What pets do you have?

DawnMarch

DawnMarch

Active member
Just curious what pets you have? We have 2 dogs - a purebred Wheaten Terrier and a little Malti-poo mutt that we rescued (we had her DNA tested out of curiousity).

Any pets you've had that you regretted? Ours were hermit crabs which my hubby got for the kids when I was out of town(!). They creeped all of us out. :huh: And one murdered the other one and stole its shell. :(
 
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We have one, a little budgie (parakeet) named Kevin. He is adorable. He can talk and kisses, cuddles & loves us. We play with him often and he has been in our family for 5 years now. He is such an easy pet, very little mess and upkeep.

I have regretted a couple pets...

The biggest regret is the puppy we decided to get the kids for Easter one year. It was an over-priced doodle, a Wheaten Poodle mix (they called it a Whoodle). We decided on that breed because my husband is anti-foofoo dogs and didn't want a small dog, or a purebred poodle. I have asthma and allergies, but I have had poodles and they didn't bother me. Well, this puppy was cuter than ever but MUCH bigger than we anticipated when we came back to pick her up at 8 weeks. Since the dad was a poodle and the mom a Wheaten, we didn't know how big she would be but she was big and strong. She was unable to go out in the yard-- even on a leash-- without digging holes and rolling in them. And since she had a poodle coat I was bathing her 2x a day. She also bothered my allergies. Very different from what I expected. I also, sadly not soon enough, realized that we were really too busy for a puppy. She was too much time and effort for that phase of our lives, especially with her personality and traits. It wasn't a match to our dismay. So we returned her to the breeder after 2 weeks. That was so hard and broke our hearts. I deeply regret so many things about that choice.

I also regret buying the kids a betta fish. Cleaning out a tank every week was a pain in the butt and a big chore for such a pet. The kids kind of lost interest after 3 weeks. And, he died after we left him on a short vacation with a vacation food tab thingie (fish die easily... and for so many reasons, since they are so delicate) which was devastating to my sensitive daughter. Once again, we are too busy for a fish and we like taking weekend trips, so I decided not to replace Gilbert when he died.
 
YepBrook said:
We have one, a little budgie (parakeet) named Kevin. He is adorable. He can talk and kisses, cuddles & loves us. We play with him often and he has been in our family for 5 years now. He is such an easy pet, very little mess and upkeep.

I have regretted a couple pets...

The biggest regret is the puppy we decided to get the kids for Easter one year. It was an over-priced doodle, a Wheaten Poodle mix (they called it a Whoodle). We decided on that breed because my husband is anti-foofoo dogs and didn't want a small dog, or a purebred poodle. I have asthma and allergies, but I have had poodles and they didn't bother me. Well, this puppy was cuter than ever but MUCH bigger than we anticipated when we came back to pick her up at 8 weeks. Since the dad was a poodle and the mom a Wheaten, we didn't know how big she would be but she was big and strong. She was unable to go out in the yard-- even on a leash-- without digging holes and rolling in them. And since she had a poodle coat I was bathing her 2x a day. She also bothered my allergies. Very different from what I expected. I also, sadly not soon enough, realized that we were really too busy for a puppy. She was too much time and effort for that phase of our lives, especially with her personality and traits. It wasn't a match to our dismay. So we returned her to the breeder after 2 weeks. That was so hard and broke our hearts. I deeply regret so many things about that choice.

I also regret buying the kids a betta fish. Cleaning out a tank every week was a pain in the butt and a big chore for such a pet. The kids kind of lost interest after 3 weeks. And, he died after we left him on a short vacation with a vacation food tab thingie (fish die easily... and for so many reasons, since they are so delicate) which was devastating to my sensitive daughter. Once again, we are too busy for a fish and we like taking weekend trips, so I decided not to replace Gilbert when he died.
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We had goldfish that were like this. They are "dirty" fish so we had to vacuum every week and replace a bunch of the water. It was a chore and quite yucky.
 
We have a dog (pitty), a cat (long-haired prissy thing...lol), two rabbits and four ducklings.

So far we haven't had a pet that we've regretted. My son wants a hamster and I told him no way.
 
