Pets are a lot for sure, and you shouldn't have them if you don't have the capacity or bandwidth to care for them. That being said, my pets have drastically helped my mental health. I can't imagine what going through the quarantine would have been like without them.
I have 2 dogs and 2 cats and althougb they are indeed work I can not live without them. That being said I used to be a dog person until I got a cat! I LOOOOVE dogs but man cats are so so much easier! They are chill, fun, loving and just overall easy!
Having cats is like having teens and dogs are like toddlers.
I was only 19 when I got my cat, I severely underestimated the care and cost involved. I wouldn't have it any other way, but damn a rash decision based on cuteness changed my life drastically. Vet bills come out of nowhere, it has limited what kind of jobs I have taken, and more. Cats are low maintenance too comparatively. Love this lil demon, may we have many more years together.
Honestly, the cat helps me on that front. And unlike a child, I can ethically just give her some drugs and turn the TV when I don’t feel like dealing with her right that minute.
I get it, I really do. And come time to say final goodbyes, the pain is almost unbearable.
But man, waking up to finding out you're in the middle of a furry sleepstack with warm, fuzzy friends who purr and cozily nuzzle up to you on a cold winter's night is something else entirely. Wouldn't want to miss it for anything.
She was a lot of getting used to. Luckily she was old when I got her so she eats twice a day, pottys three or four times, and sleeps the rest of the day away.
Still, a lot when two litter boxes and an autofeeder is all my cat needs! Weirdest part is the dog likes to lick and has actually had a few hairballs?? And my cat doesn't?? 😂
Not being functional enough to take care of a pet 👍
The fucking worst is when I tell someone that and they're like "I'll bet you'd rise to the occasion and it would fix you 😄" and like, fuck no. I tried, and all that resulted was a rehomed cat and a whole lot more self hatred and having to convince you that I suck as much as I do is making things so much worse.
Had a cat that I was somehow allergic(?) to. Just constant itchy red eyes. Eventually coughing and wheezing. Never been allergic to a damn thing in my life, including other cats. Never understood it. Shed go all around my face and I would be fine, then suddenly she'd just be about the place and my eyes would get so bloody I swear blood was actually leaking out of them. Had to return her. Loved her to bits in those few weeks. 😭
I'm allergic to cats, but I developed an immunity to my own for the most part. When brush them I do it outside because that could trigger symptoms if it's done indoors. but for the most part after I adopt a new cat it settles down after a while. It sucks though in the mean time, I don't blame anyone for not being able to put up with the exposure period. Also some cats trigger worse symptoms and some don't! I go to different friend's homes and their cats don't make me break out in hives but a a few other friend's cats cause issues right always, I have to take an antihistamine when I go over.
I likely think there was something she would emit, some sort of fur particulate or something else because she loved sitting on my lap and just being right in my face and I was fine. Only literally being in the house with her would mess me up, and after like half an hour outside I'd be okay again.
This lack of direct correlation made me think I was just sick for the longest time until I connected the dots that time outside made me feel immediately better.
She was an odd cat. Fur was unreal silky, extremely impressive even for a cat, and also quite long, and the previous owner said how they've never really had to trim it or do anything to her coat at all because she maintained it herself really well. I've a gut feeling it's connected to that.
"Darling, do you remember when we said, before we have kids we should have a pet and before that a plant to see if we can handle the responsibility?"
"Yes, sure! Why do you bring that up?"
"Well, the basile withered again."
Have a friend who is depressed and lives in a closet. No I'm not joking, the closet is a walk in and fits a small bed/desk/pc. That's it, no windows. Skylight in the ceiling but it has a garbage bag taped over it. The mattress goes part way up the wall because room is small but it provides something to lean against. I gave him my cat a few years ago when I had to move and couldn't take him. The cat still loves there 3 years later and my friend is happier than he was without Freddy
Look I don't mean to be a jerk, but giving a guy who lives in a literal closet a cat to take care feels enormously cruel to both your friend and the cat. Like I'm glad it worked out for both of them in this specific case, but holy shit would I discourage it in literally any other.
Yeah trust me I wouldn't have done it with anyone else. I've known the guy since elementary school. There is more to the apartment than the closet but my friend doesn't use it as it's shared space with his father (who isn't nice). So my friend sticks to the closet and Freddy spends most his time in there too. His litter box is in the hallway outside