Dog Person or Cat Person

[StormyRenee]

Are you a Dog person or a Cat person? Or do you have some other type of furry or scaly friend?

[OldFatChick]

I think I need to clarify.  It is absolutely a hubby issue.  I think I picked a bad day to talk about dogs, lol.  I have had dogs (and cats, fish, birds, hamsters, gerbils, you get the picture) all my life.  I had a pug that was the dumbest animal I have ever known, but she was my heart.  She always looked like she was grinning and you couldn't make her mad if you tried. When I left my ex he kept both the pug and his Boston terrier, because I couldn't have animals where I was living.  Within a year they were both dead. I have not wanted an animal since.  Hubby had Ginger (another Yorkie) when we met, a package deal. She was about 4 when he and I met and she was a sweetie. She lived another 10 years after we married and I loved her very much.  As she got toward the end of her life she developed several health issues.  She lost many of her teeth, and wasn't able to eat well. She went blind and toward the very end her kidneys were giving out and we had to have her put down. I told my husband then I didn't want another dog.  Two weeks later we had another dog. I am just at a point in my life where I need things to get simpler, not more complicated.  

I am sorry if I came across as some mean-spirited, cold -hearted witch.  I really am not like that.  Just a lot on my plate and starting to freak a little.

[StormyRenee]

Chick,
I was not insinuating that you mistreat the dog at all. I was just saying that animals like children are so sensitive to their enviroment.Also the added stress from being ill manifests itself in negative ways. Sometimes we become more sensitive to things that may have not normally bothered us.We tend to take take things out on those around us. This definatly sounds like a hubby issue more than a doggy one. I can pretty much second what Specilamom said....
I hope that you and the puppy find peace and happiness......

[specialmom]

Chick -----  it is true that if only one person in a relationship wants the pet-----  issues can arise.  It is like children in that it is best if both parties in the relationship are happy about it and ready for the responsibility.  Some people are animal lovers and some aren't.  I am----------  so it would be easy for me to fall in love with a pet that my husband brought home.  I understand that it may not be your thing and you resent it.  As you said, that is an issue with hubby.  Good luck and may that little dog steal your heart someday when you least expect it!!  You just never know.  

[OldFatChick]

I am not taking anything out on the dog. I am not mean to her, I do not mistreat her.  She wants to lie on the back of the sofa behind my neck or lie next to me on the sofa.  I am frustrated with my husband's refusal to train her properly. I don't spank her or correct her at all, that is my husband's dog and he is responsible for her. My kids are grown. I have 6 grandchildren and another on the way.  I have been taking care of others since I was 12 years old.  I am sick and I am tired.  

Hubby and I like to take trips on the motorcycle and she can't go.  So we either have to board her or find someone to babysit.  I thought by this point in my life I'd be done needing babysitters.  I know people who treat their pets like children, and if that makes them happy, I say go for it!  But I don't want pets.  I don't want the responsibility of having to take care of yet another living creature.

She is a sweet dog.  The only issue I have with her is that she refuses to do her business outside and that is hubby's fault, so the issue is really with him.  He's is one of those impulse driven people and he goes and does things without thinking.  He likes to hunt and from October through January he wants to spend every available minute hunting. So right after he gets the dog, she gets sick and is bleeding from her rectum.  A lot.  Hubby takes her to the vet while I am at work.  When I get home he has the truck packed, hands me the dogs meds and told me the dosages, got in his truck and left for deer camp.  Leaving me stuck at home nursing his sick dog.  When he gets back he tells me he figured she wasn't going to last the night and he didn't want to watch her die. But it's OK for me to deal with it.

Sorry, got a bit of a rant going there. If only one person in a relationship wants a pet, it is just as unfair to the non-pet person to have to deal with taking care of a pet as it is for the non-pet person to refuse to allow the pet-person to have a pet.

[AnxiousGurl]

Im allergic to cats, they make me break out in hives. So, im definately a dog person, cant imagine my life without my doxie!

