Does anyone else love animals but hate having pets?

[Jessicahare23]

Did you compromise with pets in your family or ban them altogether?
huge animal lover here but I struggle with having them in my house and find them mentally exhausting. I know pets are part of the family and the majority of the country love having them, but for those who don’t like having them what’s your story?

*this isn’t a thread for people who call their pets ‘fur babies’ or want to brag about how they love their pets more than their children, I just want to hear from those where my question applies thanks

I like animals but don’t have pets. My dc are allergic to cats and I can’t deal with the commitment of a dog or the hair and mess, especially as I don’t really agree with breeding but also I don’t want one that is anxious or reactive or barks all the time.

I get a lot of joy from feeding the birds in the garden.

Yes me. Lifelong Peta member, love animals but oh Lord, the freedom from not having any.

We had many pets whilst my now adult DC were growing up I was just left with a very aged cat once the last DC left home. She died of old age the year before Covid and although I did miss her and her and having a pet in the house initially, I find it really liberating not having any more animals in the house. The mess, expense, commitment etc. It's truly liberating

I know what you mean. Wouldn't call myself a "lover" but always been very fond of animals, and good with them, and would love the company of a dog or cat in our family.

But I LOVE my house, and the prospect of hair, smell, scratching, noise, toileting, lack of holidays, an animal wanting to sleep on our bed, waking us up early on weekends... no I can't do it!

Hoping my mentality will swing at some point when the kids are older.

I love the idea of a dog, and I enjoy other people's but the reality of daily walks and "getting home for the dog" puts me off every time I consider it.

I theoretically want a pet, and then I think if the restrictions and cost so decide not to. Ongoing argument in my head, but no pet so far. Maybe when I retire (but then I’ll want to travel….)

My partner would say this is him. He loves animals but has never wanted the responsibility of a pet. Which is unfortunate given I have dogs and cats, lol - he is used to all mine now and does like them but certainly wouldn’t have them if it was his choice.

I used to be like this but then my partner persuaded me to get a dog and wham bam, thunderbolts, I was lost! 😆.

I have a cat and before having kids she was my fur baby (sorry), now I have kids it’s almost like I don’t have the mental space to deal with her. When my kids were babies I regarded her as a terrifying germ ridden threat, luckily now the post baby insanity has passed but I still feel like she’s another thing for me to resent/feel bad that I’m doing a slightly crap job at (luckily she’s actually very low maintenance so I am able to meet her needs, she’s not getting neglected or anything).

I regularly get asked if I would have a dog and the thought fills me with horror!

I work with animals and it’s so different, the animals I’m responsible for at work don’t make me stressed at all - I think it’s because I’ve got time to give them undivided attention.

I like animals but I don't want pets. I live in a flat and work away from home so there's no way I could have a dog. I'm not hugely keen on cats. I don't want the responsibility or the expense really. I stretched to a goldfish when DS was younger.

We compromised and got 4 indoor Guinea pigs who live the life of luxury in a huge purpose built cage that takes up about 10ft square in our kitchen / diner extension. They are very cute, but hard work and when these ones are gone we won’t be getting any more. The cleaning out, the mess, the sense of responsibility and expensive vets bills (one had a tumour in its eye and had to have an eye removed- £650 😳, people don’t realise how expensive piggies are…) etc.

I absolutely love animals but I’d rather just admire them from a distance or on tv!

My mum used to have 3 dogs and we’d look after them for her sometimes and it was just such a huge responsibility worrying about them, walking them - when they stop to sniff every few mins 🙄- and picking up poo…. No thanks.

I'm actually the opposite. Have 2 cats I adore but wouldn't actually call myself an animal lover. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be cruel to any animal. But I eat meat, I don't really gush over anyone else's animal. Other people's pets tend to annoy me!

I absolutely adored my dog, he lived until 19 so was an old dog for a long time and I put his needs first for everything. I don't want any pets for a good while (years), it's the responsibility, tie and mess.
I've always loved animals. Much like another poster I really enjoy feeding and providing for the garden birds.

I love animals but I also love have rescue animals as pets BUT I appreciate they are animals. I don’t call them my fur babies or try to baby them. I love them for being animals, I love the cats for being little panthers and the dog isn’t a cute little poo thing dressed in clothes (fine for some people but not for me) she’s a large hound and I love nothing more than seeing her zooming up hills I want a dog to be a dog not a cute accessory.

I understand OP, I don't want to share my house with another species, I just don't.

There are plenty of animals where we live horses, cattle and sheep through to mice, squirrels, hedgehogs, deer.

They are beautiful - in the garden or the fields. Thankfully ds doesn't want a pet 😀

I’ve always had dogs, horses or cats. We don’t have any right now and I have zero desire to get any. They’re hard work. The kids are very young (1 and 3) and I just don’t have capacity to care for anything else. I don’t miss the mess either and tbf my last dog didn’t drop much hair and wasn’t all that messy.

