AIBU to ask you not to even think about taking on a pet unless you know what the fuck you are getting into?

[MycatsaPirate]

Sorry, this may be a rant.

A friend of mine runs a wildlife rescue and both of us are active on a pets lost and found group on facebook too. Both of us have taken on cats in the last two months which were either unwanted, neglected or strays.

Mine is staying with us with our other cats. My friend however, runs a rescue and her house is filled with various wild animals that are not conducive to keeping a cat plus she has four dogs. So she found a couple who wanted a house cat.

They picked up the cat at 2pm today and have since rung her to say they don't want to keep her because a) she's growling and swiping at them and b) they can't pick her up and cuddle her. FFS! They've had her a few hours and it can take weeks to settle in a cat.

Luckily a mumsnetter had messaged me a few days ago about this cat and I am hopeful she will be able to offer her a permanent home providing she can give the cat the patience and time it needs to settle in.

But please, whatever animal you think you want, do some research. Ask questions, ask on forums specific to the animal, find out how long it will live, find out how much money it will cost to provide everything that animal needs from food and vets bills to specialist equipment. Most importantly of all, please understand that it's an animal and it's not an 'instant pet'.

Quite happy to answer questions on cats and if anyone can off advice on other animals, please do make yourselves known.

Please don't get a pet and then lose interest in it a few months later :(

My rabbits live in my house. They live in a huge run that takes up most of my living room and have free run of the house when I'm home. The RSPCA rescue assessment guy said the set up was excellent. They have a smashing diet and lots of stimulation. The one we rescued came from a hoarder's house and had never been handled or socialised so is terrified of everything, I don't think he'd cope outside in the open, even if he had a thick enough coat.

Totally agree, it's very hard watching the fallout from uninformed pet owners.

I'm overseas and the situation here is dire - expats just take on a cat or dog or rabbit with no idea how to look after them then when they leave suddenly 'can't afford' to ship the pet with them. Rescue centers are full to bursting and so many stray cats living on the streets.......

Our rabbit was a rescue, she's utterly gorgeous but my god has she trashed the garden!!!! She has a shelter but has free run of outside 24/7 and likes to nibble at or dig up my favour items plants!! She's at least 8 years old and very content to hop about, have the odd stroke and amazingly her and the cat are the best of friends!

One of our rabbits was a rescue, my DF found her dumped. Beautiful little dwarf, lovely personality, very affectionate, loved cuddles and made friends with one of the cats. She'd had a broken leg at some point that hadn't been treated so she always had a slight limp.

She was lucky my DF saw her and was able to go back to work, grab a box and come back and pick her up.

Don't know why people think it's ok to just leave a domesticated rabbit in the wild.

The cat she made friends with had also been abandoned by his owners. He was also beautiful, sweet natured and loved cuddles.

We have had lots of rescue dogs and cats over the years. Our present rescue dog came to us as a foster at 7 months.

He had been very illtreated - beaten, practically starved (given some food a couple of times a week), did not have free access to drinking water, was kept locked in a shed, never walked, never played with etc.

So when we got him he was not housetrained and was pretty much a nightmare with everything. He was scared of everything because he had been kept in a shed. He was even scared of grass, trees etc just because he had never seen them before.

We never intended keeping him but just foster him. We had him a week and off he went to his "new home". The woman had been thoroughly vetted, had had the breed before, knew of his background, knew he wasn't housetrained, knew he was scared of everything and very vocal when he was scared (which was a lot of the time). After 3 days she went back to work (she told the rescue she was taken 2 weeks off). Poor dog barked, cried and howled. She phoned rescue saying she could not keep him because her neighbours were moaning and he had ruined her carpet!

A week or so later off he went to his next "new home". They had him a week then said they couldn't cope with him. Back to us he came.

Then he went to his third and final "new home". They excelled - they had him 1 night. Despite having had him for a weekend previously as a trial run they kept him 1 night! Couldn't cope.

My heart broke for the poor boy, not even a year old and passed from home to home, terrified of everything and almost everyone. There was no way he was leaving our house again.

We have had him over 3 years now. He is still a very challenging dog. He is still scared of things although not as badly and he is still very vocal when he is scared. He is a big dog with a loud bark so looks as though he is being aggressive although it is all just noise.

He is so very loving to me and DH though it is worth all the hassle.

Rabbits: not easy to look after if you do it humanely, and not the best pets for kids, either.

Tortoises also take much more knowledge and care than anyone seems to think.

I wish the whole approach to keeping animals as toys for our benefit would change.

I know a couple of idiots like this.

A work colleague who saw a photo of an unusual looking cat that needed rehoming. She just had to have her despite never owning a cat before. The cat was fine for a few years until she got old. When she had an accident on the bedroom carpet she got thrown out to live in the shed. "But she's fine in there, she has food and a bed"
Then when she became very old she was talking about her maybe needing putting to sleep as she didn't seem well. "I don't really want to spend the money on her if she's going to die anyway, she's still purring lots so can't be in pain"
That's when I lost it and told her that cats purr when they're in pain and if you knew anything about cats she'd know it. The cat was put to sleep the next day.

Also a friend of DSs have had a house rabbit for a while now. Kept in a tiny cage in the corner of the room and let out occasionally to run around the living room. Then they decided to get a dog too so the poor rabbit is shut up in this tiny cage in the corner with a bouncy and very barky lurcher cross puppy trying to get to her.

Apparently the dog has learnt to leave her alone now.