We have a French bulldog names Gaston who is 5 and acts like a puppy. It's like we never trained him... he has anxiety (ever since my daughters were born) and we can't take him to the dog park anymore because he becomes overly protective and aggressive. It makes me so sad. I don't regret getting him but I regret not spending more time training him.
 
luan37 said:
We have a French bulldog names Gaston who is 5 and acts like a puppy. It's like we never trained him... he has anxiety (ever since my daughters were born) and we can't take him to the dog park anymore because he becomes overly protective and aggressive. It makes me so sad. I don't regret getting him but I regret not spending more time training him.
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Aww! I love French Bulldogs! They're so cute!
 
we have a lab, 2 cats, a rabbit & 3 hamsters. The hamsters stink, but they are really lots of fun. We thought we had two male hamsters, till we saw them {ahem} gettin' busy, and then we had 7 hamsters. It was actually pretty fun to have babies but only because we were able to give some of them away (and the one that got eaten just disappeared overnight, so I didn't mind so much.).
I love pets, and I wish I could bring home every stray that I find, but I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't stick around if I did!
 
We have two dogs - an American Bulldog and a dachshund/miniature pinscher mix and a cat (long haired but no idea the type).

I regret the cat, very much. She is just a brat and I just don't like cats. My oldest adores her, so she is here to stay but is an indoor/outdoor cat to help me tolerate her more.
 
we have a dog, 7, named Ginger. We have 4 cats: Tesla is 3, Jay is 3, Mia is 4, and Riley 5. We also have a leopard gecko and a bearded dragon.

I regret trying the whole guinea pig thing. They are annoying and gross. We had two.

We have also had a boxer that we had to rehome because at the time we had to move to Queens for hubbys work and he was just not happy in a small apartment. We also had a beautiful, sweet orange buff tabby named Gunther but he died and broke our hearts. And we have done the fish thing both salt and fresh water. I do miss pretty fish and starfish.
 
My husband had a white shepherd for 14 1/2 years. I entered the picture around year 5 or 6. She became very anxious and barked whenever she thought anyone was leaving the house the last 3-4 years of her life. Someone getting up from the couch -- barking. Someone walking towards a door -- barking. Someone putting on shoes or a jacket or jingling keys -- barking. We had an infant the last year of her life so I never slept between feeding the baby and letting the dog out to pee. Either the baby or the dog woke me up every 2-3 hours around the clock.

I was very resentful that this dog that was not mine and was poorly trained, at best, and never taken in to to be evaluated for anxiety or whatever her issues were suddenly became my burden to bear. Her eyesight began to fade, she had a hard time standing up and remaining upright, and she became incontinent so when we decided to make a cross-country move and DH was going out there ahead of us, I told him he needed to put his dog out of her misery.

We've been petless going on 2 years now. It's against our lease and I've really needed the break. Having a toddler is basically like having a pet, anyways, right?! If my son ever pottytrains :p, I'd consider getting another dog although I've made it VERY CLEAR that I will be picking out the dog I want since I will be the one taking care of it and training it.

DH and I are both allergic to cats (and I don't like them) and I don't do rodents so that narrows the list down quite a bit. My animal lover DD really wants her own pet so we've discussed her getting a gecko or other small lizard but I haven't really researched it to see if that would be a feasible thing for us. We won't be moving until the beginning of next year, at the earliest, so I've got time to prepare.
 
We have 2 green cheek conures (little parrots) that I weaned from tiny nearly featherless babies over 13 years ago. They're my "original babies" as I had them before I even met my husband. :P

I also have 2 rescue kitties... one who is around 15 and we've had him 12 years now. He's a polydactyl Maine Coon named Monster Paws (for said extra toes). He's super chill. I love him to death and I check him multiple times a day to make sure he's breathing too, just like I do my kids!

My other kitty is a 7 year old tabby that we got from a rescue when she was 4 months old. I truly believe in adopting adults however every cat, big or small, I've ever met beats up my Monster Paws so I took a chance on the baby kitten hoping she'd be nice to him and keep him company. Fortunately she did take to him and they love each other to death. She hates all other cats though so 2 is the limit for us even though I'd have a 100 more if I could! I'm definitely a cat person! <3

We just recently lost our beta when it committed suicide by jumping out of its tank. :( And our 2.5 year old hamster who passed away from old age. We knew she was growing older, greying and slowing down but we were not prepared to say goodbye so soon and are still very sad about losing her. All her supplies/cage/etc are sitting in the garage b/c I can't bear to think about going through that again even though the kids want another one. :(

This past summer we adopted a dog from the local shelter. That is one I really regret. I am not a dog person but my husband had been wanting one forever and I fell for the "every kid should have a dog", "protector" etc etc thing. It's a very long story but she did not work out for us AT ALL but I couldn't bear to send her back to the shelter. She'd be bounced from house to house or euthanized b/c she nipped my daughter in the face and at other dogs, etc. So we drove her 1100 miles to IL where my parents met us and took her back to WI with them. She's been trouble for them too but they have lots of land, more patience and no little kids around. It was an emotionally and financially exhausting learning experience for us but I'm thankful my mom has a heart as big (bigger!) than mine for animals and Bailey (the dog) has as much of a chance at a happy life there than she would anywhere else!

