cross-posted from: https://discuss.online/post/44432977
I work from home and don’t have much of a social life. They’re desperate for a break from me.
This just makes me miss my dog so much …
If I can’t play due to pain, I will at least do playful belly rubs. They also are allowed to be with me at all times when I’m at home even in the restroom. Sometimes I don’t even bring my phone, because they want belly rubs. I don’t play as often as I should, but when you got a disability you do your best and they still love you.
Every time I get up to pee in the middle of the night (decently often), my cat hears it, runs from sleep into the bathroom to wait while I pee, then sprints to a very specific rug to be pet as hard as possible on it. This occurs without fail, and it’s the sweetest he ever is to anyone.
I fucking love middle of the night rug pets. Fuck sleep.
I remember reading somewhere that “we are the most exciting thing to happen in our pets’ lives”. It’s why I never get annoyed if my dog gets excited to see me.
She’s pretty old now so no more jumping but every now and then lick or nip at my hands for a pat and it’s not because she’s being naughty, she’s just so excited to see me and wants some attention.
my cat is the same. completely velcro. i can’t eat or get on my computer or use the bathroom without him trying to jump in my lap. i just think about how one day he won’t be here and ill miss him so much, even if he sometimes gets annoying now.
I still get annoyed at my cat because he’s always excited to see me, even if i never left. So I get no time to myself.
“You want to watch tv? Pick me up and pet me. No, I’m not jumping up onto the couch with you, you must fetch me. I will not stop screaming.”
I love him but goddamn is he a lot sometimes.
Not to be morbid but really enjoy it while you can. It might be annoying at times now but there will come a time where you’ll appreciate that you did.
His predecessor was a lovely girl that lasted about 16 years. She wasn’t obnoxious. She was my stinky baby.
aww what a little derp. we don’t deserve cats <3
Now that the weather is cooling off, we’ve turned off the air conditioning and started opening windows, and it breaks his little brain that there are holes in his house. He is very upset about this.
Meanwhile, my cat gets confused when she can’t pounce on birds because of this mysterious mesh screen that lies between her and her prey.
Or if you can’t take care of pets properly just don’t have them?
It’s a good reminder. Sometimes I have busy days where I just want to grab some food and watch youtube before I have to run out again. My cat’s been laying around for 8 hours, it’s good to get her running around for both physical and mental health, even just for 5 minutes.
Imagine your living situation changes and now you can’t give them the attention you used to. What now?
You give them to someone who can or like in my situation where I’m aware eventually I’ll be traveling constantly I just don’t keep pets.
I’d rather play with my cats than do anything else. I have to stop playing with them to get actual stuff done.
My dog plays outside from daybreak to sunset. I assure you I am not the most exciting thing that he saw that day. But I’m sure someone will tell me I’m an animal abuser.
You monster!
Or you know, don’t get pets if you then condemn them to a life of waiting for you to come back all day.
I’d much rather have people save cats and at least provide them with food and shelter than let them die alone on the street. There are far too many strays that desperately need a home.
I totally agree (especially with the impact of cats on the environment), and isn’t incompatible with what I said. I’m saying that you shouldn’t have pets if you make them wait for you all day. If you have, for example, more than one cat, they’re not just waiting for you all day because they have company and are not just starved of social interactions.
But most people just get one pet and basically leave them with no life around for 8-10 hours per day, which is just torture. And that’s for the pets that are common enough (cats, dogs) to be treated less horribly than less popular animals, like hamsters, birds, fishes, etc.
So sure, avoiding stray cats is good, but removing them from a hard life to put them in a brain-killing situation instead is not the solution.
But most people just get one pet and basically leave them with no life around for 8-10 hours per day, which is just torture.
No man, that is not torture. Torture is leaving that stray kitty outside at the scorching summer heat and let it die from dehydration.
A healthy adult cat sleeps 16 hours per day on average. Having a full-time office job is going to require you being outside 8-10 hours every day, but it is not as horrible as you describe.
And yes, getting a second cat is ideal, especially if you are not home all day. But not everyone can afford that and there are still things you can do to keep your cat entertained when you are not around.
Please, just stop with the gate keeping. This is exactly what puts people off from adopting. You don’t have to be perfect before you are allowed to extend your hand and try to help an innocent little creature.
Nah man, you’re wrong. Just because worse lifestyles exist that doesn’t mean a lone cat by itself all day isn’t unhappy. If you can’t afford two cats (or any mammal species, really) maybe you shouldn’t have pets
Yeah man, I am sure a stray cat who is at the bring of death due to dehydration is much happier outside, compared to one who is inside and has all their basic needs met.