You couldn't make it up.

mirime we had a gorgeous rabbit my brother found abandoned in a car park.
We had him for 13 years! And he wasn't a baby when we got him. He was this big, beautiful, dumb lump of white fluff
He had the run of the garden and lived in the shed. He loved humping the cat and your feet if you were outside pegging out washing. If the patio doors were open he'd come in and jump on to the sofa where he'd pull tissues out of the box or flick through the paper

That rabbit was the best rabbit in the world. How could anyone have dumped him?

YANBU! I have two dogs and a stray cat that sometimes visits for food. We got the dogs from a rescue after waiting 1 year because we had to make sure our home was sorted and we were properly ready. BUT we could have very easily just bought from a breeder and struggled looking after a dog in a house that wasn't fit for animals while catering to a newborn (which would have been stupid!).

I think the problem is lack of knowledge on animals. And the readiness of pets EVERYWHERE. It's so easy to see a dog being walked and then the next think you know you're dreaming of having a pet and pick up something 20 minutes away from a random breeder. It's too easy to do this without knowing the first thing about animals. So A) it's a nationwide problem of being able to breed animals and sell them on and B) lack of education and knowledge of what it takes to properly care for an animal (and having the right facilities) - I know an old woman who bought a rott for protection in her upstairs flat. Poor thing is let out on an extendable lead for a wee 4 times a day and has chewed through door frames because of pure boredom!!

It’s so far removed from its natural environment.

You could say that about most indoor pets though. Rabbits are also completely thick so as long as they have enough space, correct diet and stimulation I don't see the issue really.

Well I don't have a garden...and I don't trust that giving them away to a new home will mean they go anywhere better. Even with a garden they're often confined to a small hutch, at least in my house they have a lot more space than that. And the RSPCA welfare guy seemed pretty happy with how I was looking after them. They seem pretty happy. They're getting on a bit now so after a cursory check on the perimeters/investigation of shopping bags they normally go back to their run and have a snooze.

I adopted my two from Gumtree

YANBU. Animals are delicious especially little babies, but a lot of people think you just get snuggle adorable puppies and kittens and forget about the extremely hard work that goes with it.

YANBU

However, you can't always predict how well a pet will settle or it's temperament. Or if it will get on with existing pets/children/being left alone while you're at work.

If I adopted a cat and it was behaving aggressively, I'm afraid I wouldn't wait a few weeks to see if it settled. I couldn't risk my toddler or visitors kids getting hurt. Same if it was pooing and weeing everywhere- I don't have the time or energy to keep cleaning after it, and would be afraid toddler might step in it. It's a major hygiene hazard.

People need to do their research- i.e. get a pet that suits their lifestyle, preferences. But also I think there is no shame saying it hadn't worked out and returning it. Why would you make yourself miserable keeping a pet you resent?

Mydogisthebest, thank you for being such a good owner and sharing your story.

I agree too. I have two rescue cats and two rescue dogs (dog 3 just died 🙁). I've been pretty involved with a couple of rescues and the reasons pets are given up disgust me, although not quite as much as those that neglect them.

I spent Boxing Day at relatives. One of them had got a huge, expensive, pedigree puppy a few weeks before Xmas. It was in a small cage in the utility room while its owners went out for the night (left with their mum) in a strange house that had 20 people it didn't know round for a meal. It was allowed out to meet our dogs, but shoved back in when it got bouncy, despite me saying that's what puppies do. Two days later there was a post on the owner's Facebook page asking if anyone wanted to puppy sit the pup that night as they were going out. I have visions of us ending up with the dog I. Six months when it is massive and out of control.

Oh, and for the person unthread asking about the ginger rescue cat up thread, bear in mind he may always be a timid cat that stays on the exterior of your family. If you want a more cuddly family cat it may be better to choose something friendlier in the cattery. But cats do often hide when nervous, and given time (could be six months) may come out of their shells. Mine hid (from the dogs mainly) for several months, but are now very much involved in the family - especially when the fire is lit!

At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, is there anything I should know about hamsters that isn’t obvious? My 5yo wants one for her birthday next week - she’s wanted one for ages - and I know the overall responsibility will fall to me which is fine, but we’ve only ever had goldfish and so I know nothing about pets but have read up on hamsters and family members have them. They’re pretty straightforward, right?

Hear Hear
Well said OP

Rabbits are not completely thick!

People think that because they are kept in small hutches and in boring environments!

Kept properly, with the space to move around and interact, they are actually very curious about their surroundings and very inquisitive. Mine can even do basic four pice jigsaws (honestly!)

Completely agree OP.

I have known so many people get a puppy/dog and give them up after a short time. Especially when a new baby comes along.

They don't seem to take into account that they have an animal that may need some time and training and not a perfectly programmed robot.

Makes me so angry.

mydog

You star

Op agree.

subtle as a parent of a darling dog who hasn’t really mastered sit I want to see your brainy rabbits

CountessofGrantham I found hamsters a complete PITA. The cages you get from Pets at Home etc. are far too small for them - they need something pretty big to run around in so space is a big factor.

Plus they are nocturnal, some more than others, so my DC were usually in bed when ours came out so they rapidly lost interest.

And they are noisy - bars and wheels are never silent as they purport to be and they chew and run for ages in the evening so the cage needs to be somewhere where the noise won’t botjer people.

I don’t think hamsters are the best pets for young kids tbh!

I have hamster-sat in my younger days and know they’re largely nocturnal and noisy little buggers but wasn’t aware the standard cages were too small. Hmmm...