[StormyRenee]

OldFatChick,

I have to ask a question.Do you think that if you were not ill that the dog would bother you so much? It seems like you are taking out your frustration on this little puppy.

Dogs and animals in general are very sensitive to their enviroment. If there is stress in the houshold the animal is stressed too and that can cause behavioral problems.They express things differently than we do.  

To say that you are just tired of taking care of anything living is just sort of sad to me.
I am also ill and I understand what it means to be sick and tired. But I cannot imagine going through my illness without my furry friends..People can be a much bigger pain in the butt than any animal.

[OldFatChick]

I am not a pet person.  It isn't that I hate them, I am just tired of taking care of anything living. Hubby had a Yorkie when we met, so I dealt with it.  We had to have her euthanized at age 14 because she had lost most of her teeth, her eyesight was gone and she was unable to eat enough to keep her alive.  Hubby cried like a baby.  She was born on his birthday, so he felt an even stronger connection to her because of that.  Two weeks after she died, he went and got another one.  From the same breeder.  And this one was born within two weeks of his birthday. Her name even started with the same letter.  The first was Ginger (renamed GinGin by the grandkids) and this one is Gypsy (nicknamed JuJu by the grandkids.) She is a giant pain in my butt.  She refuses to be potty trained!  She poops in my house on an almost daily basis and I am just about to the end of my rope with her.  Hubby loves her dearly, so I don't want to have to get rid of her, but to be fair, I asked him to NOT get another one.

I have three auto-immune diseases and I am about to have 3 surgeries at the same time, so I don't have the energy, patience or strength to deal with this right now.  The only time she doesn't poop in the house is when hubby takes the little beast to deer camp with him. Problem is, deer season is over. so I'm stuck with this little, hairy poop machine until October, at least.

I'd rather have fish.  They don't bark all night, they don't poop in the floor and you only have to clean the tank every month or so if you have a good filtration system.

[mami1323]

I'm like you Judy, once the 3 dogs are gone, I don't want anymore pets.  They are such a joy to have around but the heartache of losing them is unbearable.  I've had to put my german shephard Alona down when she got hip dysplesia at age 16 and couldn't walk anymore.  That was a killer and then my Kasper and we had another cat in between named Simon.  He was my friend's and she left for the army and basically abandoned him with us.  He was such a cutie but got a rare disease that was very contagious and so we got scared he passed it on to our Kasper, luckily he didn't.  But he died by our front door and we could here him dying as we were trying to get into the house...horrible.  Then my pitbull Sonny almost died, he was diagnosed with IBS but at one point he was a walking skeleton because he would throw up anything he ate and then it was coupled by diarrhea.  We treated him with a steroid and he wound up getting Cushing's Disease.  We weaned him off the drug and put him on a special diet and he's fine now.  But our other two dogs are a daschund and a chiuahua and both have had issues with their spine and discs because they jump off the stupid bed.  The chiuahua has had surgery because he was temporarily paralyzed by doing that.  So in a nutshell, they have cost us a fortune to take care of but the heartache of actually losing them is the hardest part.

[Judy246]

Pet's bring joy into our lives and it's like raising a child all over again. When my Toby died, I mourn him as if I had loss a child and that is why the thought of going through it again scares me. I also had 7 deaths in 8 months, which included, mother, stillborn niece 2 wks before Christmas, brother in law and fiance's father...I can keep going, but death was hanging out in my house, among family friends and claimed my baby boy Toby. It's been a journey, but I know that our beloved pets do bring a special light and lots of joy to our homes.

margypops, maybe they like the warmth of your legs. They also need to feel that special cuddle they had with their mother and sibblings :)

[Lonelymom]

margypops, I would choose my legs over my chest any day.. My momma kitty insists on laying on my chest staring at me until I wake up.

My zoo has decreased not because I found loving homes but because some mean person poisoned my puppies. Two didn't make it the 3rd is doing great though. I am now down to 3 dogs, 6 kitties, a fish, snake, and a ferrett.

[margypops]

Hey tell me the folks who understand cats ..why do they sleep on your legs ,I have a huge king size but she lays across my legs ...

