BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids connection between ditching pets...

The only pet we ever adopted out was a cat - my mom suddenly became deathly allergic to cats, practically overnight. It keeps getting worse - she can't even walk into a house that has cats because she can't breathe within 5 minutes.

We gave Bitsy away to her best friend's brother, and I was taken to visit her all the time. It was really sad, but medication doesn't even help her.

Dogs don't have a sense of "revenge". Dogs don't pee on the floor or chew things up to get "back at their owners". They do those things because their routine has changed (like being locked in the laundry room, moving to a new place and not getting to go outside often enough), or because they aren't getting enough exercise, time or interaction with their humans = boredom. Dogs are social animals and need interaction. How sad about that poor Yorkie.

Cindy

Since you are all animal lovers and this thread is about commitment to our pets - can I please ask you guys a question?

Now that I have Phoebe (little cat) I have become really worried about going away on trips or vacations. I used to be a real traveller, and DH is looking forward to travel too, now that he has his son grown up (20). We want to go to Europe in September '08 for a 3 week trip. Well this is already causing me anxiety about Phoebe.

What do you all do with your pets when you travel? Is it wrong to go away at all? DH loves Phoebe but even he grows exasperated when I say I don't want to go away because of her.

So far, the longest trip we've taken is our honeymoon for 10 days. I was agonised about leaving her even though my stepson was looking after her. It's just that he doesn't get that she needs understanding and attention. He'll give her the odd pat, feed her and that's all. When I got home she was so pleased to see me, but I have to say she was OK. I just wonder how lonely she felt though.

How do you explain to a cat you'll be back in 3 weeks? Is it better that I leave her here in familiar surroundings but only stepson to look after her, or should I take her to a cattery? The thought of her finding herself left behind in a cattery not understanding what's happening and when/if we're coming back just about breaks my heart.

How do you all deal with this? Am I being utterly pathetic - she is, after all, a cat.

We leave our dogs with our parents - my mom gets the older dog because he LOVES her dog. His parents get the little dog because he is best friends with their puppy. I don't think the dogs even notice we're gone. I don't know anything about cats, though. All my sister's cats seemed really independent and didn't want/need much attention anyway, and never seemed to care when she went on vacation (they were left with her mother.)

When I was a kid, though, I was in charge of looking after my mom's friend's cats when she went on vacation. I loved it. Is there a neighborhood kid or a niece/nephew who could look after it? If they consider it a privilege, they'll probably show the cat lots of affection.

Feebee, I struggle with this a lot with my pets too. We end up not traveling very much, which is not a great option. Sometimes I feel very silly because some people who have kids manage to travel more than me.

I think finding someone to stay at your house is the best solution if possible. That's what I will be trying next. We dont' have "cattery's" in the US. I like that word though. They are starting to open upscale cat-only kennels, but even that would be hard for me too. We left our beloved dog at a small kennel at a neighbor's home, and it was a nightmare for all involved. I will NEVER do that again. She had no idea we were ever coming back, and the kennel-owner was afraid she would die of sadness. I know it sounds strange, but that's what she told us, and we were only gone for about 4 days! So, that didn't work.

Next time I'll get a housesitter who can stay at the house all day if at all possible. If they have to go to a job for 8 hours and are only here at night that wouldn't work. I'm sure it will be expensive, but it has to be.

My cat is a lot easier than the dog actually, and can run on minimal affection for a few days without too many horrible repercussions (the odd "grudge puke" or two perhaps).

Anyway, if you're pathetic for feeling this way, then at least you're not alone, because I am too.

By the way, one idea my husband and I have been talking about is doing a house swap with other people with pets. I'm not sure how complicated it would be though, but we're exploring the idea. AND, one of the places we most want to travel too is NZ, soooooo....any interest in a vacation on a ranch in No. Cal?

Feebee....I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Phoebe. Cool name...HeeHee...I am guessing that is where you came up with FeebeeGeebee. That is one of the many nick names that we call our little Phoebe. It is amazing the number of nick names you can come up with with a name like Phoebe.

The Feebster
The Feebermyster
FeeberWeebers
FeebaDee
And the list goes on...

