Do you regret your pets?

[LittleLottieChaos]

I know there are regular threads on people regretting their children… but I’m interested to know, are people similarly regretful of their pets? I currently am looking after my old childhood cat - he’s an old gent now, poos/wees inside and randomly vomits after eating. He also has to be securely locked downstairs at night or he’ll come up and wake us all for food/drool on our heads.

After spending years thinking ‘yay I want a dog and a cat, in fact a whole menagerie’ now I’m thinking ‘no, I’ll just have my kids…’

YABU - I never tire of my animals

YANBU - I sort of regret them at times

I regret not having a rough collie 20 years earlier. That's 20 years of not having one that I'll never get back.

Funnily enough my feelings towards my pets also changed when I had children.

I used to love animals, now I am not as keen.

No. My animals have all been much loved family members and will always be special to me.

Currently caring for our very elderly dog. She's incontinent, arthritic, is costing us a fortune in meds and wakes us up in the middle of the night to go out for a pee, and has usually already done one on the floor. I don't regret anything, adore her completely, and it's all worth it when I see her comfy and happy on her sofa. It is hard though, there's no denying that and I think it's ok to say that. I think as well that there's nothing wrong with deciding pets aren't for you after your cat goes. The only thing to avoid is getting a pet and then having to rehome it.

@junipertree2 yes he’s booked in a few weeks time for a visit. The thing is, he’s happy and doesn’t seem an any level of discomfort. I’d certainly never let a beast suffer. I do love hugely him, even if he is mega grumpy and a bit lax on his litter tray action…

no its just me and my 12 yr old dd and our 2 now well onto middle age tabby cat brothers ,plus 4 house rabbits , they are our family ,our beloved companions , the bunnies have over the last four years cost me a small fortune in vets bills for various alilments , dentals , gastric stasis , one of the cats has feline idiopathic cystitis which flairs up now and then , but i can say hand on heart i never for a moment have regretted our animals , its my job to look after them , if they get sick so be it , i have to deal with it same as i would if dd gets sick , its hard because of course when they get ill it costs large amounts of money , but well what can you do , just have to get on with it , but never regret . i cant imagine them not here , although i know they must at some point leave ,

I have an elderly and a middle-aged cat and have never regretted them. However they have so far been no problem as in they only use the litter box and don't have health issues so can understand how people feel that way when their pets need a lot of extra care. The level of mess is no more or less than expected and I've lived with cats my whole life so no surprises in that respect. Slightly jealous of how pristine everything is in the houses of those I know without pets but not a worthy trade imo and can't imagine life without animals around.

I regretted my recently adopted kitten for the first few days as it was hard settling her in and my existing cat was clearly VERY unhappy about the new addition.

So yes a few days of huge regret.

But now they're best buddies and I will never regret the decision. As will all other pets once im over the "OMG what did I do?!" They're a hugely loved member of the family for the rest of their lives. No regrets.

Yabu. My elderly cats mean the world to me and I would never regret owning them

I have 2 cats and a dog.
My dog is agressive towards other dogs and strangers unless you spend the god knows how many hours properly introducing him to them. Once he knows them he is thrilled to be around them, but it means we can't have someone just pop over to our house, without either doing the time to introduce or shutting him away, however I wouldn't be without him and I do love him.

The cats are just arseholes and trying to kill me. as I was typing this one of them came over to me and stuck his claw in my leg because I wasn't stroking him

We "share" a little dog with family members. He basically is comfortable in three homes (relationship breakdown, but not mine).

He often spends a week with us if other family members are away or very busy.

He has been closely bonded to me since a little puppy. A bit of a velcro dog and definitely a lap dog.

I love him to bits and really miss him when he is not here. But I admit it is nice to have a lie in and not have to get up in all weather and take him out for his morning wee. We live in an apartment and I have to get dressed, ride the elevator down and take him out.

I don’t regret DDog for a moment, even though he’s reactive, neurotic, prone to stupid and expensive accidents, barely house trained and needs a babysitter if we go out.

My only regret is that he was already 8 years old when we rescued him 2 years ago and I’m genuinely really worried how I’ll cope when he dies.

Our gerbils however… Let’s just say they were a lot needier, lived a hell of a lot longer and needed a lot more space than we’d anticipated, plus the remaining one seems on a mission to accumulate as many expensive medical maladies as possible before he dies. It sounds awful, but when I took him to the vet’s last time I was very much hoping he’d suggest putting him to sleep. But no, he’s getting twice daily antibiotics ointment, daily salt baths and a gentle blow dry instead

We have an absolutely savage hamster who bites, sprays, and smells like a fox. He's not really the ideal pet, but we've reached an agreement where he lives in a massive cage with a massive "underground" burrow and we never bother him. My DS is very happy to have such a low maintenance pet. It's kind of wierd but it seems to work.

