Someone: “I want a cat/rabbit/other animal that will be super openly affectionate, go for walks, play fetch, not mind being handled rough, never be shy, and also I don’t want it to claw me or the furniture(so I’ll probably get it declawed) and I don’t want to ever clean a litter box or cage.”
Me: “Hey there’s this great new type of animal you might be interested in:”
Someone: “I want a dog but I don’t ever want to take it for walks or exercise it very much or let it outside and I want it to be fine with being left alone for longer periods of time and also never bark.”
Me:
Someone: “I want a cat or dog but I want to only feed it a vegan diet.”
Me:
Someone: “I want to have a pet but I basically never want to interact with it.”
Me:
Someone: “I want to get my kid a cute pet for Easter/Christmas!”
Me:
Get a pet that fits your needs. Don’t get a pet then try to force it to fit your lifestyle. Just because you saw a person walking a rabbit once doesn’t mean you can expect a rabbit to just be a dog. Just get a dog!
I legitimately do not understand why a vegan who’s dedicated to pursuing a 100% vegan lifestyle, to the point where they want their pets on a vegan diet as well, do not. just. keep. naturally vegan pets.
Rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, tortoises, iguanas, a fucking horse, for fucks sake!
Like. My god, you have so many options for pets that literally CAN’T eat meat! Why would you insist on keeping a predator, if you can’t stomach the idea that they’re goddamn predators??
Do you have any idea how goddamn loving a hamster can be? Would you like to know what it feels like when a bunny asks you for cuddles?
Vegan pets are a thing. Animals that literally only eat plant matter are a thing.
You don’t have to torture dogs and cats to live a purely vegan lifestyle. Go buy a fucking guinea pig.
I live in
Australia, were pretty much 98% of cat owners seem to have outdoor cats, and
then we all equally complain about our fading endangered wildlife and
overpopulated strays. Granted, I grew up in a family that pretty much got a cat
for funsies and then just let it roam and come inside for food and a cuddle. As
I’ve gotten older I’ve definitely given an ear to people who talk about the
wildlife and how dangerous it is for cats but have never been able to fully comprehend
what they mean.
I think after
you work in a general/emergency vet clinic it quickly changes your once-unsure
opinion on outdoor cats, and I confidently say I will never, NEVER have a
roaming cat again.
My first night
working I had some poor owners walking in balling while holding their dying cat
after being hit by a car. I’d never seen a HBC (hit by car), and it is one of
the most terrible things I tell you.
The amount of
times I have “stray HBC cats” rushed in by a founder only for me scan them and
rush them down to the hospital only to get their owner on the phone saying “but
I only just saw her 20 minutes ago”.
Every week now:
Horrific
motor vehicle accidents
Lost
‘strays’ being bought in after an accident and there’s only so much you can do
as you can’t reach their owners
Countless
phone calls asking if their lost cat has come through
Unchipped
wandering cats that now have no home (happens to dogs too, please microchip)
Terrible
dog attacks
Snake
bites
Poisonings
Respiratory
infections
Mysterious
broken limbs
Cat
fight infections and wounds
Cat
fight abscesses
FIV
FeLV
FIP
(arguably indoor cats get these too, but it feels more common in outdoor
animals)
HUGE
worm loads
Very sick cats that their owners didn’t notice before because
they toilet and vomit outside (out of view)
Generally the 16-22 year old cats I see are all pretty much indoor kitties
(injured wildlife) Regardless of how you feed them, they will hunt the wildlife
Not only it is
an epidemic to our slowly-wiltering wildlife population but your cat is not
better off anyway. I will never have
an outdoor cat again, and I don’t really know why I hadn’t realized this sooner
(I lost one of my cats HBC and my other two just never came home one day, I’ve
never had a cat past the age of 7, I loved them so much, but was too young and
it never crossed my mind that it was dangerous for them).
For some reason
no-one ever complains about apartment cats and that we have to keep our dogs
contained, but as soon as we do it for cats it’s “cruel”.
“Cats are
easier than dogs”, damn well they can be, but that doesn’t mean you feed,
cuddle and forget about them. Clean the litter tray, play with them, build a
cat run, get them cat trees and shelves they can climb on, get slow feeders
they have to hunt for, give them a window ledge to hang out on, teach them
walks are fun, love them, cuddle them, they’ll be around longer if you do.
People will
scoff and call you silly and that it’s too hard, because we’re stuck in this
backwards lazy notion that that is “owning a cat” and have never given it
another thought, we need to change it.