Phew, that ended up to be a novel! Sorry guys! :P
 
carrie1977 said:
We have a dog (pitty), a cat (long-haired prissy thing...lol), two rabbits and four ducklings.

So far we haven't had a pet that we've regretted. My son wants a hamster and I told him no way.
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I had rabbits growing up but I don't really remember them having much personality - maybe because they spent most of their time outside in a hutch. Now, I have a friend who has a giant rabbit that she keeps in her house and that thing is a full-fledged member of the family.
 
joelsgirl said:
we have a lab, 2 cats, a rabbit & 3 hamsters. The hamsters stink, but they are really lots of fun. We thought we had two male hamsters, till we saw them {ahem} gettin' busy, and then we had 7 hamsters. It was actually pretty fun to have babies but only because we were able to give some of them away (and the one that got eaten just disappeared overnight, so I didn't mind so much.).
I love pets, and I wish I could bring home every stray that I find, but I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't stick around if I did!
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LOL about the hamsters!

I could take in more dogs. But we like to travel a lot and I don't think I could afford to hire someone if we get any more!
 
DH and I aren't really dog people, and he's allergic to cats and won't do most other pets. So when our daughter was begging for a pet daily last year, I managed to convince him that we should get her fish. Worst pet decision ever! They're a lot more work than we expected, and since they're not exactly interactive the kids lost interest very quickly.

In July we had to replace a few fish who'd died, and the pet store sold us one fish who was pregnant. (Long story short, I'm pretty sure they knowingly sold us a very pregnant fish even though they knew that we had a small tank and were purchasing only 1 gender in an attempt not to have babies and overcrowding.) Because of the 12 surviving babies, our tank ended up very overcrowded. Keeping it clean and the fish healthy was time consuming and ultimately impossible. Ten months later we're down to only 1 fish left. Let's just say there won't be any disappointment here when his number is finally up! I'd consider a pet like a hamster or guinea pig and I know Lauren still wants one, but since DH is antiodent we'll probably never have another pet.
 
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DawnMarch said:
I had rabbits growing up but I don't really remember them having much personality - maybe because they spent most of their time outside in a hutch. Now, I have a friend who has a giant rabbit that she keeps in her house and that thing is a full-fledged member of the family.
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Yeah...ours are outside in their mansion my husband built for them. They really don't care to be pet or loved or touched for the most part. They were full grown when we got them so they weren't used to being handled. I really don't even know why he brought them home, to be honest. :huh:
 
rach3975 said:
DH and I aren't really dog people, and he's allergic to cats and won't do most other pets. So when our daughter was begging for a pet daily last year, I managed to convince him that we should get her fish. Worst pet decision ever! They're a lot more work than we expected, and since they're not exactly interactive the kids lost interest very quickly.

In July we had to replace a few fish who'd died, and the pet store sold us one fish who was pregnant. (Long story short, I'm pretty sure they knowingly sold us a very pregnant fish even though they knew that we had a small tank and were purchasing only 1 gender in an attempt not to have babies and overcrowding.) Because of the 12 surviving babies, our tank ended up very overcrowded. Keeping it clean and the fish healthy was time consuming and ultimately impossible. Ten months later we're down to only 1 fish left. Let's just say there won't be any disappointment here when his number is finally up! I'd consider a pet like a hamster or guinea pig and I know Lauren still wants one, but since DH is antiodent we'll probably never have another pet.
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Ugh, yes, fish. We had one that just up and died and then the other lived on forever, eventually getting some fish disease that some said was contagious to humans! Yikes! It swam around upside down for a while until we euthanized it. I'm done with fish!
 
tanyiadeskins said:
we have a dog, 7, named Ginger. We have 4 cats: Tesla is 3, Jay is 3, Mia is 4, and Riley 5. We also have a leopard gecko and a bearded dragon.

I regret trying the whole guinea pig thing. They are annoying and gross. We had two.

