do you have a pampered pet?

markio26 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:09 PM

one of my friends invited me over to her house today and i swear she has a cute lil minature poodle named mandy that she has spoiled rotten.. she rewards the dog with a treat just for breathing.. i could not believe it, she took her dog outside 6 times in 30 minutes, it would bark to go outside.
my friend is a widow, empty nester and she is doling out big bucks on her dog... an article i read the other day said that 6.8 billion was spent on dog and cat accessories last year... this is huge business...
our dog died, cat ran away, we have a taranchula, it belongs to my son, my nephew gave it to him 12 years ago.... he feeds it crickets, the animal hospital told him, the normal life span is around 10 years... so, it is doing well to still be alive in the tank.. it sheds its skin once a year and son saves it in a clear gladware bowl so he can show his buddies.... lol.

getforfree · #2 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:17 PM

I don't have any pets and don't want any. It's too much work and cleanup and expences to have a pet.

Thrifty Ray · #3 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:30 PM

PETS!!!! I am the proud owner of 4 purebred labs...I breed two of them. We have:

1 yellow female....Grace (has cancer and is blind...she lives in the house- retired breeder.)
1 yellow female....Anna. She is my current female breeder...very hyper. Outside dog for sure.
1 Male black....Jake. He is our only descendant of Grace. All others are in great homes elsewhere. Jake lives in the pen, he is 'fixed' so no more pups from him.
1 Chocolate Male...Bear. Bear is our youngest but, besides Grace, our smartest. He is our breeder male and will hopefully make cute pups with Anna this year.

Our outside dogs have a 60 X 60 pen...with a big ol dog house. They are so much fun.

We also have two male cats...outside mousers....They are friendly, but semi-wild.

elcheapo · #4 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:32 PM

I am so sad but our pets were costing us over a thousand bucks a year, yep they had to go. We now use that same money towards our vacation fund

Thrifty Ray · #5 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:38 PM

and the good news...our pets pay for themselves!! Plus a little income to boot!

getforfree · #6 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:39 PM

If someone breeds pets for sale, I can understand that, but if they have have them and love them more than their own kids...
Yes, I would rather have a vacation than have a pet, or be a SAHM for the extra couple of weeks a year.

Thrifty Ray · #7 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getforfree

If someone breeds pets for sale, I can understand that, but if they have have them and love them more than their own kids...
Yes, I would rather have a vacation than have a pet, or be a SAHM for the extra couple of weeks a year.

Pets provide unconditional love and are often great companions. What is important to me, maybe unimportant to you...

and vise-versa.

Dont be too quick to judge... we all have our 'carrots' in life and are certainly entitled to them.

Yes, my dogs pay for themselves...but there are many forms of payment...and certainly enjoyment and companionship are among them.

Isn't diversity wonderful...makes life so much more interesting!!

getforfree · #8 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:50 PM

Whenever my kids want to play with pets, we invite our neighbors dog into our backyard, so they would play. Our neighbor has 2 big dogs, not sure what kind, even he doesn' know what kind.

getforfree · #9 (**permalink**) 05-08-2006, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thrifty Ray

Pets provide unconditional love and are often great companions. What is important to me, maybe unimportant to you...

and vise-versa.

Dont be too quick to judge... we all have our 'carrots' in life and are certainly entitled to them.

Yes, my dogs pay for themselves...but there are many forms of payment...and certainly enjoyment and companionship are among them.

Isn't diversity wonderful...makes life so much more interesting!!

I didn't mean to judge you or anything like that, I just tell everybody what I would prefer instead of having pets.

allyourworth · #10 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 05:04 AM

I have a black miniture poodle named Mindy. Next month she will be 17 years old. She is blind and her hearing is not as good as it was, but she is loving, happy , and eats well.
In spite of being blind she gets around OK. We don't change the furniture around so she has figured out how not to bump into things.
I also have a Chihuahua named Belle. She will be 12 next month.
She is a sweet sweet dog. Not a yapper. She will only bark if someone comes to the door and then quickly goes back to her bed and crawls under the covers, which is what many Chihauhaus like to do.
The vets love her cause she is so well behaved.
I am blessed to have these sweet , smart , little gals in my life.

Check my life size paper mache dogs plus photos of Mindy and Belle and my beloved little Taco who died two years ago.
http://pupart.1hwy.com/

NoWayNovember · #11 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 06:14 AM

We have a 3 year old West Highland White Terrier named Hannah, who I completely adore. We don't mind 'paying' for her to live with us (dogs aren't nearly as expensive as children!) because she brings us such delight and joy. We treat her like she is a part of our family, not something we like to play with every once in a while and then ignore.

She is a bit spoiled, but she's an extremely well-behaved, cheerful dog.

