The Pets Thread: Past, Present & Future (Experiences? Support? Advice?)

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Pets! What more do you need to say about them, haha? Whether you ever had a pet in the past, or if you currently have one, or if you’re either thinking about or planning on having one, feel free to discuss all about it here! Any kind of (reasonable) pet is welcome to be talked about here, whether it be about cats or dogs, rabbits or guinea pigs, fish or turtles, birds or snakes, or anything of the sort! Did you have a pet that you always wanted when you grew up, and do you have a favorite kind of pet now? Or did you just have a favorite pet, period? Possibly even more than one? And what were your experiences with your pets like? Discuss!

 

[Zexy]

I had a kitten, Cookie (he was white with black spots like a chocolate chip) in my high school days, we had to give him away to a family friend when I had to move for university. Rather than confine him in a small apartment I would be away hours from, or leave him with parents/grandparents, we thought it would be better for him to return him to the family friends' farm we took him from, which has more room, other cats he could mate with as he got older, a way to express his hunting instincts... I would still visit him for years, he even became a dad. Unfortunately they were all given away too, to a local shelter, after a certain incident there made it not so safe for them to stay there. Probably for the better since lockdowns happened.

 

[Herbizarre]

The first major pet I had was a springer spaniel named Fanny (to the british lads out there, please don't laugh : it's a legitimate female name in France !). She died of old age, but I remember one night where she slept by my side.

Then there was Youki, a crossbred bichon with black fur. Cutest guy, but he never liked the leash for whatever reason.

While not my own pet, I did babysit my brother's Jack Russell dog named "Polo". He's still around at 13 years this January, and while he's deaf, he still has a lot of energy left. In fact, he will always be up for a walk whenever he sees the leash.

As for advices I'd give to new pet owners, I'd say pay attention to your pet's body language whenever something's amiss. They can't talk like we do, but they do express themselves very well, and it is our job to understand them so the relationship is good.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I have parrots! A 26 year old African Grey, Athena, and a 7 year old budgie, Sonic. They're so wonderful! I want to get my own place and have more budgies. My goal is to have an aviary for lots of them.

Birds are VERY complicated. Parrots are basically like raising a toddler for 15-100 years depending on species (African greys, for instance, can live to be 50-60), and they're very smart so they need engagement all the time. They also bite everything they can--you, the furniture, the baseboard, the windowsill--so be prepared for that. And if you're not paying attention to them, they have ways of ensuring that you do.

 

[SunGodNika1997]

I've had a variety of cats over the years. Currently, I have a black-and-white female cat name Oreo, 9 years old, and an orange male tabby named Chicken, almost 5 years old.

My mom found Oreo at her workplace and brought her home. She's an indoor-outdoor cat, and I just kept her with me after my mom and stepdad moved out and left me their house.

Chicken was originally my sister's. He was originally named Simba, but she found out his favorite food was chicken and started calling him that as a joke. It stuck. She moved to an apartment and couldn't take him, so he was left in my care.

Neither cat likes each other, but they can at least coexist...sometimes.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

I have a pet Ball Python named Saturn. He's a year old and I got him around this time last year. He's pretty silly and cute and a bit of a trouble maker,but I love him anyway.

Im getting a second one Im gonna name Io who is a yr old now.

I also visit my mom's 3 dogs,Lulu,Ollie and Cooper frequently,they're fun lol.

 

[DawningWinds]

I have three cats: Zora, Domino, and Tiger, and a dog, Buddy.

Zora's the main one of my pets that I really think of as "mine" compared to the others. As one might expect from a cat she's quite territorial and of the cats she's the one that's been here the longest, so naturally her pre-existing claim to her person of choice (me) supersedes any desire the others might have to spend time with me. They do occasionally; this morning I was on a Zoom call and Domino spent most of it on my lap, and Tiger is an equal-opportunity "pet me" demander, but Zora actively spends time in my spaces a lot more. Aside from that, she's also the biggest trouble maker of the cats. She likes to knock stuff down whenever she gets the chance, and she's not exactly hesitant to bite or scratch anyone who bothers her.
We got her about five years ago, in I believe October 2018, from my uncle: his at-the-time girlfriend's cat had kittens around then, and she ended up coming here since they didn't want to keep them all.

