Do you feel you need, or want, a pet? (weather, divorce, move)

[pekemom]

We put down our last peke in 2007, when we were 60...it wasn't more than 2 months later we
felt the house was too empty and got another peke...Do you want a pet as you are aging or do
you not want the responsibilities of one?

[NYgal1542]

Originally Posted by pekemom

We put down our last peke in 2007, when we were 60...it wasn't more than 2 months later we
felt the house was too empty and got another peke...Do you want a pet as you are aging or do
you not want the responsibilities of one?

In the past I have had cats and dogs.

When I divorced many years ago I realized cats were much easier to maintain (I worked full time) as they use boxes and if you leave plenty of water and dried food, they can do well for several hours.

And so my answer to you is yes, I do want a pet. Recently needed to put down my wonderful cat due to her terminal illness but adopted another a few days later.

[Clemencia53]

Originally Posted by pekemom

We put down our last peke in 2007, when we were 60...it wasn't more than 2 months later we
felt the house was too empty and got another peke...Do you want a pet as you are aging or do
you not want the responsibilities of one?

NO! And what is funny is that I currently have 7 dogs and almost 20 cats.

They are here because they were throw away strays, left behind by neighbors, or unwanted by relatives. The cats are mostly feral that I am spaying and neutering. Down to my last female feral!!

I can see the end in sight. Really happy. No more stray sickly cats in my yard. Of course I still feed and offer shelter in cold weather - heated houses too.

It is a lot of responsibility and expense. I guess that is why they end up unwanted.

But I do want to have more money left over to invest in my co-housing operation.

I will be taking in stray old ladies instead of stray old cats and dogs! LOL

[PAhippo]

I've had 5 wonderful dogs but at this point I don't really want another.


I'd like to get a kitty or 2 but I think they'd outlive me and don't know any cat people to trust them to. Plus the expense.

I'll just keep going to the shelter for my kitty fix.

[yellowsnow]

Once upon a time I actually made it to pet free. I promised myself I was going to stay there for a year. It was nice to have no responsibilities. No litter boxes to clean, no vet visits, no poop to pick up. No pet food to buy. I never had to hurry home to let Fido out. I didn't have to pick up hair all the time. I actually had some clothes that weren't covered with pet hair.

When that year was over I couldn't wait to get another pet. I just like them more than I dislike the work and expense of caring for them. I will most likely have a pet till I drop dead. I currently have 2 senior GSP's and a younger Weim. These will probably be my last 'big' dogs. I will move down to medium size dogs in the future.

[in_newengland]

I have had cats most of my life. My husband is a dog person so we adopted an adorable rescue Pomeranian. He lived four years with us and we both fell apart when he finally died, age 14.

The very next day a new rescue Pomeranian came into our lives. My husband probably loves the dog more than he loves me; they are velcro companions. DH's doctor told him long ago that it was dog walking that kept him healthy.

However, when this one goes, due to our ages, the next pet kid will probably be a cat. Dogs are a lot of work and if anything happened to DH I don't think I would be able to keep up with it.

[Normashirley]

I have never been without something, since my earliest memories on the farm. I can't imagine life without some living/breathing thing to touch noses with


I have recently laid my 27 & 29 year old horses to rest.

When my 20 & 21 year olds go on, that will be it for horses.

I expect to always have a big dog but, at this point in life, I will rescue an older dog unless a dog gets dumped on my road and I'll take whatever it is.

All my cats are rescues. Currently three at the barn, two in the house and I'm holding my breath nobody new shows up

The strong alpha cat at the barn weighs 17 lbs on the vet scales, and he is really good at sending critters of all kinds skiddaddling. He's not fat, he's huge. His brother is in the house and equally as big; he has a pin in his hip so I relegated him to the house early in his life

[7165red]

We had two cats and everything was fine. We feed some feral cats and had them neutered. They one go sick and we felt so sorry for him so we took her to the vet and he brought her back to life. We couldn't throw her back in the wild so now she is ours. This past winter one of our feral cats"neutered" came into the house because the temps were below 0 and he is so loving that he is part of the family. I never thought I would have four cats. The problem is we can't take a vacation because no one will watch over 4 cats. We love them all.

[josie13]

I've had pets in the past--mostly cats. I'm currently glad to be pet-free because I don't miss the mess, the damage to the furniture and finishes, the expense of vet care and boarding, and the too-early awakenings.

I used to worry about Toxoplasma gondii. Now I'm relieved that I'm not exposed to it anymore.

(How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy - The Atlantic)

[Bungalove]

I've had cats and dogs for the past 33 years (only had dogs when I was a kid because my mother hated cats). I have four cats now of varying ages, but they're probably all under seven years old. They were all rescues in one way or another, so their ages are approximate. I was actually thinking the other night that it will be really sad when I am down to just one cat. However, the last cat that I just put down 2 months ago was 19, so hopefully it will be a good while before these guys go. I also hope that I'm still living independently at that point so I can take care of them. At age 65, I worry about what would happen to them if I died or was incapacitated, since I have no relatives anywhere near me.