……okay. you see this stupid looking creature here? the white one?
she loves eating elastic bands. slurps ‘em right down, like a robin would a worm, her stupid eyes all squinty with pleasure. I’ve pulled slimy gnawed apart elastics from her throat, but, uh. since it’s a natural inclination. and gives her joy. guess I should just…..let her reduce her lifespan………even though gobbling elastics WILL damage her internally & cause a yucky death………. you see where I’m going with this?
pets take effort. yes, even cats. if you don’t research how to exercise & play with your animal, and if you don’t provide an adequate environment, how tf can you expect them to magically be happy?
as an aside, cats sleep 16-20 hours a day, so as for “sleeping through their life”? that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
it’s beyond frustrating reading comments like the one above, but honestly, I don’t mean to judge people who haven’t previously been exposed to this information, and are following customs they perceive as normal. for anyone transitioning their cat to an indoors environment, here’s a link to indoor enrichment ideas, & here’s link detailing safe outdoor activities.
With Christmas right around the corner, I want to talk about giving puppies as Christmas presents and why you shouldn’t do it:
1. No animal should be treated as a surprise. The arrival of a new pet affects the entire household and caring for a pet is a big responsibility. The decision to add a dog to your family should be thought about, well researched and should the result of a process, not an impulse.
2. Children should not be encouraged to think of a new dog as just another toy under the tree. A dog is not something that is taken out, played with for a few minutes, and put away again. When the newness wears off, that puppy will still be there. Except it’ll be growing bigger by the day, and still needing guidance, housebreaking, obedience training, veterinary care, etc.
3. Unless you’ve planned well in advance and have been working with a reputable breeder or rescue, most pets sold around this time only benefit puppy mills, pet stores, backyard breeders, etc. Many reputable breeders don’t even respond to inquiries around this time and their litters are spoken for months to years in advance. Some rescues even shut down adoption processes around the holidays. The only people happy to sell you a puppy to give as a gift only care about one thing. Those dolla dolla bills, yo.
4. The holidays are madness. It’s a hectic time of the year, you’re already stressed enough and pulled in 10 different directions. AND it’s cold as hell. Out of the 365 days in a year, this is probably the least favorable time to be going outside every 30 minutes for the puppy’s potty break.
Take your time with this. A dog is a living creature that will depend on you for 10-15 years. Getting one should never be done with less research than you would on a TV or video game console.
#Drewbert #Giftbert #corgi
This. All off this right here! Thank you @drewbertcorgi!
I hate seeing this because its horrible to see those little toes but i still need to share this
Do not de-claw your cats! If you don’t want animals with claws then get a snake or something. But do not do this to your pets!
Obviously declawing cats is bad, but if you made the decision before you knew better, or someone else made the decision, there is still stuff you can do to make the cat more comfortable. DO NOT DECLAW CATS, but if it’s already done, it’s not over.
Basically, watch your cat’s feet, do what you can to make them more comfortable.
I’ve said this before, but it’s only part of the problem to just tell people not to declaw cats. Some cats are already declawed and it’s not fair to make people who didn’t know better, or weren’t part of the decision (example: me) to feel bad without telling them how to fix it. It can’t be undone completely but it’s not hopeless.
(DISCLAIMER: I really tried to make this as clear as I could, but just because you can do things to make a declawed cat more comfortable doesn’t mean you SHOULD or CAN declaw them. Don’t.)
This post is going to rushed but I’m still shaking and it’s hard to type but I NEED people to know this
My mom just took my dog to the vet
She(my dog) was(still is?) having a seizure
Last month we took my dog to the vet and they told us she had developed diabetes, they told us it was caused by the food she was eating, purina beneful.
They told us that there have been many many many reports of Beneful has been causing diabetes, seizures, and even death in dogs.
We had no idea
We immediately switched her food and put her on a special diet plan for her diabetes, unfortunately the effects were already permeate.
Today at 11:20 my mom woke me up crying, I helped her carry my dog to the car (while she was still having a seizure) and watched her drive away red faced and still crying.
Please please PLEASE if you are feeding your pets Purina beneful PLEASE switch their food ASAP
Beneful is poising dogs and I don’t want anyone else to experience what I just did
Also if you could please help me signal boost this so everyone can know
This would explain why my dog has seizures now…fucking hell
Reblog and save lives of dogs
found out purina was the reason my dog winston had been having seizures and puking. please don’t feed your dog purina.
reblog even if you don’t own a dog or even if you’re not “a dog person” because I can’t even imagine how horribly depressed I would be if this happened to my dog
this is your yearly reminder that animals are not toys. they are a huge commitment. even small pets like hamsters and fish can be expensive and require a lot of work. if you’re planning to get someone a pet as a gift this holiday season, please only do so if you’re 100% sure that they are willing and able to take responsibility for the well-being of a living thing, potentially for years or even decades.
ifesbob 