The Vent and Rant Thread

[amward]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

From your discussion about cats, their confusing behaviors, how to take care of them and many many miscellaneous things that only pop up when you have a cat for real, I made the decision not to have any pet at all cost.

Well that's sad for you I think. Pets can be a bit of a nuisance, but so can kids. The love and enjoyment you get from them more than outweighs any problems they create.

BTW we use sawdust in our litter trays and it's not usually very smelly, we do change it every day. The bad part is that the cats get in and dig throwing sawdust out through the entrance all over the bathroom. if we have guests I change to a clay based litter that is too heavy for them to throw everywhere.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

From your discussion about cats, their confusing behaviors, how to take care of them and many many miscellaneous things that only pop up when you have a cat for real, I made the decision not to have any pet at all cost.

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I'm a dog person myself (I've 2 Airedale Terriers), but even with that I'd say it's totally worth it even having a cat or cats. About the only negative I'd say dogs or cats have is that they occupy so much of your life and consciousness, but of course this is also the greatest positive. Their behaviours are fascinating, their relationship unlike any human-human relationship, and there's a co-dependency that one gives in to willingly. They are my/our "pack".

Think of it like this: making a decision not to have a pet based on these things you have read here (noting that pet owners tend to comment most on the "negative", but almost always as a hard irony intended to highlight deep affection) is like saying "I've made the decision not to travel because packing sounds annoying and airline food sounds icky". Our negative "evidence" is selectively picked by us, and not to be trusted. We love our pets and what they give us, and the negatives are mostly an intended contrast to that.

Cheers,
Marc

Originally Posted by amward

Well that's sad for you I think. Pets can be a bit of a nuisance, but so can kids. The love and enjoyment you get from them more than outweighs any problems they create.

BTW we use sawdust in our litter trays and it's not usually very smelly, we do change it every day. The bad part is that the cats get in and dig throwing sawdust out through the entrance all over the bathroom. if we have guests I change to a clay based litter that is too heavy for them to throw everywhere.

maianhvk,

it all goes down to one simple universal thing, about pets.
Love. Pure, fulfilling and easy.
That is something that might be worth for you to consider .

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

From your discussion about cats, their confusing behaviors, how to take care of them and many many miscellaneous things that only pop up when you have a cat for real, I made the decision not to have any pet at all cost.

Sorry, bad choice. What you need is to find the 'correct' pet that fits your lifestyle!

Some suggestions for those who don't want the 'bother' associated with usual pets;

1) Lithops. Also known as Living Rocks



They take almost no care at all, no need to walk them, they don't shed, they stay where you put them, and you don't have to be home to feed them.

2) Pinapple Top. Just set in on a tray filled with gravel and water. It will grow for two-three years, eventually forming a new fruit/flower on top. You will need to transplant it after the first year's growth, but other than that, just some water every week or so. No litter box to clean. No need to take out for walkies on cold rainy days.

3)Stuffed Teddy Bear. No need to clean up after, cheap to feed, doesn't die if you forget to give it water. Extremely cuddly


Try one!


Stitchawl

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

this is what I use with the pellets. maybe it is a combination of the two things. what wee doesn't get absorbed by the wood pellets trickles through to the underneath tray and soaks into the pee pad. I have never smelled any urine since I have been using it. it is not because my nose is dead either because I go on home tours weekly and can sure tell when there is a pee problem in a house

Interesting, but doesn't seem available in the UK - and the p&p looks pricey.

"Clumping litter" is available in the UK - but we've not had a great deal of success with it - it gets everywhere !

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Can't say it better than this!

How could you resist this face?

or this one ....

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Sorry, bad choice. What you need is to find the 'correct' pet that fits your lifestyle!

Some suggestions for those who don't want the 'bother' associated with usual pets;

1) Lithops. Also known as Living Rocks



They take almost no care at all, no need to walk them, they don't shed, they stay where you put them, and you don't have to be home to feed them.

BIG K for that one. Sounds, and looks, like science fiction.

[SameOldStory]

It's hard to complain after reading what DixieGal went through. My problem is so minor.

The pump on my heat pump seized up. Repairs will be about $1,200. This also just happens to be the coldest “spring” here in decades.

All that wouldn't be so bad save for the fact that I lost 7 months recovering from surgery followed by 3 weeks (3 months later) from a major infection that put me in the hospital.

Still, I'm doing ok.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

BIG K for that one. Sounds, and looks, like science fiction.

They really do look odd. This is just one variety of Lithops. I've seen 4-5 different ones, and unless they are flowering, look just like a bowl of pebbles!
If you do a Google Image search for Lithops you can see some really neat ones!

Stitchawl

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'd hate to think just because we were blathering on about little things that we'd turned someone away from the thought of adopting one of their own.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

What AStrangerHere said.

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

my life would be incomplete without my pets

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Think of it like this: making a decision not to have a pet based on these things you have read here (noting that pet owners tend to comment most on the "negative", but almost always as a hard irony intended to highlight deep affection) is like saying "I've made the decision not to travel because packing sounds annoying and airline food sounds icky". Our negative "evidence" is selectively picked by us, and not to be trusted. We love our pets and what they give us, and the negatives are mostly an intended contrast to that.

Cheers,
Marc

Originally Posted by amward

Well that's sad for you I think. Pets can be a bit of a nuisance, but so can kids. The love and enjoyment you get from them more than outweighs any problems they create.

Originally Posted by beppe

maianhvk,

it all goes down to one simple universal thing, about pets.
Love. Pure, fulfilling and easy.
That is something that might be worth for you to consider .