This post really hits home with me. I just don't understand how a person could take in an animal and not understand that that animal (or animals, if you have several like I do) are a responsibility for the animal's entire life. An animal is a living being, and must be loved, played with, etc., for as long as he/she is with us. We have 6 cats that we love dearly. We are very devoted to their well-being and would never give them up. I would never want to be faced with something like having a child who has allergies so terrible that we have to give away our cats!?! That would be an absolute nightmare. I know someone at work who has 4 cats currently, along with 2 kids, but I think she recently divorced and has been overwhelmed. In our facility's newsletter a few weeks back, she advertise that she had 2 cats looking for good homes, and I sent an e-mail to her about it - 6 is definitely our limit, but I hate to hear that adult cats suddenly need to find new homes. She said that it's just getting to be too much with that many cats and the kids on top of it, but I just can't understand how you can decide that 2 of 4 suddenly need to go. I referred her to several no-kill shelter/rescue groups in our area, and in our dicussions, she said that she would never give them to any shelter where they'd be euthanized because she loves them too much. I just wish she wouldn't uproot them at all. I don't have kids, but seriously, how is caring for 4 cats much different from caring for 2 cats? We went from 2 to 4 cats fairly quickly 3 years ago, and it really wasn't a big difference from what we were used to, after the introductions and the breaking-in phase ended.

I can also relate to worrying terribly about what to do when you go on vacation. I know a lot of people with cats just leave out tons of litter, tons of food and tons of water, but I couldn't leave our cats unattended for several days! 1-2 days is about all we'll be away without someone looking in on or staying with our cats. Last year, when we went to Jamaica for a week, I was terribly worried, but at the time, we had a friend who lived right across the cul-de-sac from us who was able to housesit. She just happened to be moving out of her house at the time, and staying at our house was convenient for us, so she could take care of the cats, and convenient for her, since she could still be close to her work, despite having sold her house. Unfortunately, if we go on a week-long vacation next year, she's not an option, not being close-by anymore, but I'm seriously hoping that my brother who lives 20 minutes away from us could either stay at our house (he has an apt) or check on our cats and do their litter and refill food/water once each day....hopefully that will work out. I guess there is always a neighbor checking on them each day, but unfortunately, we don't know most of our neighbors well enough and I'm not sure any of them are "cat people". I just worry about them receiving the amount of attention/affection they're accustomed to for the week we're gone, but I'm sure that if they want some love, they'll come out and see the person who is there taking care of them while they're there - that's how our cats are....

Sorry to ramble....this is just a subject that is near and dear to me!

I just worry about them receiving the amount of attention/affection they're accustomed to for the week we're gone, but I'm sure that if they want some love, they'll come out and see the person who is there taking care of them while they're there - that's how our cats are....

Sorry to ramble....this is just a subject that is near and dear to me!

Another reason why I don't want to get cats, etc, is because I don't want the hassle of 'worrying about Fluffy' at home if we are gone for a week. I know that would always be on my mind if I/we were away for a weekend, etc.

Just like I am CF, I am also cat/dog/pet-free, because of the same reasons.

Love this thread. I volunteer for an organization that saves pets from shelters. All of our cats had homes and were abandoned at the shelter for a variety of the reasons mentioned in this thread. The worst part is that these cats weren't even abandoned at a no kill shelter. All our cats have been saved from death row just become their original family didn't care enough. They are all really sweet cats and we have an extensive adoption program so we make sure that their second family is a forever family.

There is no way I could ever part with my cat, a big reason for never having kids, what if the kid is allergic. Plus my cat is very close to me and he doesn't like when i'm devoting time to another small creature. My friend brought her baby over and it was on the floor. The cat approached it like a strange object, hair up, neck out, paw poking. It was pretty funny.

My dad is a baby for cats. He is 65, works at home. I found him one day sitting on the floor of his office working on his computer because the cat was sleeping on his office chair.

As for when we go on vacation we live near family so they take turns coming to the house, we do the same for them.

Maybe this has been mentioned as I didn't read back through all the posts but I used to wonder when people brought pets in to abandon at the shelter and they had their kids in tow-what were they teaching the kids? Did the kids ever think they might be next or were they never taught to love and care for a pet in the first place?

As to traveling. We have a truly wonderful pet sitter. She comes twice a day (we have a pet door too) and spends 30 minutes each time. Once the tasks are done of feeding, checking water, etc, she plays with them for the remaining time. We have 3 dogs and 3 cats tho so they don't get too lonely, except that I work at home so they are used to having me here all day.