Pets!

[Loobylou]

They look all cute & adorable, you fall in love, take them home, get to know them, get attached... then they get ill & you end up having to play god. ;(

She was 'only' a mouse but taking Duchess to the vet yesterday left me in a right state. Poor Lady looked so confused. :s

So...why do we do it? When we know that in the end we'll end up crying our eyes out infront of total strangers as we pay the bill.

Discuss, relate, vent... feel free. :)

[CarlMetro]

It's sad but true that everything eventually dies. But we don't think about all the bad things that can happen, all the heartache that can, and will, be caused. We enter into these partnerships for all the good things that will happen, all the fun and happiness.

I think most humans also like to have a feeling of responsability, the feeling that without them this other lifeform will suffer and die.

Similar theories acan be applied to life partners and children too.

[Donney]

We do it because pets are great and, at least in my case, they help to get the best out of you.

I can't think of my life without my little two doggies they are 8 years old now and some day they'll die, but the times I've spent with them are well worthy.

[A.F.F.]

Couldn't agree more with Carl and Donney.

They bring so much joy in to our lives.

[Christina]

I agree with the beginning of your post, the cute and adorable and falling in love with the animals thing, but i'm beginning to think mine doesnt like me.

She just bloody split my lip! and last week, she kicked me in the mouth and cut up my gum!

Admittedly yes, i shouldnt have held the stick that high if i didnt want to get flailing paws in my face and yes, rough-play with a doberman german shepard cross is not the smartest idea in the world..

[slinkster]

Aw I'm sorry LoobyLou that your mouse wasn't well. I remember crying when our hamster had to be put down.. I felt so daft crying over a hamster!! but still... when you look after something for so long, you get attatched.

I guess it's like anything... even good things must come to an end... you could argue why do anything at all if it's going to come to an end... but living in the present is what it's all about, and enjoying things while they DO last.

I'll be gutted when my cats go... really I will (... Less so with my pet fish maybe...!) but yeah... they're a part of the family for now and that's what counts.

[Loobylou]

Aw I'm sorry LoobyLou that your mouse wasn't well. I remember crying when our hamster had to be put down.. I felt so daft crying over a hamster!! but still... when you look after something for so long, you get attatched.

We only got Duchess & Lady in April last year, so we thought we'd have another 6months with them, at least. But no. TBH it's Lady I feel really bad for she just looks so lost on her own right now, she's eating though which can only be a good sign.

I felt really daft in the vets though, 29yrs old & quite obviously wanting to blub like a 6yr old but trying not to. Feel better about it today though, she would have started to suffer pretty soon & I said that we wouldn't let that happen & we didn't.

[Hazell B]

Vets are used to people crying like babies over injured and ill pets - even when my Mick (a large, muscular type) lay bawling on the floor with our newly deceased Dobermann our vet didn't bat an eyelid. In fact, he found some hankies and left Mick alone a while before moving the body.

The guy who came a put down Mick's horse last May was brilliant. He knew I was aware of what happens after they are shot (the heart pumps blood out of the ears for quite some time and it's unpleasant, but the body cannot be winched onto the truck until it's stopped bleeding) and that Mick had never seen a horse shot before. He tried to make Mick leave the second he'd seen the horse's body, gently walking Mick away chatting to him. He even stayed a while sitting with him then visited us some weeks later just to say hello.

I'm a little harder. Being a realist, I know they'll get ill and die. So long as there's something I can do I don't tend to cry, but if I mess up and hurt them in an accident I'm a pathetic wreck.

Having said that, I cry like a baby over the ruddy vet bill :( I'm convinced we've paid the put our vet's children through Uni - all three of them :mark:

[Ian McC]

When we know that in the end we'll end up crying our eyes out infront of total strangers as we pay the bill.

Ugh, that brings back memories, had our cat Smudge put down just over a few ago, very painful experience, even for me :(

[LeonBrooke]

Ugh, that brings back memories, had our cat Smudge put down just over a few ago, very painful experience, even for me :(

I had a cat called Smudge once. She delivered a litter of kittens on our couch while we (she and I) were watching TV. We (my mum) called the SPCA, and the receptionist came and took them away, to look after them herself. It was a relief; we never would have been able to look after six newborn kittens.

[Dave B]

Sorry to hear your news. My dad, who likes to pretend he doesn't care about such things, cried like a baby when we had to have our last dog put down (aged 17).

I, of course, didn't cry one little bit. Not in front of anybody... :(

[millencolin]

i cried when my dog Billie died in 05... very traumatic experience for me as it was the first death of someone close to me. i still miss him everyday as he was my best mate

but i do have a new dog now, the same breed as billie, called chloe. and she is a wonderful dog.

the Time i spent with billie was magical and i wouldnt trade it for the world. and i know that sooner or later chloe's time will come but im glad that i can spend time with her