To be fair, there are no stray cats or dogs where I live, and if there were they defo wouldn’t be dying of dehydration (it rains a lot here)I can’t really relate. If you have feral cat colonies near your home and can only afford one cat then maybe just let the cats be feral
If you have feral cat colonies near your home and can only afford one cat then maybe just let the cats be feral
Yeah, no, if I do see a cat that is suffering and I also have the means to give it a better chance in life then I am doing it. Both my cats I took them off the street after noticing them they were sick and that have been abandoned by their mother. I am only capable of caring for two, I simply don’t have the space for more. And I am certainly not going to judge anyone who decides to do the same and only are capable of doing it for one. Each cat is a unique innocent soul. You can’t save every one, but even if you can just one then do it.
That’s not what puts off people from adopting. What puts them off is that they want the perfect, convenient, good-looking, cheapest option.
It’s like saying that people don’t adopt kids because they don’t feel perfect enough; no, they don’t do it because there’s an easier, cheaper alternative, where they don’t have to prove that they are good enough to take care of a kid beforehand. And that’s why they just keep on popping kids in an overpopulated world.
You don’t have to be perfect, but not making a social animal spend most of the day alone is a basic requirement.
On top of that, if you have the money to adopt and take care of a cat, but not the possibility of taking care of them properly, nothing prevents you from using this money to support a shelter or equivalent, which will in the end also take in stray cats.
But people don’t want that because they care about themselves first, and want to get something from it first. They want a pet, and then they’ll think about their wellbeing later, if it’s not too inconvenient. And that’s the mentality that leads to stray cats, dogs, and whatnot.
People don’t have pets to help innocent creatures. They have pets to have a nice company that depends on them and will make them feel good after a long day of work, and they don’t really care about anything else. As long as you don’t change that, that’s how you get people that get annoyed with their dogs and drop them on the side of the road, because they just don’t get as much benefit from it as before.
Tldr: as long as you treat animals carelessly, people will be careless about them.
So, you would rather keep the shelters full, so they can’t take in new animals to rescue, so those animals are then killed instead? Just because the animal you rescue may have to learn to deal with having alone time? Talk about being careless.
If the shelters have more money, they’ll have more capacity as well.
On top of that, nothing prevents people from adopting multiple pets or of taking care of them properly.
People manage to pop kids endlessly and find ways to take care of them all day even if they have to go to work, they definitely can manage with pets too. They just don’t give a shit.
Or get multiple pets so that they keep each other’s company.
Which means that they’re not waiting for you all day, as they have company
My point is that if you can’t rearrange your own day to spend enough time with your one pet, you should at least get them a friend.
Are you always a downer like this?
With people who propagate shitty things, yeah. If you can put your morals aside for the sake of “not being a downer” then you don’t have morals in the first place.
You heard it here folks. Don’t get a pet unless your unemployed. If you leave the house, then you’re going to hell for lack of morals.
I really like people trying to be smart here by showing they don’t give a shit about their pets.
If you can’t have more than one pet, and cannot be most of the day with him, then yeah, don’t get a pet. Just like you shouldn’t have a kid if you spend 12+ hours per day away from them. That’s basic, common sense.
The fact that you don’t care about animal well-being, not even of your own pets that are depending fully on you, isn’t something that you should be sassy about.
Maybe ask yourself why you felt the need to defend animal abuse, no?
Not anyone’s fault your take is rigid and off-putting.
Yeah ok, I don’t want to know your stances on other various social subjects, if for you caring about another sentient being is “rigid and off-putting”.
That’s no loss to me, good luck bro
I’ve never had a cat before, wouldn’t they like to cuddle on the couch just as much?
Depends on the cat, and its mood, ours likes a good mix of play and cuddle.
also depends on their age. lots of play until they’re two years old, then they get a bit cuddlier. but even our 14yo grumpy cat sometimes still likes to play.
My car is super lazy. Does basically nothing without very specific prodding.
Do an oil change, and check the intake filter while you’re at it
Okay, I’ve only heard people talk about their cars being lazy! 😆
cats are crepuscular, they’re most active around dawn and dusk, and generally sleeping between.
I wish my cat would cuddle. He’s interested in playing, but almost never with me. I throw a toy and he looks at me like I’m nuts for throwing his favorite toy away
My old cat loved to cuddle, but this one won’t even sit in my lap
Aww I wish he would too
Amen.
Even if I’m only gone for 10 minutes, I make sure to play with my cats. I’m not a monster.
Sending this to my owner :)
They’re usually in bed before we are.
