What kind are they and who is responsible for them? Feeding, cleaning, taking to the vet?
We have 1 cat. We just realized she is 16 years old! It takes all 3 of us to keep her happy.
She has US on a feeding schedule. She believes she should be fed every 6 hours, beginning 1 hour before my husband gets up each morning. Even if he has to get up early or sleep in, she somehow knows that 1 hour before to wake him up. She is relentless, jumping from the bed onto his face, screaming in my ear, waving her whiskers on our faces. She will step over our heads so that her belly fur tickles our faces.
I placed her litter box next to his desk, so he is in charge of cleaning it, but I am the one that takes her to the vet, because my husband cannot stand to see the cat upset.
Our daughter is the one our cat wants to sleep with if possible, but our daughter shuts her door. When she is at college, the cat, sleeps in the girls room. The cat also walks around the house searching for the girl for about a week when she leaves for college.
We all are in charge of letting her out the front door (only) and back into the house on her command.
I love cats, but can't have them anymore because my husband and one son are so allergic to them.
I agreed to having a dog but it is their responsibility to care for him. I do if no one else is around and always show him affection.
My youngest son has a ball python. He is totally responsible for it. I use to hold it when it was very small, but went without touching it for a while and he got very big. So it is very hard for me to do that now.
Kids in charge of feeding, me in charge of grooming, dh in charge of litter box, dh and I are both in charge of walking/exercising, I do the vet visits, dh does the kennel drive for boarding.
The only reason the kids don't walk them is because the dogs outweigh most of the kids, and the oldest wouldn't be able to hold them back if if they decided they wanted to chase a deer.
I have zero pets right now. I love animals, don't get me wrong, but our pets live very long lives and they are so much work.
At one point, we had a dog, a cat, two rabbits, a bird, and fish. Seriously, it was like a petting zoo. My son was really good about helping, but my daughter hated it although she was the first one to want to drag every stray home. As a single mom, it was hard to keep up with, at best. And, if we wanted to travel or go somewhere, we had to find someone to look after everything.
I would like to get another bird someday. I've always had birds and I really enjoy them.
For now, I'm enjoying not having to take care of any animals.
My son's dad has a dog and a cat so he gets his animal fix there when he goes.
I have 2 cute cats. My oldest is 3 years old and youngest is 2 years old. I am in charge of every thing because I am the only one who can do it. I will probably have my daughter help feed them when she's older and we will interchange the litter box duties. My oldest orange cat, Zodiac, is persistent the second he thinks the litter box should be scooped out lol. He will look at me with this certain tilt to his head and meow and if I don't get it, he will follow me around and meow at me until I follow him upstairs where the litter box is and scoop it out or change the litter lol. He also swats at my hand when he wants me to pet him, even if I'm half asleep haha... or he'll stand in my lap with his paws on my collarbone and rub his face against mine.
My youngest black/white one, Galaxy, is more laid back. She loves curling in my lap (Zodiac does too). She likes to go in the backyard (they both do) and since they are indoor cats I let em out in the yard every once in a while and Galaxy rolls around in the dirt like a crazy cat and then comes and rubs it on my leg. They both sleep on the end of my bed and Galaxy is like a watch dog, she growls when she senses danger or hears someone outside (sucked at the apt lol). I love my cats <3 They are so full of personality.
I love my red-eared slider turtle Tiko too. He started going to the above tank basking area I built him and basks under the heat lamp. He loves going out in the yard when it's warm enough and digging in the sand. He is huge too and so cute. He loves shrimp and will swim in his tank to where I'm standing if I give him crickets or something and not shrimp too lol.
@Margie, Aww cute. I would like to get 2 chinchillas one day (that aren't the schools lol) and some firebelly toads, they are so cool
I have 1 dog (a new puppy maltese pom mix)
Daddy has 1 dog (lab/weimeriner mix)
Gma has 1 dog (chiuaua pom mix)
We each take primary care for our own animals but we all do cover eachothers responsibilities as needed.
