can't jump and needed all her teeth extracted. So we paid for that, and brought her home.

Soon after, we somehow also ended up with a feisty stray kitten.

Miss Perfection's ashes are on a shelf, and I tear up when they catch my eye, but the misfits give us an outlet for all the love she taught us.

[–] goosehorse@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I had 3 cats who were all siblings born in my house. I didn't want to keep them at first, because I was a broke-ass grad student

but of course, I'm a sucker.

When the ex and I split, I suddenly and unexpectedly became a single cat dad. It was a very fucked up time, but the felines and I made it through. A few years later, when they were around 10 years old, one disappeared, and the other two passed away within a year.

A mouse ran across our floor less than 24 hours after the last brother died, so, even though I felt a little weird about it, my then-housemate and I adopted an awesome little teenage dumpster cat two days later. No more mice.

Housemate and new cat friend moved out ~6 months later, and unfortunately, new kitty died of a heart defect almost a year to the day when we got her.

My friend/former housemate had already been considering adopting a playmate for the dumpster baby, so he got on the local rescue organization website that night, and lo and behold, there was my cat who had disappeared almost exactly two years before.

So, even though it was weird to make a new cat friend so soon after mine had died, the short and very happy life of dumpster kitty led to the return of my boy who had been missing for two years. We just celebrated his 12th birthday a few weeks ago, and I am so, so thankful to have him back in my life.

Tax payment, when he discovered where I grow the catnip a few days ago:

load more comments (10 replies)

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I happened to have a lot of human friends pass away unfortunately young, so for me, to have an animal live its whole natural life in my care in peace, comfort, warmth with everything it needs, compared to some of the alternatives out there, especially as I've always adopted, means it was going to live its life anyway - I just made it better.

And I do want to go through it again because death is a part of life, but it's the life part that's the good bit. And it's only sad for me, for the animals, they had a great time.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Was about to make this point as well but you nailed it. I don't want to bring the pet home because I KNOW I will love it.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 24 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Plus, it's going to die one day, and that really sucks.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Or you end up spending hundreds to make sure it doesn't, and then it still dies anyway.

[–] AltheaHunter@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 2 days ago

hundreds? more like thousands...

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Outsider9042@lemmynsfw.com 9 points 2 days ago

I also added a rule.

Exclusive naming rights of all pets brought into the house.

If you’re going to ignore me, there will be consequences.

Isn’t that right cuntdestroyer?

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

Talking to another mom about our menageries on school trip. Me: wow! She takes care of all those reptiles?! I can't even get the fish fed or litter box cleaned over here Her: oh, no. Not at all. By "she has," I mean "I care for"

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 17 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The number of people talking about their cats but not posting pics in this thread is too damn high!

[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fine meet Bender Bending Rodríguez.

[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 1 points 17 hours ago

Aww, does kitty wanna kill all humans? ❤️

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 1 points 17 hours ago

❤️

[–] beveradb@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 1 points 17 hours ago

❤️

[–] baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

It is not a contradiction to refuse your child's desire for you to adopt a cat and to love a cat. If you force a parent to adopt a cat, they will resent you for foisting an unwanted burden on them. However, the cat has no say in the matter, so it makes no sense to resent or punish the cat. Your parent developing a loving relationship with the pet you forced on them does not absolve you of your imposition.

[–] Colalextrast@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

As a (soon to be) dad who doesn't want any more pets, it's not cause I don't like animals. I love animals... maybe too much, cause I just don't know how many more I can bury.

Maybe I need to get a pet that will outlive me. Something cuddly with a lifespan of like 60-80 years

[–] groet@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Mammals mostly don't live that long and reptiles aren't the most cuddely. But sloths or primates can live to 50 years. And some birds can outlive you easily with cockatoos getting to 120 years occasionally

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 67 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I'm a dad who loves cats. My dad, who dislikes pets, keeps asking me about my next travel cause it's fine, he will take care of Figaro if I really need him to.

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Hey! You should show off how awesome Figaro is by showing a pic. Check out one of mine.

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Challenge accepted!

[–] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

To be fair, taking care of a pet temporarily is an entirely different matter to having a pet permanently. I wouldn't trust myself to care for a pet day by day for years, but taking on that responsibility for a few days while also getting the benefit of having an already trained pet for that time?

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Yep, indeed. My dad travels a lot so he wouldn't really consider having a cat. But what started as "I guess I can take him for a few day" as quickly turned into "When is he coming back??".

[–] dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Is your cat named after the Mozart opera?

I went for classical composers for mine. Had Mozart and Sergei (Rachmaninov).

[–] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

That way you could call it🎵 "Figaro, Figaro, FIG-a-ro" 🎶

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

I knew most people who think about the Marriage of Figaro, but I've just always really liked how the name sounds. Since both my previous cats already had name when I got them, I had to wait a while for this haha.

Fun facts, Figaro is completely black (not tuxedo like the Disney character), I'm actually a composer (not much in classical music tho), and there's a nice song by MF Doom named Figaro.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 46 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I let my cats smell every meal before I eat it. Regardless if they like the smells or not, they're always interested in what I'm doing and what I have.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Same here. They have a way of saying, "Hey, I want to smell that!" and it's adorable.

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

Mine do that as well, and the dog picked it up too lol. She is a bit more enthusiastic about it though. 😅

[–] SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Cats have a way of inserting themselves into your life, don't they?

[–] JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's funny how some cats will constantly enter your personal space but act so offended when they want to be alone. God forbid I try to pet her when she doesn't want to be touched, but she shoves her head under my hands while I'm doing something else.

[–] ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

I see you haven't studied the Ancient Scrolls of Cat Chivalry...

: dumps out a pile of wadded up newsprint and proceeds to bat it all under the settei.:

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 day ago

My dad didn't want pets when I was a kid. He was the only person the cat would lie on top of on the sofa when watching tv. Kitty owned him.

[–] Bunnylux@lemmy.world 32 points 2 days ago

Very well, I approve, you may put the item away.

Cat

[–] doctordevice@lemmy.ca 26 points 2 days ago (8 children)

That's good enrichment right there! Cats love to investigate new and interesting smells within their territory.

[–] PixTupy@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

We got a chair in the kitchen we started announcing as the sniffing station, cause she sits there every time we come from grocery shopping and waits to be allowed to sniff things. So now if we say "sniffing station everybody!" she runs to it and waits for new things to sniff.

load more comments (2 replies)

load more comments (7 replies)