[yellowbritt]

How many of you out there have pets? If you do, what kinds do you have? I'd love to hear about them.

I have two rabbits, Peter and Benjamin. I've had Peter for about a year. He was originally my sister's rabbit, but for some reason he really clicked with me and has been my rabbit ever since. My sister named him after the Beatrix Potter character Peter Rabbit. People always chuckle when I tell them his name, but since I'm an English major, it does seem kind of appropriate that I'd have a bunny with a literary name.

I actually just adopted Benjamin yesterday. He's named after Peter Rabbit's cousin, Benjamin Bunny. I don't know Ben all that well yet, but so far he seems very sweet.

Enough about my pets. What about yours? roud:

 

[SarahWilliams]

1 cat 1 dog

i also had a bunny once! they are great!

 

[goesupinward]

one dog...love her to death. its like she is there whenever i need her. if im having a bad day, just seeing her makes everything much better.

i would love to have a chinchilla though.

 

[yellowbritt]

Yes, bunnies ARE great! Even when they eat through electrical cords, chew your nice boots, or nibble pages out of your books. :tongue:

I've heard chinchillas are really good pets, but they're so expensive! My sister was telling me a few days ago that you have to be really gentle with them, too, because their bones break very easily. She told me that a woman went into a pet shop near our house and accidentally broke the poor thing's ribs! The pet store banned her after that.

 

[Ethanol]

For a minute there I thought you were talking about the Forum Pets LOL I was gonna say "I have one dragon! Hey I didn't know you could have multiple P3tz!" haha

I have 1 pet parakeet. He's so cute! I always leave the cage door open, so he flies around the entire apartment at his free will. He's 8 years old now and has outlived many of my highschool friend's pet parakeets. I think he's had a long life because of the freedom we give him. In the morning he will fly out of his cage and play.. he always likes to fight me on my breakfast/lunch/dinner plate for food, so I end up giving him a tiny saucer with rice and some side dishes. He LOVES noodles... he'll eat a whole noodle effortlessly and when he's done fly up to his cage for a nap. Food coma?

Right around 9pm every night, my pet parakeet will fly upstairs and into his cage to sleep. I find him so annoying because he won't let me cuddle or pet him :frustrating: but he always likes to perch on me and poop on me :frustrating:

 

[PaulH]

Ethanol - you should have just left it as I have a dragon - that really would have been cooool

I am going to be contrary and perhaps against stereotype - I really don't like pets, especially slobbery smelly ones - I never got the whole pet thing.

I am not heartless or cruel about animals - far from it - I hate seeing animals hurt or mistreated

 

[MissNobody]

We used to have 1 Dog, 3 cats and 3 guinea pigs but now we are left with 1 cat:

His name is Gin and he is a real pain in the morning! He pats my face with his paw to wake me up and sometimes he will even nibble my nose! I just want to sleep and he's thinking "feed me now!"

 

[no strings attached]

never had cats or dogs because of my allergy, so envious of you guys :angry:. found having birds was kind of shitty for me as my cousin convinced me that birds were not meant to be caged, i just wanted to let them go afterwards. i dont even want to talk about how fish are amazingly boring.. hEy lOok ItS a FisH sWiMming woAh MeaN zero to bugger all interaction

o why o why did i click on this topic just to feel bummed out. fuck it, i might buy a gas mask when im older and get a labrador. ill train it all sorts of cool tricks like skate boarding and brazilian jiu jitsu.

 

[zwanglos]

4 dogs, 5 cats, a bird, some fish...

It used to be a lot worse. When I was a kid, we had 4 dogs, 40 cats (mother ran a cat-breeding business), a parrot, 2-3 cockatiels, 13-16 parakeets, a rabbit, a lot of hamsters, a guinea pig... and my brother adopted a whale at some point.

Most of these pets I didn't really want, and the decision was completely out of my hands. In the future, I personally am going to have anywhere from 0-1 pets, probably 0.

 

[MoonLight]

I have 4 canaries, 3 of them I got by accident or rather odd ways.

I also have a parrot, which needs a psychiatrist because she thinks she's human. :crazy:

 

[goesupinward]

Yes, bunnies ARE great! Even when they eat through electrical cords, chew your nice boots, or nibble pages out of your books. :tongue:

I've heard chinchillas are really good pets, but they're so expensive! My sister was telling me a few days ago that you have to be really gentle with them, too, because their bones break very easily. She told me that a woman went into a pet shop near our house and accidentally broke the poor thing's ribs! The pet store banned her after that.

yeah, i think their cages cost up like 200 or so...the chinchilla itself depends on the color, 100-200 i guess. the big plus is they do not have an odor to them.

 

[HorribleAesthete]

I am going to side with PaulH on this one, though not quite for the same reasons. My family had pets when I was younger, cats, dogs, a rabbit. My parents used to have spider monkeys and horses, but this was before my time. I had a cat many years ago, but I currently have no desire to own a pet.

My reasons are two-fold. Firstly, I do not want to be responsible for taking care of anything (I don't even have real plants). I intend to move around quite a bit in my life and never truly settle down, thus a pet would be quite a burden. I am becoming increasingly averse to responsibility of any sort.

