Don’t get a dog

[Manyandyoucanwalkover]

Dogs are really hard work. They don’t come house trained, so expect to have wee and poo all over your floors. They will eat stuff they shouldn’t and then they vomit. They can be very noisy, they bark and they whine. Some keep you awake half the night. The vet’s bills are horrendous. £75 for a consultation, then medication on top of that. They need regular medication for worms, ticks and fleas. Many dogs need trips to the dog groomer, factor in about £50 every six weeks. This is for 10 years or more. Then they break your heart. 🐾💔

Please don’t get a dog, unless you have thought about all the above.

Excellent advice OP

This is very poor advice indeed.

I grew up with a dog and have a house cat as an adult, and the house cat is one million percent easier. She’s very affectionate but extremely self sufficient and causes us no bother whatsoever. There are obviously costs involved but we knew about and budgeted for this before we got her. I thought I didn’t like cats as a child!

As much as I adored my dog growing up, I could see how tying he was and wouldn’t want that for myself as an adult.

I have a cat. It suits me. I dog sit for my daughter who has three dogs. Sometimes I have her oldest dogto stay with me for a while. Recently a month. I also have three great granddogs and another two granddogs in different households. I love dogs in general but I don't have the patience to have one permanently.

Struggle to understand why people have cats knowing the devastation and upset to wildlife, As an invasive species and predator, they do considerable ecological damage. Cats kill billions of wild birds each year. Do cat owners ever consider their neighbors knowing that their cat will kill the wildlife and shit there. Majority of houses where cat owners live are sited near main roads and are aware of the high probability that their cats will run over.

@ThatPlumCritic , mine are here to catch or deter the wildlife. One's a good mouser and the other will catch rats.

That's not true, sometimes another dog will eat it after 3 seconds!

I think it's mostly good advice @Manyandyoucanwalkover
We are all different and we all look after out dogs differently.
You're free to over medicate your dogs if you wish but please accept that other people might choose not to do this.
You might benefit from doing a bit of proper research on the subject.

and the killing of birds is just them having fun.

Pet ownership is pure unadulterated self-indulgence.

@ThatPlumCritic , they've not killed any birds.

@0sm0nthus , yes, for the cats.

That’s not patronising at all! 😂

Don't get a dog...

Because 15 years later the wobbly old bastard will decide to get poorly on a bank holiday weekend, and you don't know if tonight is his last night on the earth or if he'll bounce back next week...

(Vestibular attack on Thursday, we're in the 'wait and see' phase :( )

That is an extreme example. And a rare one. And most cats are not indoor ones. Overall, cats are definitely much easier pets to have than dogs. They sleep 2/3 of the day, they don't need walking, they can be left overnight, and they tootle off out themselves and don't need to be walked 3 times a day. They also do their shits in the garden and bury it. Dogs don't. I can't see how a cat would have been harder work than a dog over lockdown.

Agree with a pp. My cat (nearly 17,) has not even caught a bird in 7-8 years, and even when she did catch them, she rarely killed them. Just brought them in the house. She dropped said bird in front of me, and I would pick it up and pop it on the shed roof. It would fly off a minute later.

As I said at the start of this thread my indoor rescue pedigrees are very needy. And loud. The chaos, fur, dust, constant demands for food, endless litter-tray clearing makes having them a lot of work. Mine (not real cat siblings) were never taught to play - so don't really know what to do. But the lack of activity is not good for bright animals so if they don't play(substitute for hunting etc) they become very destructive. I love the breed but will never have an indoor cat again. The specialist rescues are brilliant but they mostly insist now that the cats are either indoor or trapped in a garden.

True,my parents had loads of cats and their behaviour was almost dog like.

They look adorable. I have a shepherd he's got his own chair and that is where he goes. He has trained me, but he's adorable too.

I recommend a cat. My cat is so low maintenance. All I have to do is top her bowls up with water and dried food, and let her out the back door occasionally. As a kitten, she was already litter trained. And she's so affectionate😻

Totally agree.

I have a Bichon that is now 12 years old. 6 months ago she was diagnosed with cushings disease, £85 a month for medication and blood tests every 6 months £170 that is for the rest of her life.

whats the saying “dogs are for life”

😢♥️

Once the crazy newborn puppy phase is over, they can be perfect. Mine are perfect, and crazy, love them to bits and I know their quirks inside and out. Dreading the inevitable end even though it may be years away. Will be like losing a close family member and best friend.

Why?