The previous hamster was very affectionate but was determined to create a high resolution map of our entire house, including the backs internal parts of all the furniture. On balance I think I reclusive one

No, even though we ended up with a lot more than we planned. We rehomed two mice from an animal charity and they made a mistake with the sex! The babies are adorable though, we love them to bits (all now correctly segregated though, I couldn't cope with more )

I regret adopting my cats so young (I was 17 and had literally just left home!), but I'm glad our house has lots of animals. They can be hard work, but worth it!

NEVER, despite the monthly £100 vet bill. Tortiecat1 has a skin disease and will lick herself raw without steroids and Apaquel.

Have changed user name for this!! I don't regret getting a dog so much as getting the one we got. It's been a millstone around my neck - hates people it doesn't know but doesn't let them know that until they try to stroke it, has a zillion allergies so is on tablets and a special diet (costs a fortune.)

It's very hard to have guests in the house unless they are prepared to completely ignore the dog (the moment someone other than us even looks at it it loses the plot.) We can't take it on holiday with us or really leave it in kennels, so we are tied to home most of the time.

It has cost a fortune in vets bills - and a trip there is a nightmare because of its fear/dislike of people.

So in all honesty it brings very little to my life other than stress and difficulty and expense.

The rest of the family love it, and in a way I do, but honestly I won't miss it when it finally shuffles off it's mortal coil!

Would I get another dog? Yes, because I've had dogs before and loved them, just not this one! Just have to hope that I'd never get one like this one again!!

@Reallyreallyborednow

In the future I'd love a snake but no more big pets like cats/dogs/rabbits or even guinea pigs. I enjoy having animals and they enhance my life but I don't think I could give the proper care to any larger animals in the future and it wouldn't be fair on them

Snakes, reptiles and fish are difficult to look after, unless you really know what you’re doing. I got fish as I thought they’d be easy and relaxing, but jeez the measuring of the water, water changes, water chemistry, and still the buggers die. Emptied it and got gerbils instead. Much easier.

Snakes I love too but the feeding, heat lamps, making sure you’ve got the humidity right, getting someone to look after them if you go away is a challenge… again I think a cat is easier.

I've done a butt ton of research on Snakes (to the point of obsession) and would be starting with one of the easier snakes. Can't go away anyway because of our 8 spoiled rats (and my anxiety ) plan is to start with a corn snake. My Grandad had fish when I was young (part of our massive zoo) and I know how much hard work and heart break goes into them and considering how much the hobby has improved care I can only imagine it's much harder now. Birds as well are another pet I wouldn't consider despite having and adoring Cockatiels as a child. Another animal people think are easy but are incredibly difficult to care for.

We have a royal python and she's incredibly easy to the point dd has looked after her solely since age 9. Obviously you need to get the set up right but it's straightforward and a once off effort. She's an incredibly interactive pet. Easy enough to get holiday care as she can get by for 2 weeks just being spot cleaned and having water checked

No regrets here either. I have six pets of various sorts though, and now that vet bills are going up & up, I will think very hard before rehoming any more, when any of the current ones die. I expect there will always be some animals here, but maybe a few less would be easier on my bank account.

Something really changed in me after DS was born and I just don’t feel the same way about my cat anymore. Makes me really sad.

I was feeling a version of this today as I was contemplating the seatbelt my dog ate when I left him in the unlocked car (with the window open!) for less than two minutes while I paid for petrol. And no, the car was not hot. And I didn't realise it didn't have pump payment until queuing and getting to the pump.

This was post walking him in a beautiful place, with tons of off lead (which he loves) and letting him come on the school run in the car even though it's a pain, because I know how much he loves being with us.

£200 minimum to replace a seatbelt because he couldn't cope for less than two minutes while I paid for petrol when normally he's completely fine 🙈

The sheer randomness annoys me. He's not a puppy and hasn't chewed anything for years, much less shown any interest in a sealer belt.

I'd MUCH rather have skipped the walk, the off lead romp, the poo picking, the post walk bath, and had a coffee this morning instead. Hell, I could have gone to the ivy for brunch with a friend and had cocktails for less money than this morning cost me:

So yes, I do regret pets occasionally.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all the posts on this thread.
When I was first married, my husband and I had no intention of getting any pets. However, one evening while out for a walk, we found a starving kitten and took it home with us. Since then, we have never been without at least one pet and often with several. I'm on my own now but I have a small menagerie to care for, and have no regrets.
The only thing is...the pain when they die. It never gets easier.

Nope no regret at all. Getting my dog was the best decision I have ever made.

I had an old childhood cat still with me into my mid 20s, she was incontinent and a bit senile in the last year or so, but I loved her still. I had been so lucky to have her and she had been the most wonderful companion for so many years I never regretted her and was devastated when I had to have her put to sleep.

I have a dog now and I’m sure I’ll feel the same.
Mind you, there was a time when he was a puppy I thought “what have we done!?!” He was such a viscous little sod 😂, but I worked hard to train him and he’s a lovely little contented soul now.