We have also had a boxer that we had to rehome because at the time we had to move to Queens for hubbys work and he was just not happy in a small apartment. We also had a beautiful, sweet orange buff tabby named Gunther but he died and broke our hearts. And we have done the fish thing both salt and fresh water. I do miss pretty fish and starfish.
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We had two guinea pigs. They both lived LONG healthy lives. I told hubby I would only agree to get them if he/kids cleaned the cage. Of course, it all fell to him. He did a great job with it but the pigs still smelled a bit and would kick the woodchips all over the place. I kind of liked the little guys though. But not enough to get more :D
 
We have a rescue cat, Rémi. He was starving and nearly dead when he came into my co-workers yard. She fed him and gave him shelter, but couldn't keep because she already had 2 dogs, 2 pigs and 3 cats. So we took him in. It was the best decision ever!

We also have a rescue fish. My boyfiends co-worker got him for his birthday, but never really wanted a fish. He wanted to flush him down the toilet, but it broke my heart. So we took him. It's a lot of work to keep the tank clean and when he dies, I don't want another fish, but I'm glad we saved him!
 
We have 3 cats. A boy named guus he is 3. and 2 girls puk 4,5 and goofy 8.
We had a cat before. she died 3 years ago.at age of almost 21.
My boys were so sad and a friend of the youngest had kittens. So we got guus from there. The other are from the same place.so al related in some way.
 
We have 2 cats Rambo and Linky, and 1 fish. I always have been grown up with a dog so maybe in future we want a dog as well but we wait till the right time is there.
 
We got a rescue kitten from the APL two year ago. My daughter sometimes regretted getting a kitten instead of rescuing an older cat, but she got a black one because those aren't the first choice for many people which made her feel better about the adoption. A kitten was much more work than I expected plus he never slept and wanted constant interaction with me. I loved him a lot right away, but I definitely prefer him at age two over his time as a kitten.
 
I had a cat that I got by accident. Momma had abandoned him in a hot parking lot and I couldn't bear to let him die so I took him to my vet and they talked me into taking him home. They figured he was 10-14 days old and was a tiny little thing. When he was 6 weeks old I had a home arranged for him but my son begged me to keep him and I begrudgingly agreed. We just lost the cat in November at only 9 years old, think he had a stroke. I do miss him but won't get another as his quirky personality can't be copied, he was the perfect cat for a non cat person :)

I have a 1 1/2 year old female chocolate lab who makes me laugh, keeps me busy and is such a happy girl, your typical lab. She vibrates when she sees water and can't keep away from a mud puddle. Canada geese are her favourite thing to chase and she will follow them in the water causing quite a ruckus. She will often go off trail in search of deer to chase and then happily come running back to me.

My 15 year old yellow lab is with my ex husband, living out his days happily roaming apple orchards and sunning on the deck. I still consider him mine :)

Biggest regret was a rescue dog I got from the shelter. The shelter assured me he was cat friendly but he was continuously at my cat to the point the cat was living in the basement and peeing outside his litter box. I had to return him to the shelter after exhausting everything, lots of time, money and they made me feel horrible for bringing him back. After that experience I decided to go with a purebred and that's the girl I have now.

sorry for the novel :o
 
We currently have two cats...Houdini (almost 6) and Sophia (just turned 1). Houdini is a people person, Sophia not so much!! We have always had cats. Last spring we said good-bye to our 18 year old cat, Daisy.

A pet we regretted....sea monkeys!! We had those darn things for almost 3 years!! Just when we thought the last one would die, a new baby popped up in their itty bitty, VERY gross container!!!!
 
We have a dog, Myles, who is probably at least 12 by now. He was a rescue, and the vet thought he was at least a year old. We've never regretted a minute, except that we never got to see him as a puppy or train him properly. He also doesn't like kids in his face, which means we have to be extra vigilant with him when littles are around. But I love him dearly and hate to see him slowing down now.

We also have a cat, Mona, who was my Christmas kitten three years ago. We had lost our previous cat, Emma, after 15 years, and I was really missing having a cat around. My best friend took me to pick out Mona right before the holiday,and it was my best gift ever! I agree with the previous poster about preferring cats once they leave kittenhood behind. They are almost worse than puppies, because kittens can climb curtains. She was hurricane, but she is settling down now. She's funny and ornery, and we love her to pieces.
 
I really like cats and would love to have a cat but my daughter is allergic and my nose gets itchy around cats.
 
We currently have a 2 year old 'Morkie' (Maltese & Yorkie) named Bella that we love but since baby was born in August she doesn't like us too much lol She stays in her kennel (her safe place) usually when the baby is awake.

Growing up I had a hamster I got for passing a grade (my sister got a gerbil). Thought it was a male, turned out it was a pregnant female. She had 7 babies, ate them all and died. Never again will I have hamsters lol
 
tjscraps said:
We currently have a 2 year old 'Morkie' (Maltese & Yorkie) named Bella that we love but since baby was born in August she doesn't like us too much lol She stays in her kennel (her safe place) usually when the baby is awake.

