the downside to pet ownership.

[vash]

we rarely get to vent about the flip-side to pet ownership. here goes:

Travel! i just bought airline tix for an extended vacation. pretty much the entire month of Dec, i will be eating asian food.

i have a cat and a dog. my dog is older, takes daily meds, has mild sep-anx. if i were near my family, they would happily dog sit for me. my wife's family is less enthusiastic. i have a hire-gun-dog-sitter. $45 a day for overnight stays..my math is fuzzy, but i think that works out to about a million dollars. (okay, about $13hundred).

i am half tempted to drive the little dude to my mom in texas..it would be cheaper!!

Cat? oh lordie. i am going to have to beg a neighbor to feed her. she is a loving cat, but she has issues. like dragging in feathered things...and vomiting..and pooping. feeding is one thing, asking someone to clean a litter box and do grid searches for lizards and other God's creatures..another thing entirely.

i ask myself this about pets.."why?!!!"

[Jim Richards]

We take our dog with us on our our trips to SoCal. $200 round trip. The airline used to require a health certificate from the vet within 30 days of each trip. So, we were up to nearly $300 per trip. Thankfully, the airline dropped the health cert. for each trip as long as we have a record of her immunizations with us.

It's gonna be painfully expensive when we get back to traveling abroad.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by vash

Cat? oh lordie. i am going to have to beg a neighbor to feed her. she is a loving cat, but she has issues. like dragging in feathered things...and vomiting..and pooping. feeding is one thing, asking someone to clean a litter box and do grid searches for lizards and other God's creatures..another thing entirely.

i ask myself this about pets.."why?!!!"

On the cat, the dead things are 'offerings' to you because you're the alpha cat. Likely not going to be an issue for the neighbor. However, vomiting and pooping... check and check.

[Don Ro]

My ex-fiance has a 6 yr. old Basett Hound that stinks to high heaven, sheds, is not house broken (she has a doggie door in her own home), is untrained, and arrogant. Every time she (dog, not ex) was at my home she pooped and peed where ever she pleased.
The ex never takes her anywhere. Why? "She's such a pill to take anywhere." I wonder why.
I did say "ex"!
.
My dog, a miniature Poodle, is a model citizen and we took him everywhere. I wonder why.
I did say "ex"!
.
Cats? I don't do cats.

[5String43]

Yep, there is a downside, I s'pose, but for us, the upsides far outweigh the downside. We have a couple of cats, which works for us because we like their independence, and more. When we travel we have a sitter stay with them. She does everything that needs to be done, which is considerable, since both are indoor-only animals - lots of coyotes in our neighborhood. Bottom line for us - life with them is far superior to life without them.

[SiberianDVM]

My dogs act like they love me unconditionally.

For that, I clean up a little pee and poop.

vash, your pet sitter can't take care of the cat as well as the dog? The pet sitter I had (RIP, Delores) came to my house twice a day, cleaned up, medicated, fed, petted, the works for as many critters as you had.

[Seahawk]

Here: Three dogs, three cats, three horses, two goats, two chickens, and Partridge in a Pear Tree...each animal with a unique malady or quirk that requires some form of attention lest they spontaneously combust.

I fly in Dr. Doolittle when we go on vacation.

[mikesride]

First time in 22 years here without a dog. While I miss my companions I have had no desire to adopt any new hounds and I must say that I am really enjoying my new found freedom.
Take off at a seconds notice to where ever I want to go and my back yard has come back nicely as well!!!
I love dogs and maybe once the wander lust in me subsides I will have another.

[bleucamaro]

We unfortunately have 4 cats, 2 ours, 2 inherited from my deadbeat BIL. We paid the neighbor kids $100/ week the last two trips we went on to feed them, scoop / clean the litter, and pick up puke & hairballs. A bargain compared to $50/day at a kennel.

[scottmandue]

Three cats here, used to have friends with pets and we reciprocated on pet sitting... they have since relocated to a no pet apartment and have become less than enthusiastic about pet sitting (I do offer financial compensation).

However we were again super lucky that an old friend of mine also lives in a pet free condo with her 30 something daughter who is a cat lover... I think we pay her $15-20 a day and she gets to play/love on our cats... win/win.

[Baz]

When I went to Nicaragua on a 1 week surf trip, I had a neighbor come over couple times a day and feed, water, let out the dogs. Cats are already outside 24/7 so just food and water replenishment for them.

The key is having a good enough (especially responsible) neighbor who would do that.

Hardest part was being apart for that 1 week. My girls peed all over the floor with excitement when I walked back in that door. Bless their hearts.

[vash]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Three cats here, used to have friends with pets and we reciprocated on pet sitting... they have since relocated to a no pet apartment and have become less than enthusiastic about pet sitting (I do offer financial compensation).

However we were again super lucky that an old friend of mine also lives in a pet free condo with her 30 something daughter who is a cat lover... I think we pay her $15-20 a day and she gets to play/love on our cats... win/win.

you bring up a good point! i dog-sit all my neighbors all the time. BUT our trip will span the Christmas Holidays, and putting my hellion dog on them, might be too much.

my dog sitter, i drop Harry off at her house. no kennels, he just becomes part of her pack. 10 dogs max, nothing over 30lbs. the lady is getting RICH.

cat-sitter..so far as been my BIL, but i think he hates it. cats are not for everyone. i get it. i barely like them.

[Rikao4]

LOL..while she's not getting rich..
a friend does quite well doing nothing but this...
nice places to stay...
they always bring her stuff...
generous with tips..
she's booked in advance....
and Holidays..she charges double...
no-one complains..

Rika

[masraum]

We've got two pups. When we travel, we can ask the kids to watch them, and we do the same with theirs if they travel. We love them both to death. I'm not looking forward to the day that they are no longer with us. Especially my wife's, just because I know she's going to be really heartbroken. I think they are about 8 years old, so I hope we have many years to go.

Still, there are times when it would be nice to not have to worry about them and to be unfettered to come and go as we please.

[Mothy]

Are there no commercial dog kennels/cat boarding in your area? Ask at the Vet - they usually have lists of local ones. For one animal its often cheaper.

In our case - 4 cats (one blind), 2 large dogs and a lizard (eastern Dragon) it is cheaper to get a local lady to live in and mind the house.

Our annual camping trip is for 2 weeks and by far the biggest expense is pet related!

If you add up the annual cost of food, vet bills and accommodation most people would be shocked at how expensive owning a pet is -

Still cheaper than a teenager.

Tim

[masraum]

Yeah, there are kennels, and we used them once. I'm just not a fan. I prefer our pets to be cared for the way that they've become accustomed to.

[cstreit]

Well if a picture is worth 1000 words, I would like to submit the following essay on one downside to pet ownership:

[Don Ro]

Ha! ... 'love that look.
That pup needs some exercise, I'd say.
Separation anxiety?

[cstreit]

Don - Seperation anxiety. I work from home, wife is a full time Mom, so she's not used to being alone. This was the "I was alone for THREE HOURS!" response.

[Baz]

LOL.......yeah Chris....in Cattledog lingo we call that the "stink eye"!