Making the decision to have a dog or cat is a big step. As pet owners, most of us treat our pets like our children. If we don’t have children, then for most of us, our pets are our children.
Having a pet is a big responsibility and many people get a dog to see if they can handle the commitment. I know people who get a dog before children to see how they do with that. If you think about it, some pets are around in the house longer than our children.
I don’t think people think about how long of a commitment it is to raise a cat or dog. Some can live 20+ years. That’s sometimes longer than our children stay with us and you are feeding your pet, taking them to the doctor and boarding them when you take a vacation.
At least with children, there comes a time when they can stay on their own. Then they move away and go to college, eventually marrying and finally starting their own life with someone else. Well, I know that children do come and go and are always going to need us to some extent, but cat’s and dog’s can’t survive without us.
Loving your pets is what we do unconditionally. But had we realized that we were actually taking on a longer commitment then our children per say, this might have made us rethink that decision. Our pet can bring us great joy and companionship, but they are always there.
Don’t’ get me wrong; I would not trade either my cats or dog for anything. But when my daughter wanted the cats, little did I know that she would be gone before they were. Now, here I am, my daughter’s off and enjoying her life of carefree comings and goings and I have to hire a pet sitter.
I never realized it until now. It’s funny to me remembering when my daughter was becoming increasingly independent and getting ready to venture out on her own. I felt sadness that she would be leaving soon, but now realizing I have the cats to keep me company is a blessing.
In a way, your cats can be like your teenager, needing you but not really needing you. They are independent like your teenager but then they need you to feed them, love them and pet them when they are ready. Our children are a gift that we can’t keep at home forever, so enjoy them, send them off to their lives and you are left loving the pets they left behind.
Now this should make you think long and hard about your decision to get a pet. As long as you realize that getting a pet is just like a child, a lifetime commitment, then you can make the responsible choice for you and your family. Just remember that the pets can last longer then your kids, but the kids will always come home.
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