Growing up I had a hamster I got for passing a grade (my sister got a gerbil). Thought it was a male, turned out it was a pregnant female. She had 7 babies, ate them all and died. Never again will I have hamsters lol
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Oh no! That's awful!
 
We have two dogs, a cat, and a handful of frogs/toads. The frogs and toads are cool, but SO HARD to move! I regret getting them because really, after two moves, I'm so over them, lolol
 
We have two cats (rescue kitties) ~12 yrs and 4 yrs but they don't get along so one lives inside and the other outside. No regrets about any pets... I had a menagerie growing up - cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, horses, birds, chooks, pigs, goats, a tortoise, fish and a kangaroo (I lived on a farm). The rabbits, guinea pigs and baby lambs were my responsibility though I helped feed all of them... I loved them all.

My youngest son wants every kind of pet that he sees, including a mouse. I found one in the backyard the other day so put it in box for him. The fact I was able to just pick it up made me think it was sick and it died the next day.

So, we won't be having anything other than the cats for the time being... I would love some chooks but can't convince hubby on that unfortunately.
 
We currently have 2 dogs. Mabel, a 1-1/2 yr old mixed breed, and Henry, a 4 month old Mastiff/Boxer mix. Love them both. This pic was taken when we first brought Henry home (15 weeks old in this photo)

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Plus we have 4 fantail goldfish and an algae-eating sucker fish (not sure what they are exactly called).

I've had cats and loved them, but our last one died in February, and we aren't planning to adopt any more at this time. It's nice to be litterbox free. Plus with 2 dogs in the house, that's enough.

The fantail goldfish that I've owned have all done well. The hermit crabs that I got from the beach lived good long lives as well. The ones from Petco/Petsmart, not so much.

Regretting pets? Many fish that didn't make it. LOL.
A gerbil that was gifted to me from a friend who was told she was buying 2 males...one wound up being a female. Which of course led to babies. That she ate. I was given mean mama gerbil as a classroom pet. After taking her in, she had another baby. She didn't eat it, but she wouldn't nurse it either. It broke my heart to see her tiny little baby try to nurse on the cage they were in. It eventually died. The mama had seizures, and I found out that approximately 25% of pet store gerbils and hamsters have epilepsy, probably due to inbreeding.
 
pewtertm said:
We currently have 2 dogs. Mabel, a 1-1/2 yr old mixed breed, and Henry, a 4 month old Mastiff/Boxer mix. Love them both. This pic was taken when we first brought Henry home (15 weeks old in this photo)

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Plus we have 4 fantail goldfish and an algae-eating sucker fish (not sure what they are exactly called).

I've had cats and loved them, but our last one died in February, and we aren't planning to adopt any more at this time. It's nice to be litterbox free. Plus with 2 dogs in the house, that's enough.

The fantail goldfish that I've owned have all done well. The hermit crabs that I got from the beach lived good long lives as well. The ones from Petco/Petsmart, not so much.

Regretting pets? Many fish that didn't make it. LOL.
A gerbil that was gifted to me from a friend who was told she was buying 2 males...one wound up being a female. Which of course led to babies. That she ate. I was given mean mama gerbil as a classroom pet. After taking her in, she had another baby. She didn't eat it, but she wouldn't nurse it either. It broke my heart to see her tiny little baby try to nurse on the cage they were in. It eventually died. The mama had seizures, and I found out that approximately 25% of pet store gerbils and hamsters have epilepsy, probably due to inbreeding.
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Who knew so many small rodents eat their young! Ick!
 
tjscraps said:
Growing up I had a hamster I got for passing a grade (my sister got a gerbil). Thought it was a male, turned out it was a pregnant female. She had 7 babies, ate them all and died. Never again will I have hamsters lol
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That's insane! I've never heard of such a thing. It's sick!
 
We have no pets. My family is constantly begging for a dog, but I do not want one. I know I will be stuck taking care of it. My regret pet was a few years ago, I tried getting a dog for my son. It was a 3 year old mix rescue, very cute. I made it a weekend before I had to bring it back to the rescue group. I just could not handle it and we do not have time. My boyfriend lives with us now and they both want one, but I am scared. Maybe in a few years.

My son loves cats, they are actually his favorite. I had agreed to get one and would have had no issues with it, but we found out he is quite allergic.

Growing up I only had fish and a tortoise. I enjoyed them well enough.
 
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