Secondly, and more importantly, I do not wish to own another living creature, much as I would not wish to be owned myself. I also do not agree with zoos and circuses. It goes against my values. I know some see it more as a friendship, but I cannot quite come around to this line of reasoning. All of this is not to say that I do not like animals. Quite the contrary, I like them enough not to anthropomorphize them, eat them, or exploit them for diary products, fur, leather, etc. I am actually quite fond of animals, even the human variety from time to time.

If I were to consider a hypothetical situation in which I were inclined to own an animal, I am drawn to cats. I am rather catlike and tend to bond immediately with cats, even those who generally shun others.

 

[MissNobody]

I am going to side with PaulH on this one, though not quite for the same reasons. My family had pets when I was younger, cats, dogs, a rabbit. My parents used to have spider monkeys and horses, but this was before my time. I had a cat many years ago, but I currently have no desire to own a pet.

My reasons are two-fold. Firstly, I do not want to be responsible for taking care of anything (I don't even have real plants). I intend to move around quite a bit in my life and never truly settle down, thus a pet would be quite a burden. I am becoming increasingly averse to responsibility of any sort.

Secondly, and more importantly, I do not wish to own another living creature, much as I would not wish to be owned myself. I also do not agree with zoos and circuses. It goes against my values. I know some see it more as a friendship, but I cannot quite come around to this line of reasoning. All of this is not to say that I do not like animals. Quite the contrary, I like them enough not to anthropomorphize them, eat them, or exploit them for diary products, fur, leather, etc. I am actually quite fond of animals, even the human variety from time to time.

If I were to consider a hypothetical situation in which I were inclined to own an animal, I am drawn to cats. I am rather catlike and tend to bond immediately with cats, even those who generally shun others.

I currently live at home and although I love animals and I love my cat I do not intend on having any pets when I leave home for much of the reasons stated above.

 

[The Proof]

We used to have 1 Dog, 3 cats and 3 guinea pigs but now we are left with 1 cat:

did he eat the others ?

and no I don't have any pets, it's too much work in a tiny flat

if I had a house on actual land with a large courtyard then yeah definitely

 

[MissNobody]

did he eat the others ?

and no I don't have any pets, it's too much work in a tiny flat

if I had a house on actual land with a large courtyard then yeah definitely

That made me laugh so much!! No he didn't eat them he prefers mice hehe although I do recall him taking a sneeky look at the guinea pigs a couple of times...:laughing:

 

[yellowbritt]

I am going to side with PaulH on this one, though not quite for the same reasons. My family had pets when I was younger, cats, dogs, a rabbit. My parents used to have spider monkeys and horses, but this was before my time. I had a cat many years ago, but I currently have no desire to own a pet.

My reasons are two-fold. Firstly, I do not want to be responsible for taking care of anything (I don't even have real plants). I intend to move around quite a bit in my life and never truly settle down, thus a pet would be quite a burden. I am becoming increasingly averse to responsibility of any sort.

Secondly, and more importantly, I do not wish to own another living creature, much as I would not wish to be owned myself. I also do not agree with zoos and circuses. It goes against my values. I know some see it more as a friendship, but I cannot quite come around to this line of reasoning. All of this is not to say that I do not like animals. Quite the contrary, I like them enough not to anthropomorphize them, eat them, or exploit them for diary products, fur, leather, etc. I am actually quite fond of animals, even the human variety from time to time.

Ironically (since I started this thread), I agree with you! Recently I've been dumping all the responsibility that I can and running as fast as possible from any new responsibilities.

And I agree that people should respect animals. I hate when people treat their pets like people at the expense of the animal. And I, too, sometimes wonder if owning pets isn't cruel. However, some species have been bred to be pets and do seem to really love relationships with people. That being said, I still always read up on a pet's natural environment, behaviors, diet, etc. so that I can make him/her as comfortable and happy as possible.

 

[HorribleAesthete]

Ironically (since I started this thread), I agree with you! Recently I've been dumping all the responsibility that I can and running as fast as possible from any new responsibilities.

And I agree that people should respect animals. I hate when people treat their pets like people at the expense of the animal. And I, too, sometimes wonder if owning pets isn't cruel. However, some species have been bred to be pets and do seem to really love relationships with people. That being said, I still always read up on a pet's natural environment, behaviors, diet, etc. so that I can make him/her as comfortable and happy as possible.

It is liberating, isn't it? It is nice to find kindred slackers within the ranks of my fellow INFJs...

Interestingly enough, it is thought that cats actually domesticated themselves.

 

[yellowbritt]

It is liberating, isn't it? It is nice to find kindred slackers within the ranks of my fellow INFJs...

Interestingly enough, it is thought that cats actually domesticated themselves.

Total slacker here! I used to be an over-achiever. Then I started grad school a year ago, and now I'm so tired all the time. Stuck in the middle of my program, and each day I wake up wondering, "What can I let slide? What absolutely has to be done - and does it really have to be done, or is there a way out of it? Do I really need to read this?" My over-achieving has finally done me in. :laughing:

I'm not surprised about cats domesticating themselves. They're pretty clever. Just taking advantage of silly humans who think they're cute. Thanks for sharing the link, though. I'd never heard that before.