I was never allowed a dog growing up, but had cats. I got my first dog 3 years ago, I railroaded my dog disliking DP into getting her. Ironically he adores her, but I find her challenging. She's a rescue with issues and she is of course a huge responsibility. She also sheds a lot, so it's a lot of mess to deal with. We got a kitten 6 months after the dog. I adore him, but I have huge anxiety about him being out. I'm so scared something will happen to him, I can't relax until he's in for the night, but equally he'd have been a desperately unhappy house cat. He also brings in very alive prey all the time. So I have to play catch the mouse or bird or bat, which is very stressful. I do love the pets and they have brought so much joy to DP and DCs, but honestly I would have been happy without. I feel as though I have no soul writing that.

This is me! And I wished I'd realised it before we got our dog. I love animals, love dogs, but my goodness, they're hard work - emotionally and physically. No more pets for us; we'll go back to enjoying finding our home exactly the way we left it (with all of our rugs, shoes, and furniture un-chewed) and being able to go out for dinner without feeling immensely guilty.

I have a 12 year old rescue dog we've had for nearly 11 years, before DC she was my furbaby. I adore her and the thought she won't be here soon terrifies me but I, like a PP, just don't have the mental capacity for her anymore. Thankfully because she's old, she is v low maintenance nowadays but I still feel she is not getting the care she deserves (totally in my head, she is v well looked after).

I always had pets growing up, of all-sorts but always a dog or two and would want that for the DC but I am sort of looking forward to the day we have no pets so may not get another dog. I say this with a lot of guilt though.

Same, we always had dogs when I was growing up and I thought I'd get one when the kids were older. I give to every internet dog related cause. However, I dog sat for a friend a few years ago and lovely as he was I could not wait for him to be gone. Hated that I had to schedule his walk, feed etc and I hated him always looking at me for something. I also hated cleaning up his poo (mine were still in nappies though which wouldn't have helped)

Yes, I'm a great animal lover but pet keeping isn't for me, aside from the occasional wildlife rescue.
Carnivorous pets have a massive impact on the environment that nobody wants to acknowledge.
There is a kind of selfish mentality that often goes with having pets too.

I grew up with and have almost always owned cats, dogs and horses throughout the 40 or so years of my life.

Two cats, 0 dogs, 0 horses at the moment and I must confess I kind of prefer it that way... the cats mostly do their own thing (because cats) and not having the 24/7/365 grind of dealing with dogs or horses is wildly freeing.

I hear ya @Jessicahare23 I love animals, and I love my fur baby. She is a 14 y.o. cat, and one of 3 we have had over 20 years.

We had one back in 2003, when DD was about 6 or 7. Then got another in 2007 when they first one was 4.

The first one died when she (the cat) was 7 (around 2010.) Sadly she got hit by a car... We got another (third) cat after that, so the other one would not be lonely. (A rescue from Cats protection.) So in 2010 we had the second cat now aged 3, and the third cat - a 2 year old rescue. (Born 2008.) They lived together happily until summer 2021 when the older one (aged 14) died.

We love our (remaining) cat (now age 14) to bits, but I have to say when she has gone, we will never have any more pets. Had 2 rabbits before the cats (for 4-5 years) and they were bloody hard work, and always needed cleaning out! And we have given 20 years to cats (so far!) So we have done our bit!

Our cat, as much as we love her, is clingy and whiny sometimes, (and much worse since the last one died in summer 2021...) She pukes on the carpet some days, (after guzzling her food too quick,) she shits in my planters and digs up the bulbs!, and if we have litter in the house, she pisses outside the litter. She also traipses around after me all the time some days, and walks in front of me sometimes, and slows me down, trips me up, and makes it awkward to walk around the house. She has almost tripped me up many times, and she begs for food and walks off and leaves it when we put it!!! We love her to bits (yes we do before anyone says anything!) and we do look after her and cuddle and fuss her, but she can be annoying some days!!!

I think I had much higher tolerance levels some years ago. Now I'm older - late 50s, I have much lower tolerance levels, and very little patience for annoying things. No more pets ever after our cat has gone. Apart from having very little patience now, there is the cost too. Our second cat (who died summer 2021,) cost us some £2,750 in the last half a year of her life before she died. And the one cat we have left cost us £1300 last summer 2022 for some treatment she needed.

I would not have a DOG if you paid me. Much MUCH too hard work. A clingy and needy cat is bad enough!!!

Yes, my two cats died within a year of each other ( had them 16 years) and i really miss them but the end of finding cat litter absolutely everywhere 🤮🤢 and random pees is truly freeing. Its the silver lining i suppose.

Yes. Although I own horses. So I don't like indoor pets but adore my outdoor pets

I find it exhausting and draining having pets, the nice bits are amazing but I find it such hard work, we have 2 dogs age 2 and 11 months and it's so restricting, tiring and hugely emotional when things go wrong. I wish I'd just remained an animal lover rather than getting pets but I obviously wouldn't be without them now.