Thanks for your advice

Though it's... it's not that I don't like pet from the very beginning. It's more complicated than that.

My story goes like this: I was 7-9 years old when I came to my mother's working place. The security guards there had 2-3 BIG dogs. Perhaps they weren't that big, but to a tiny kid like me at that time they seemed enormous. I was so scared, shaking maybe, and in no shape to listen to my mother's wise advice: "never run while standing near a dog".

So I ran.

You know what happened: I immediately ran with the highest speed possible, yelling and crying for mom. She was standing over there, far away from me ('cause I ran away from her) and trying to keep the dogs from chasing me. Obviously they ignored mom and were after me in seconds, barking all the time. Hell, all the dogs from the neighborhood heard that and barked out loud too...

I don't remember how I could manage not to get some bites from the dogs. I ran faster than them? Or the guards managed to hold back their dogs in time? What do you think a kid may feel after being chased by furious dogs? My heart nearly fell out of my chest and my knees shook so hard I could barely stand afterward. Leave alone the tears. The dogs ruined my whole day at mom's working place though her colleagues were nice to me...

I just remember that as a bad experience and still get uncomfortable - scared even - when staying near dogs, chihuahua or husky.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Sorry, bad choice. What you need is to find the 'correct' pet that fits your lifestyle!

Some suggestions for those who don't want the 'bother' associated with usual pets;

1) Lithops. Also known as Living Rocks



They take almost no care at all, no need to walk them, they don't shed, they stay where you put them, and you don't have to be home to feed them.

2) Pinapple Top. Just set in on a tray filled with gravel and water. It will grow for two-three years, eventually forming a new fruit/flower on top. You will need to transplant it after the first year's growth, but other than that, just some water every week or so. No litter box to clean. No need to take out for walkies on cold rainy days.

3)Stuffed Teddy Bear. No need to clean up after, cheap to feed, doesn't die if you forget to give it water. Extremely cuddly


Try one!


Stitchawl

good advice thanks, but no thanks

[The Terminator]

The garbage pickup man..... He won't take all the garbage, I'm allowed to put out TWO cans (Same as everybody else on the street) But the neighbor only puts out ONE, so I put an extra can over there (The neighbor was cool with it) Making it so he had TWO cans. So when the garbage man came he left the note saying why he wouldn't take the can (yellow official tag with little boxes to check mark, on why he didn't pick up the can, too heavy, to many, on the road et cetera) He took a felt marker and wrote "Do NOT put can across the road!!!!, ahrg why oh why does it have to stay in the garage and stink the place up for another week!! We phoned WM and they said there was no problem with what we did. the garbage man is

[SameOldStory]

My driveway and my neighbors driveway are almost next to each other. This area is where we put our trash for pickup.

A couple of times they haven't taken everything. For about a month I'll put my trash at the far end of the property. That makes the trash pickup guy and the driver make an extra stop instead of one convenient stop for two houses.

As I said, I've only had to do it twice.

[SameOldStory]

I need to start a poll - Can I kill Gizmo?



He was chewing on some twigs that he must have brought in from the back yard. I've noticed them before. No big deal.

But when I bent down to pick them up I saw the cross brace for one of the dinning room chairs. Or what was left of it, I should say. It was almost gnawed in half!

Then when I went to throw the "twigs" away I noticed that they looked an awful lot like the wicker laundry hamper. A Clue? They match!

QUESTION: Should I kill a little baby dog?
YES
no

[badgoodDeb]

ABSO-POSITIVE-LUTELY NOT!!! He's a shih tzu, like my little boy. They are so darling!!! But, like any dog, they chew a lot in the puppy stage. Get him some nylon bones and others chew toys. And keep him company - they are bred to be lap companions!!

PS More pics plz. He is adorable!

[Freeshadow]

Stitchawl you forgot something among the pet suggestions for Maian:
4)Boyfriend

that with cats feeding sounds familiar: they stalk the can-opener 1st awaken and meow: "food, food, food." when the 2nd wakes up they show up and meow: "hey we haven't got nothin' to eat yet."

[amward]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

I need to start a poll - Can I kill Gizmo?



He was chewing on some twigs that he must have brought in from the back yard. I've noticed them before. No big deal.

But when I bent down to pick them up I saw the cross brace for one of the dinning room chairs. Or what was left of it, I should say. It was almost gnawed in half!

Then when I went to throw the "twigs" away I noticed that they looked an awful lot like the wicker laundry hamper. A Clue? They match!

QUESTION: Should I kill a little baby dog?
YES
no

Why bother? You'll only get another one and it will probably do the same thing. Just resign yourself to never having your house featured in Home Beautiful.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

Stitchawl you forgot something among the pet suggestions for Maian:
4)Boyfriend

Good grief! I was trying to be kind to Anh! Getting her a boyfriend is only the first step to the anguish of the 18-25 year old years! Pain of sitting by the phone wondering when it's going to right. Pain of wondering if you'll get invited to the prom. Pain of wondering if they are out with someone else...

I learned the truth at seventeen,
That love was meant for beauty queens.
In high school, girls with clear-skin smiles,
Who married young and then retired.

The valentines I never knew.
The Friday night charades of youth,
Were spent on one more beautiful.
At seventeen I learned the truth.

And those of us with ravaged faces,
Lacking in the social graces,
Desperately remained at home,
Inventing lovers on the phone.
Who called to say come dance with me.
And murmured vague obscenities.
It isn't all it seems,
At seventeen.

Janis knew...

Stick with a potted plant.


Stitchawl