Spoiler: Zora photos

Domino is around the same age as Zora, but we got him a year later. Prior to that, he was a stray; we don't know exactly where he came from. My younger sister was playing outside and he was in one of the neighbor's driveways and he ended up following her back over to my family's place. We weren't originally planning to keep him but then it rained while he was still in our yard, so we let him in for a while. The neighbor in question didn't have cats and we asked around and put ads up online and nobody recognized him, so eventually he just properly moved in.
He adjusted to living indoors pretty quickly. He's a total sweetheart, loves people.

Spoiler: Domino photos

Tiger's the one we got most recently; he's also probably around the same age as the other two, but he only came to live here this past September. Prior to that, he lived with an uncle (different from the one Zora came from), but he was moving and his new place didn't allow pets. Tiger's a total sweetheart as well, but he's also super duper timid. When he first moved in he was always hiding from the other two and the dog, even though only Zora would ever really start anything. He's gotten a lot more used to it now I think, a lot more comfortable just wandering the house.

Spoiler: Tiger photo

Buddy's the oldest by a mile, I think he's like, thirteen now? I believe we got him in 2010 or 2011, just before my family moved up from Arizona. He's a Boxer/German Shepard mix and one of the dumbest creatures I've ever met (I love him though). He's also really loud and obnoxious, but he means well; he's really friendly, even though a lot of the neighbors find him pretty scary. I don't have any pictures of him on hand unfortunately.

 

[ToxicWhiskers]

I have a black miniature poodle named Pepsi. He was originally training to be a hearing dog, but was too hyper to pass his training and so, us fostering him turned into adoption. He's currently recovering from surgery on both back legs after tearing his knee ligaments, but he's doing well. However, this means he can't play with balls or chase or jump after them (unfortunately, too many dogs suffer similar injuries from this kind of play, since they aren't designed to land on their feet like cats), so we're currently finding new ways to keep him entertained until we can do big walks again.

As poodles go, he's very smart and is a fast learner, but he can be a real greedy guts when it comes to food and we have to hide it. He especially loves carrots and has figured out how to open the fridge! But we still love him and while he doesn't like being groomed and can be loud and doesn't always get on with other dogs, he loves people and loves to snuggle with whoever's in the room while we're watching TV.

My first pets were a rabbit named Tom and a guinea pig named Louie. Back then, we didn't know it was a terrible idea to house rabbits and guinea pigs together. Then we had two cats, a fluffy ginger and white tom named Pumpkin and his pitch black sister Marmite. Pumpkin was a real foodie and loved people, while Marmite was just antisocial until we lost Pumpkin.

At the same time, we also had two more rabbits, Solar and Luna, who were mini lops. At this point, I'd learned about all the cool things you can do with rabbits, like setting up a room for them and inventing all sorts of boredom breakers. We also used to keep stick insects and bred quite a few generations.

 

[Catz]

I have two cats, Felix and Tia, who are siblings, and they are my life.

Felix is certainly the more outgoing of the two, not really caring or being scared of much things. He can hold his own against the more aggressive stray cats that are in the neighborhood, protecting his sister too. even though they sometimes beat each other up over food. you can normally find him chilling in the grass or just generally exploring a small range beyond my house.

Spoiler: Felix

While being the same age, Tia (my personal favorite of the two, but just only by a little) is the smaller, more shyer of the two. If she sees anyone or thing that she isn't familiar with, nine times out of ten she'll run and hide; to put it bluntly, she's basically afraid of her own shadow lmao. Even so, she can be affectionate and shows lots of love to me and my parents. She hangs out mostly in my house, only going outside to use the bathroom unlike her brother's more adventurous personality.

Spoiler: Tia

 

[impervious_gakko42]

I have four cats: orange maine coon named Boots, skittish brown feline named Joey (my mum insists this fellow is also orange but I don't buy it), fatass grey tabby named Emmett who is too stupid to be allowed outdoors like the others, and aggressive tiny cat named S'mores. Boots got catnapped shortly after we brought him home, so we got S'mores as a replacement, but Boots returned cuz the lady who took him would've been fined if she didn't rehome at least some of her cats. S'mores, despite technically being my cat, frickin loves my brother (no idea why, especially with that 'bipedal cat' shtick he pulls). Joey and Emmett have some weird relationship where they tackle each other and bite each other's throats, but it's almost in a sensual way??? My mum calls them the myaoi cats rofl.

 

[Luci_]

I currency don’t have any pets but hoping to get a frog, axolotl or some fish. Something semi-aquatic or a cat.

 

[coordinator lissi]

I’ve only ever had fish when I was younger that always died. Lol