We have two cats. Dorito is 4 and Peanut is 3. Also one kitten- Mocha.
Can you tell the kids named them?
Dorito is a huge baby, he sleeps on my pillow at night above my head. He thinks every glass of water or water bottle is his to drink out of too. He is super lazy, every so often we will get a glimpse of the kitten in him but it never lasts for more than 5 seconds. Peanut is a tiny petite girl, but very very fat, lazy, and slow. She is a lap cat, and sleeps on our legs- super annoying. We call her the creeper because she will hide under the bed and wait for us to go to sleep and then creep her way out and get in bed. Mocha is a crazy kitten- she chases the older two around and annoys them to no end. She also loves getting in the trash and has recently eaten a giant hole through our linoleum floor in the mud room. Sigh...
I do everything except baths, that is my husbands job.
3 dogs, 3 cats, and right now the school's 2 chinchillas
THe kids take care of the litter box and the feeding of the dogs and cats.
My 16 yo is in charge of the chins, she lets my 10 yo feed and hay them, he loves to be in charge of them on days she is in school.
THe kids also watch my neighbors two dogs, they walk them at noon, give them water and treats.
I was known as the dog lady in my old neighborhood. If there was a stray people would bring it to me. I have been known to stop traffic to get them too. I have also stopped for dogs on leashes, much to my kids chagrin. I usually get "NO MOMMY!!! There's a leash attached to it. "
Our one dog counts us. When my son went off to boot camp she sat by the front door for two weeks waiting for him to come home. I finally got her upstairs and she sat at the top of the stairs waiting for him. It was really rather pathetic.
We've had a praying mantis and a firebelly toad, we've raised guppies that turned into frogs when we found them in the pool. We also feed the critters outside. We have a critter board and many birdfeeders.
I'm thinking this Christmas we may get a 20 gallon or larger fishtank, with fish or turtles.
I would really like a cow, but I guess that wouldn't count as a pet.
Probably too many, but we have 10 acres, so I guess it's not too unusual.
3 dogs, 2 cats, 12 chickens, 16 guinea fowl, 3 fish.
my son helps a little with the poultry, the rest falls to me.
None of my animals come indoors, so there is no cleaning in that respect, personally I think animals belong outside, with plenty of love of course, but outside love. Comes from being farmers I spose.
I live with 3 cats, 4 dogs (an old Corgi mix and 3 younger dachshunds), and a 15 year old boy child. Oh, wait, the boy is not a pet. LOL
My son is in "charge" of the dogs - feeding, watering, bathing, and picking up any "presents" they leave on their wee pads. They are all house trained but prefer to spend most days outside in the yard. But, when we are not going to be home for awhile I bring them in - dachshunds are notorious diggers and will "tunnel out" under the privacy fence.
They are
Betty - old Corgi mix who was just diagnosed with arthritis and has started meds. She is the bestest dog in the whole wild world.
Winnie - the smallest and most spoiled - she prefers to be carried from my son's bed to the back door when it time to get up and go out. She also prefers to never to go outside.
These two sleep with my son each night.
Mary - Winnie's daughter - is the baby of the family. Spoiled by all the dogs, doted on, and a whiner. But adorable.
Chewey - the only male dog is a long haired and looks like a wookie. He wants desperately to be a lap dog and struggles with his masculinity being surrounded by so many girls.
Chewy and Mary sleep in the spare room as they have been known to get into mischief over night when left loose in the house.
The cats are my responsibility.
I feed and water them and change the litter box. They have me very well trained. LOL They sleep with me every night. We just lost our older male two week ago after a long illness - while he was ill I adopted another male. Anyhoo, we have -
Zoe - she stood in the pretty line twice totally bypassing the smart line. Sweet and slightly uncoordinated she has been known to fall out of window sills and off laps after becoming too relaxed. She is still mourning the loss of our other kitty as they were companions.
Mama Kitty - came with this name - she lost her left front arm to a coyote defending her kittens about a decade ago. She is the smallest, weighing in at no more than 5 pounds. She drools when she purrs, which is often.
