• AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
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    11 months ago

    Pets are a lot for sure, and you shouldn’t have them if you don’t have the capacity or bandwidth to care for them. That being said, my pets have drastically helped my mental health. I can’t imagine what going through the quarantine would have been like without them.

    • 5in1k@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      My dog died between Christmas and New Year’s 2020, the two years before I got another were the darkest I’ve had in my life. I need a pet.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    not feeling obligated to clean up someone else’s poo is a really enjoyable life quality.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      Honestly, the cat helps me on that front. And unlike a child, I can ethically just give her some drugs and turn the TV when I don’t feel like dealing with her right that minute.

  • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I get it, I really do. And come time to say final goodbyes, the pain is almost unbearable. But man, waking up to finding out you’re in the middle of a furry sleepstack with warm, fuzzy friends who purr and cozily nuzzle up to you on a cold winter’s night is something else entirely. Wouldn’t want to miss it for anything.

    Oh, and kids are allright, I guess.

  • XaiwahBlue@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    11 months ago

    Have a cat, was planned. Feel obligated cause i rescued her ass 8 years ago, and she’s really easy and low maintenance.

    The big dog i have was rescued after an elderly family member passed away and there was no one else to take her in.

    I love her to pieces but i definitely wont be getting another 60 pound+ dog in a 3 floor walk up! 😩

  • lugal@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    “Darling, do you remember when we said, before we have kids we should have a pet and before that a plant to see if we can handle the responsibility?”
    “Yes, sure! Why do you bring that up?”
    “Well, the basile withered again.”

  • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    11 months ago

    Had a cat that I was somehow allergic(?) to. Just constant itchy red eyes. Eventually coughing and wheezing. Never been allergic to a damn thing in my life, including other cats. Never understood it. Shed go all around my face and I would be fine, then suddenly she’d just be about the place and my eyes would get so bloody I swear blood was actually leaking out of them. Had to return her. Loved her to bits in those few weeks. 😭

    • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I’m allergic to cats, but I developed an immunity to my own for the most part. When brush them I do it outside because that could trigger symptoms if it’s done indoors. but for the most part after I adopt a new cat it settles down after a while. It sucks though in the mean time, I don’t blame anyone for not being able to put up with the exposure period. Also some cats trigger worse symptoms and some don’t! I go to different friend’s homes and their cats don’t make me break out in hives but a a few other friend’s cats cause issues right always, I have to take an antihistamine when I go over.

      • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        I likely think there was something she would emit, some sort of fur particulate or something else because she loved sitting on my lap and just being right in my face and I was fine. Only literally being in the house with her would mess me up, and after like half an hour outside I’d be okay again.

        This lack of direct correlation made me think I was just sick for the longest time until I connected the dots that time outside made me feel immediately better.

        She was an odd cat. Fur was unreal silky, extremely impressive even for a cat, and also quite long, and the previous owner said how they’ve never really had to trim it or do anything to her coat at all because she maintained it herself really well. I’ve a gut feeling it’s connected to that.

        • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Most people are allergic to cat saliva, not the hair (some are allergic to the hair too though). If the cat was maintaining herself well, she was likely licking herself a lot, which could have contributed to your allergic reaction. There are sprays/washes you can buy to reduce the affect, and I think maybe even a specialized food (probably very expensive). But, I mean, that’s a lot for effort. If you had the cat for a few weeks and it was unbearable, it’s not worth you suffering. Allergies can be hell, they make you miserable. But in the future if you feel the pull to adopt or get a cat, the stuff I mentioned might help. Or even fostering, you might come upon a cat you get along with well allergy wise and can adopt it once living with it for a while and find a match. But there are other pets which are equally nice, rabbits, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, dogs, ferrets. Or others alternatives like snakes iguanas tarantulas and so on.

          It’s actually easy to tell whether you’ll have a reaction by going to the store or humane society and asking to hold them for 5 to 10 minutes.

          • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            11 months ago

            It’s actually easy to tell whether you’ll have a reaction by going to the store or humane society and asking to hold them for 5 to 10 minutes.

            Well I’ve been around cats all my life, pretty much since very early childhood and I’ve never had any reaction really. I’ve not been allergic to anything in my life period.

            A few months before I adopted the cat, I was at my gf’s friend’s house and she had a cat there that I held and played with and petted.

            Just before I adopted the cat I did end up adopting I went to see and converse with the folks I was adopting from and I def was around the cat for over half an hour.

            While I had the cat she’d lick me all the time, never any issues. The effects would start maybe a day or two after we got her. It didn’t even fully stop until at least a day later.

            So in my case I guess not. Thanks for the advice though. I was thinking of looking into adopting a Siamese cat at some point. Ofc I’d try to do a lot more due diligence allergy wise, but I really don’t know what I could’ve even done realistically. I don’t think I could stand having to give a pet back because of any health issues on my behalf again. Thanks

            • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              You are very right. Looking back my comment was a bit ignorant. I remember learning now it can take a few exposures before someone has an allergic reaction to something, whether it’s an antibiotic or a cat or a fruit etc. It would be horrible to become attached to a pet and then have to give them back or rehome them because of allergies.