Pet owners referring to each other as mummy and daddy

[Perfidy]

We’ve got an adorable scruff of a puppy. First time dog owners as adults, had cats before. Dh has grown up kids and the dog Is to help with a bit of empty nest.

I’m finding the being referred to as ‘mummy’ by dh, as in go find mummy she’s got your dinner’ a tiny bit cringey. What to do instead....or just get over myself!

It's hard to find an alternative so we just went with it here as we couldn't think of anything else that worked.

The real shame when we start referring to Uncle Neil or Grandpa

Everyone's different.
We do mum and dad. It is a bit of fun between us.
I don't care what others do, just as I'm sure others don't care what we do.

I avoid using ‘mummy’ or ‘daddy’ for the dog as much as possible but sometimes it slips out accidentally. I’d say ‘who’s that’ rather than ‘there’s daddy’.

We do it here and don't really care how it sounds. I definitely 'mother' the dog

I'm Mummy to my cats.

When we first got pur ddog my husband called me mum...I said I wasn't the dogs mum and I had our 3 kids.....however that was in the early days.
I stayed up with her at night, cuddled washed and fed her...when she was sick I cared for her and now I am her mum lol.
She's our baby for sure and it's brilliant...the kids treat her like she's their baby too lol
She's adored, not over the top but the fun they have together and when she's tired we all goo over her lol

I don't like it either, OP. That there is a cat. I am not its mother. Even if I spoil it.

The real shame when we start referring to Uncle Neil or Grandpa

🤣🤣. My parents always referred to the family dogs as my siblings 😱. I've had a German shepherd sister, a greyhound brother and others in between. Fucking bonkers. I am mummy though to the dog.

Yep the pets in our family become small children. I’m the cat’s mummy, my DPs are her nanny and grandad. My DBs are Uncle X and Uncle Y.

I fear I may have damaged DSs self esteem!

I'm a vet nurse and I know people as "fluffy's parents " people love their pets, it's a nurturing relationship. It's far more natural than "owner" you own things not creatures. I'm being emotional about it but when you sit with someone breaking their heart over a lost pet, its more than just ownership

I refer to myself as the cats mum when she misbehaves I always ask her "why do you want to upset your mother?" Bonkers, I know!!

If I go 'where's daddy' the dog runs off the find DH so clearly the dogs agrees

Sorry totally guilty in our house! It’s mummy and daddy all the way, we have an 11year old ds but our dog is the most spoilt child in the house by far!

Usually I use the pet version of DH’s name (eg if DH was called Tim when talking to the cat I’d say ‘has Timmy got a treat for you’ etc) to stop it being too weird....

Funnily enough though we’re expecting our first DC in 3 months and I’ve noticed we’re referring to each other as mummy and daddy in front of the cat more, I guess we’re trying on the names?!

We do it and I couldn’t give a shot what you think. Why does it matter?

I can't stand the whole 'pet parent'/ 'fur baby' thing. I love my animals, I cry when they die or are PTS, it's definitely more than just ownership, but they're not my kids and I'm not their parent. They're not humans, they're animals and deserve to be treated as dogs, or cats, or whatever, not babies in fur suits. That doesn't mean you can't mourn them when they go.

DH and I refer to each by name to the dogs unless we're being sarcastic.

Though I do sometimes refer to the younger dog as 'baby'.

I spend half my day saying 'mummy wubs oo' to my cats, and I don't care who hears me. Their daddy certainly doesn't mind.

Oh and MIL refers to me in front of her cats as their SIL (‘go and say hello to your sister in law boys!’) - now that’s batshit

I’m mummy. Dh is daddy. My dcs are their big brother & sister. They have aunties, uncles, grandparents & cousins. One of dds friends called godmother. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Ddog is loved & is part of the family. So yes I’m mum/mummy!! And proud. She’s my baby.

It's down to whether the animal is a family member.

If it is (and I think it almost always is) then you are going to use family member language.

And it's really the human version of pack language. 'Ask the alpha female' is a bit longwinded...

We always did that. My parents were Mum and Dad, I was sister. Or just my name. I can't imagine doing anything else. My partner's parents do it with their dog too.

Quite liking ‘ask the alpha female’ that could work in so many situations.

My sister told me that after I rang my mother to tell her my DD, her first grandchild, was born, the first thing she did when she hung up the phone was turn to her giant ancient German Shepherd and say "You're an uncle!"

We are mummy and daddy to our cats and dog. We don't have any human children so there is no possibility of confusion. We don't call them siblings, though.

I am most definitely the cats Mother.

And the dogs too.

I don't give a monkeys what anyone thinks about it. I feed them, I care for them, I clean up after them, I love them. That makes me their mummy in my book.