To think pet owners should stop calling themselves “dog mums” and “cat dads?”

[TheDeftAquaViewer]

It just feels a bit much when people treat their pets as if they’re children. AIBU to think this trend has gone a bit too far?

Well Im a dog grandma! In waiting for DGC. My girl is a lovely lab ,we cuddle up and have a "date night" a Bonio for her ,some chocs for me! When "Grandad " returns from Squash she cuddles up to us both!

I find it sad. But then the whole idea of taking an animal away from it's actual family and isolating it in a house full of a different species is horrible really if you think about it. But I guess calling yourself your pet's mum/dad glosses over all of that and makes the idea more palatable. But I'm not a pet person, obviously.

I was going to agree, but then remembered I do refer to my husband as ‘daddy’ if talking about him to the dog.

I draw the line at fur baby though.

Other people are allowed to use the language as they see fit

@mathanxiety

That is what people are saying throughout this thread.

Yes it’s fine to have an opinion not to like these terms of endearment, but to actually think we should stop just because they don’t like it, in my eyes, is wrong (and also, never going to happen!)
If I want to call my pet something, I will.

Having an opinion is fine, not liking it is fine, but OP actually thinks we should stop, and we aren’t going to.

Yes and it's also incredibly irritating not to mention misleading and pathetic that every Facebook post about a pet now can't simply say "my cat" or "my dog" but "my boy" or "my girl", or even "my black boy" as I read yesterday. Wtf?

Fur babies is worse lol 🙄

Are you just a little bit jealous of your cockerpoo sister? Does she get more treats than you? Aren’t you allowed to piss on the lawn?
😉😁😁.

As it's a harmless trend I'm not sure why he is so bothered about it to be honest. It's not like the human race is dying out, and surely the Christian thing is to live and let live with something non sinful like this!

We are all animals just different species. Some dogs adopt kittens and some cats adopt puppies. As long as it’s not hurting you in some way why bother with how people are calling their pets.

And I thought my dogs were barking.

@Flumoxed

It is now believed that wolves were the ones to approach early humans, rather than humans stole them from the wild and forced them to be pets.

Nobody is stealing anyone away from their family. In the wild, animal groups split up naturally so that nobody ends up bonking their mother/sister/daughter etc.

Would you prefer me to release my dog into the wild? She wouldn't last five minutes. If she could speak, she would happily tell you that she is much happier with her nice warm house, big garden and three servants feed her, to take her for walks, play with her and supply her with plenty of cuddles.

I started reading a post on here that started with the OP talking about 'my girl' then I realised she was talking about her dog. My eyes rolled so far back in my head I nearly swallowed them.

The worst ones are the OPs titled 'I lost my little boy/girl today'.

My heart does somersaults, and then I discover that they're talking about their pet.

Seriously people, however much you love your pet, don't do that.

Language police much?

It is total cringe, and I absolutely judge. They are a different species to us, and not our children. People can be so pathetic.

I totally agree. But the fur parents don't want to hear it.

I only used to do this in the house but since discovering that some MNetters think it's bringing about the collapse of modern civilisation, I've become increasingly tempted to use it outside too.

I don't refer to my dog as my baby nor me as his mum, but in terms of our relationship I'm part owner, part his human, part parent, part teacher, part friend and part flat mate.

Not to mention judgmental 😆

Dogs have evolved to be with humans. My dog really loves people, he likes saying hi to other dogs but people are who he wants to hang out with and is when he's at his happiest. I know he's a dog, he gets to do dog things every day like sniff and run and play and eat disgusting things. I think it's essential you let a dog be a dog. But given a choice he always choses to walk through the town to see if we'll see some of his favourite people. He's a happy dog.

Not everyone got their pet from a breeder. Mine was from a rescue.

I can see the point you are trying to make, but it is poor form to police the language of someone who is grieving.
When people post about losing their boy/girl, it only takes a few seconds to read on and see it is about a beloved pet. Your reaction to their post should not be their concern, especially not at such a heart breaking time.

For your information some people do think of their pets as members of their family and grief is grief . I lost my lovely dog over the weekend and we are all heartbroken and devastated and I don’t really care what anyone else thinks about that .

Cats stop being maternal really fast.

I was fostering a mum & the only kitten who hadn’t yet been rehomed. I was a bit concerned about whether she’d miss him when he went.

Nope. She went from spending most of her time sitting in the bedroom to zooming all over the flat, & became playful & purry.