PrincessPerky · #12 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 06:17 AM

We allow two cats to live around our backyard.

The one, Fire, we saw scrounging when we tried to compost, so we let her eat our food, then she got good at catching possums and birds and the like. So we say we feed the rodents (cause nothing compost works, gets eaten really) and she hunts the rodents. (the other cat is her almost year old son)

So we have like the Least spoiled cats in the world

Ima saver · #13 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 06:25 AM

I would do anything for my baby. Her name is Holly and we couldn't get by without her, we love her so much. We have never boarded her, never will. She goes with us on trips. She gets groomed about every 6 weeks. She sleeps in bed with us, under the covers when it is cold. She is the joy of our lives!! I wouldn't care if she cost me $10,000 a year, she gives me more love and happiness then I could get anywhere else!!
Our first poodle lived to be 20(blind too, but could get around great, she followed your voice), the 2nd one was 14, and this one will be 6 next week. So 3 poodles in the past 40 years.

sakigt · #14 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 06:41 AM

I have two cats...but they dont take much to be happy.

The LOVE fresh Purina One cat food, the little platic piece that comes off milk jugs, a clean litter box (any kind, they could care less) and a little cheap cat nip once in a while.

In return they provide amusement, love, and heat in the winter

Ima saver · #15 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 08:14 AM

Allyourworth, I loved the pictures. Your mindy looks just like my Holly. My dog is little and doesn't eat much, she prefers left overs. Except for the grooming costs, she costs very little. I probably owe her money for all the love she gives us!!

miclason · #16 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 09:30 AM

Fiona (aka the Blonde) is not what I consider a pampered pet...she gets 1 bath a week, food and water everyday, a cushion to sleep on (after she destroyed her bed....and after she got tired of sleeping on the couch!)...gets plenty of hugs from Sunday through Tuesday...although these diminish a bit by Wednesday, when she's no longer as clean...she has 1 ball (tennis ball retrieved from the garden)...of course, she gets to "play" with all of Ale's toys, too! LOL!...she's not really expensive to keep...I buy a 4lb bag of food once a week (~$3)....and for special occasions we buy her a bag of treats (birthday and Xmas! lol! the kids always want Fi to have something special for these days!)...also if she's been a super good doggie (not often!)...She has a sweater, which we bought for her when she broke her rib and the cold at night was increasing the pain...Her luxuries really are belly rubs and her flea collar!...the largest Fiona-related expenses have been her shots...a total of $30/year...
In exchange, we get: acrobatics shows (she jumps like a gazelle!), company if we are sick (she won't move from your bedside if you're sick, unless it's to go to the garden to go potty!)...a playmate for Ale....a protector for our home ...someone that ALWAYS seems happy to see you...entertainment (she's crazy, but very intelligent, and the stuff she does makes for good conversation)

Fern · #17 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 01:21 PM

For most of my life i didn't want children.

I have a tabby named Sitka who is spoiled, not in terms of diet, but in how much love and attention she gets. It was a big problem when my SO came up for the weekend, altho he was antagonistic toward her as well. Things seem a bit better as of late.

She also has a number of habits i know most people couldn't tolerate, but i couldn't give her up now. I have to keep my two upstairs bathroom sinks filled with water at all times or she'll pee and poop there. She is also fascinated with the tub and likes to play or poop there. My theory is that as a kitten she was kept confined in someone's bathroom. (I got her at a shelter.)

Aside from that, she is a very intelligent cat, very vocal (often a problem) and extremely affectionate.

Ima saver · #18 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 01:28 PM

I have an outside dog named Lucy that I found freezing in a barn, 14 years ago. She has never been sick, never been to the vet (except to get spayed). she cost me nothing but the price of her dog food. She is good protection for the house and certainly earns her keep. I feel very sorry for anyone who does not have a pet, but I have come to realize that some people just do not have the same feelings for dogs that I do.

PRICEPLUS · #19 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 03:15 PM

Pampered pet! He has his own chair in the living room. At dinner time he gets what we eat. He is showered with attention. He has half the yard fenced for a run. He gets better health care than I do, He gets groomed every 4 months.

My DW and DD love him though. Truth be told I do too. He is like a two year old. You just can't stay angry when he does something stupid.

tgavin71 · #20 (**permalink**) 05-09-2006, 05:43 PM

Neo and JosieJo are our pet budgies (Parakeets). They cost us $15 each. $50 for a huge cage. Probably have spent about $10-$15 on toys and food since we got them in January. They come out of the cage and fly or walk around the house. The cage is in the dining room so they can be where the action is. We get woken up by bird chatter every morning and it is wonderful.
Once a week we take the cage outside to hose it out. They love getting wet and drying offf in the sun.
They are the best pets.