Ben - the newest addition - is a diabetic with an insatiable appetite so he is always hounding me for food. But he is on strict rations of a special diet to keep him insulin free. He is also a huge goof ball with no social graces and is obsessed with Zoe. Oh, and he likes to nip finger tips to get my attention.
That is my furry family. Way too many, but I wouldn't change it for the world. They are all rescues in one way or the other and all hold a different piece of my heart in their little paws.
We had as many as 19 at one time, but like Allison, we have acreage. My oldest son was in charge of animal inventory. ;) We had goats, which I hated, and chickens, ducks, and geese which I loved, but coyotes and raccoons ate all of the birds. :( We gave away the goats. We also had two cats, and two rabbits that all died of old age.
Now we have two dogs that are wherever we are, inside when we're in, and outside when we're out. The older one is 17! I'm so attached to her. We also have a pig. He's the easiest pet we've ever had. He's about 11, I think. He's a rescue pig, just like our dogs. The farm he lived on was foreclosed on, and he needed a home so we took him in. He doesn't have any ears because dogs attacked him and ate his ears off (poor pig!). That happened before we got him. He isn't very attractive anymore, but we love him.
We all have different responsibilities with them. My 13 year old feeds the dogs morning and night. My husband feeds the pig in the morning. My 7 year old feeds the pig his afternoon snack. I give the dogs their heartworm meds and arthritis meds. We all let the dogs outside and inside as needed. It's a team effort. :)
we have a mini doxie (7 in Nov) and chihuaha (abt 10). a sun conure (1.5) and a cockatiel (3). i do everything. that was the agreement when we got animals. my husband likes them, but i LOVE animals. I would live on a farm if I could. :)
I have 1 dog, Sugar who is a toy poodle/bichon mix. She is 7 years old and was my first baby! She is completely my responsibility and I'm happy to take care of her. She sleeps in my bed, right next to me usually, but sometimes she will sleep at my feet (maybe she gets too hot :). My husband works night shift, and in the winter she keeps me warm, I won't go to bed without her!
I want more pets because I love animals. We just had a box turtle for a couple of days but I felt bad keeping him and set him free in the woods today. Growing up we had about 40 turtles, a small pig, 5 dogs, two fish tanks, 2 crows, and a pheasant, so I guess wanting to have pets is just in my blood but my husband doesn't want a farm!
We have 3 cats and 1 dog. I do all of everything, except the litter box!
Husband is the cat person so he gets the litter box!
Cats:
Miranda-Almost 8 y/o, she MUST sleep on our bed EVERY NIGHT and will scratch at the door til we let her in. She is kind of mean to the kids but LOVES The Man and I.
Lelu-7 y/o, she is anti-social and does not like anyone except for my daughter, she sleeps on her bed with her and will only sit still to be loved by her. She disappears when company comes over, she really does not like to be messed with.
Pony-Tail Girl Cat-2 y/o, she is a beautiful Siamese cat that my sister got for my youngest son (he named her, he was 3 at the time, we call her 'Pony') who is a cat lover, like his Father! She is a very good cat and loves to be petted by anybody and everybody.
The Dog:
Brooks-4 y/o, he is a mutt, Catahoula Leopard Dog/Rott mix. He is the epitome of 'calm submissive' AND an EXCELLENT guard dog! He would LOVE to sleep with me but I do not allow it, he sleeps in the hallway between my kids' 2 bedrooms. He is a VERY handsome dog, a fierce black and brown brindle 95lb intimidating looking baby, whom I love with all my heart, just like one of my kids!
I am a dog person and The Man bought me my BIG DOG after I fell in love with him at the pet store...he was a clearance puppy, the best $39.95 we ever spent and the BEST DOG EVER! He was so easy to train and listens to me like no other!
I am the main dog walker but the teenagers have been known to take him on a walk about from time to time. My 3 lil' kids actually LOVE feeding all the animals, which is pretty cool too!