[margypops]

Thats How I felt Judy, I couldnt face going through the grief again so I ddint have an animal for about 12-15 years then this kitty found us about a year or so ago, I dont like the preditory waysof cats , as like you I love all critters, and she brings lizards in and birds ,I have learnt to live with it,and shut her out then make sure she doesnt bring anything in with her. I like the fact she is indoor/outdoor so shes happy she takes her chances with the coyotes, I dont let her out at night or early morn ...talking about cats she has sat on the printer and the DH goes mad as her fur bungs it up ...lol

[Judy246]

I agree with mami...I also love all living creatures, but love dogs the most. I am very allergic to kitties and every since my dog died, I'm not ready to do it all over again. When my Toby died at the age of 10, he took a part of my heart that can not be replaced.....who knows maybe one day, I will open my heart and home to another furbaby.

[mami1323]

I love all animals and prefer both, however, just like specialmom I'm totally allergic to cats.  I owned one though for a good 13 years, my lovable Kasper.  He was a tabby who we rescued from the street.  He was Mr. Attitude though, so he wasn't all cuddly, which worked great for my allergies.  But he was a good cat.  Never hissed at the Vet and they loved him there, he would just be frozen in fear and they did whatever they had to do.  He died from kidney failure.  Well actually when we first got him he almost died because his tail got infected from god knows what (I think my mom's psycho ex had something to do with it but can't prove it), so we had to have his tail amputated, then he survived that only a few years later to be diagnosed with diabetes.  We had to give him insulin shots twice a day.  He lived for years but then his kidney's eventually gave up, so we euthanized him so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.  He was about to die any minute though.  My little cutie.  But I've owned numerous dogs in my lifetime.  I have 3 dogs now.

[specialmom]

Thanks!  I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to it!  Something about those sweet eyes and yes, cold noses that warm my  heart!

[StormyRenee]

There are so many wonderful animals at the animal shelters and rescues. For any one considering adding a furry companion to your family please go check them out first....

Specialmom,
It is so hard when you lose a furry family member....I am sorry for your lose...
It will great be to have a cold puppy nose around your house agin....Good luck in your puppy dog search....  :0)

[specialmom]

Currently I am without pets.  Boo Hoo.  I love all animals but can't have a kitty due to allergies (don't look good with that golf ball, red eye look) and haven't been sold on the gerbil the kids want yet (what if it got loose and no one was home and I had to catch it . . . those little paws, those beady eyes . . .).  So the hope is to get a dog.  Ours died a couple years ago and I'm just waiting until the kids are a little bigger to make sure that no animal is terrorized by my human animals I have at home already. So, we will get a dog this summer or fall most likely and I will let the kids think it is for them but the truth is . . .  it is for me.  (smile)

[Lonelymom]

I have to add to my zoo.... My pregnant cat had her kittens. She had 4 beautiful, fat little butterballs.  I now have 6 cats....

[PrettyKitty1]

Go kitties :) I have two pretty ones and they light up my days. Could not live without'em.

But Ioooooove dogs!

[Lonelymom]

I votes Dog but I love all animals! If you came to my house you would know that right off the bat. I currently have 5 dogs, 4 rescued on our family pet for 3 years now,  2 cats, one that adopted us and the other I rescued as a kitten, 1 fish, blue jewel very pretty, 1 ferret recent valentine gift, and 1 snake. Snake has been my husbands for long before we met.

[redheadaussie]

I am more a cat person but I do own the Amazing Super Dog Tess! She is a Kelpie x German Shepherd. Just got a new cat, Oscar, Seal Point Siamese and she has been most gentle around him. I reckon she knows she will get her nose bitten off if she isn't nice to Oscar! Tee hee.
I am partial to birds and fish too. So is Oscar.

[StormyRenee]

I love all animals but I am most definatly a dog person...

[penswriter]

there's no both!!

i have one of each. an almost 2 year old main coon and a 7 month old german shepherd/husky mix. both are females and torment each other every day.

[teko]

Both. I have one dog and one cat, both female, both the same color and they get along great!