# I've never owned animals before.



## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

Being a first-time pet mom is really scary for me. It is quite daunting to be completely in charge of something's life. I figured that when I bought my first animals, they would immediately become my BFF - which is true, but I am definitely more matronly than friendly towards them. It still feels weird to me that I'm sharing my home with new, little things. 

What is it like for you to live with animals, sharing your home with them? What is it like to grow up with animals? How do they fit into your family? Seems like a weird question but I am very interested in hearing what having pets is like. 

P.S. I am living with pets now, but only for about 5-6 months so it is still a very fresh concept.


----------



## jlhummel (Oct 23, 2014)

Interesting questions. I had pets as a child that were fun for me but I wasn't solely responsible for them. As I've gotten older and chosen to have pets I find them to be more a part of my life...a companion. I get joy by giving them joy and caring for them. That's one of the reasons I always adopt my animals. I actually look for the ones that need a little more care and attention to make up for what may have happened to them in life. I feel a camaraderie with those animals as I've had a bit of a difficult life at times too.


----------



## buzzwizz619 (May 31, 2015)

Ive pretty much grown up with various pets, particularly small animals, when i was a child we had dogs, a rabbit, hamsters, mice, gerbils and guinea-pigs.

Once i got to my teenage years and the wonderful world of the internet became readily available in schools, and by the time i was 15 at home i loved my animals and i loved the responsibility of taking care of them.

My parents pretty much let me have whatever small animals i wanted (within reason) but i was solely responsible for the care of them, they would help with vets bills and stuff the the actually day to day care, cleaning out etc was my responsibility.

The only exception to this was the guinea-pigs mostly because i never wanted the guinea-pigs, i never asked for them and most importantly i an majorly allergic to them (to this day i still have no idea why they brought be the second guinea-pig, when i was never able to actually care for the first one properly...and even now my mum still cant give me a valid answer!)

But growing up with animals teaches your responsibility and i learnt sooooo much from the internet, once i know about syrian hamster needing big wheels and making bin cages and using guinea-pig cages as hamster cages i felt very proud that i was doing the very best i could for my pets.

Now my pets are my family, i live alone so they are the first people i see when i get up and the last people i see before i go to bed, they keep me company and they stop me from ever being lonley or wondering wtf i am doing with my life, they give me a purpose  My mum thinks im absolutely crazy for having 11 rats, but she doesnt understand that for me its not about the number of rats i have, its about knowing that ive made a difference to their little lives wether they are with me for 2 weeks or 2 years  xxx


----------



## Dylan (Jun 12, 2016)

I have always had many, many animals, and it's just how life has always been. We were never without a dog growing up, and when I was thirteen, we got our first cat. My first personal pets came much earlier than then, though - I had a hamster at five, fish and frogs from the age of six onwards and I still have have fish today. I had rats as a teenager, then got into birds, of which I have almost twenty at the moment, split between an interior free-flight room and a walk-in backyard aviary. In the winter, I adopted my own kitten. Pet keeping is a hobby to me, though of course I love each and every individual. It gives me purpose and endless entertainment. I have just always loved animals and everything natural in general. I live in an industrial, highly urbanized setting where there isn't a lot of wildlife. I cope by bringing the outdoors in with my pets and my plants.


----------



## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

I love your stories. 

I feel like a mom most of the time, caring for my little babies. But then there are times when they are my friends, my companions! I wish I was able to have them growing up, I was always an animal lover. My parents even thought that I'd grow up to be a vet. But, you can't really know how you are with animals unless you are around them. I took some horse back riding lessons when I was a young girl but other than that, no real exposure. I wonder if my opinion on animals would have been different had I grown up with them?


----------



## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

It feels normal, its just how things have always been. The place would feel empty without them. A relationship between an animal and human is special in its own way. They never judge you, they're always happy to see you, they don't hold grudges, they don't use you, they don't act or decieve. Their friendship is truly genuine and pure. They just want to be with you.


----------



## iloveme88999 (Aug 5, 2015)

I'm 13 and own a total of 3 pets that I am the sole caregiver of. Ever since I was born I'd always had at least 4 animals in the house. Since I was 7 I've had animals that I've only taken care of. Today we have 10 animals (and counting ). Animals have always been a natural thing to have in my house. I can't imagine life without them. Good luck with your pets!


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Rats are really unlike most pets, they are very much like little people. You can actually teach them to be pretty competent and live with you like little friends.


----------



## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

I grew up with lots of animals in my life: cats, dogs, horses, hermit crabs, rats, hamsters, degus, rabbits, and the list goes on. My family loves animals! Growing up with them taught me responsibility, how to interact with them, and their life cycles. 

It was weird not having any pets for a few years when I first lived on my own. My boyfriend didn't have many pets growing up so he didn't find it weird or lonely to not have them. Caring for animals and having that companionship means so much to me, and after some convincing I got him to understand.

Now we have three sweet rats who mean the world to us. He's so sweet with them, and is very glad to have them too. I feel such much better having rats in my life again.


----------



## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

My parents got our family dog when I started walking, and that, my mother says, was the worst mistake they ever made, lol. Now I have 5 personal rats, 12 foster rats, 3 dogs, and 1 cat. The longest I've ever gone was 4 months without some sort of animal companion, and dear lord, the house felt _so _empty. Any time I have to drop someone off at boarding, it feels like something big in the house is missing.

I'm at an age where I want to start travelling a lot, but I can't because I have pets and, like kids, you need to pay someone to watch them if you leave. So sometimes it can be frustrating and they can feel a bit like a burden, to be honest. But I also know that I would be miserable without them, so it balances out. They're like my kids. I give each one their own space (bedroom) and treat them as such.

They're just another member of the family, like a brother or sister.


----------



## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

RatAtat2693 said:


> They're just another member of the family, like a brother or sister.


I've never had any of those either


----------



## Kirara (Jan 28, 2012)

Ah what an interesting question! To be honest I'm also curious to hear what _your_ viewpoints are when it comes to pets and animals, what was it like growing up without one? Did your friends have pets you got to interact with? Were there any kinds of animals you felt connected to and wanted to own if you got the chance?

I have always been really intrigued by and attracted to animals. My career choices as a kid fluctuated between things like paleontologist and zookeeper, and I spent hours every day watching the Animal Planet channel (back when it was actually good and informative), reading books, and things like that. The diversity of this planet and the things animals are capable of is a never-ending source of inspiration and discovery. Though of course there's a difference between wild animals and domestic pets. Domestication is also incredibly interesting - the molding of an animal to better suit habitation with humans.. such an amazing concept with results that have shaped society. We have work horses, seeing-eye dogs, police animals, and most prominently, pets as companionship animals. They are so ingrained in society that I have to imagine a life without pets to be quite boring, but that's just my passion talking! It is definitely a lot of work bringing in an animal that cannot survive without your care, especially if it is a new animal you're not familiar with! Not owning animals is definitely a respectable choice if you know you'd be unable to properly care for or afford them. I recently went looking into skunks as pets and the fine details of their care, differing greatly from rats, was quite daunting indeed. obviously for me, pets have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and some I have connected to easier and stronger than others (rats trump all else, haha).


----------



## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

Kirara said:


> Ah what an interesting question! To be honest I'm also curious to hear what _your_ viewpoints are when it comes to pets and animals, what was it like growing up without one? Did your friends have pets you got to interact with? Were there any kinds of animals you felt connected to and wanted to own if you got the chance?
> 
> I have always been really intrigued by and attracted to animals. My career choices as a kid fluctuated between things like paleontologist and zookeeper, and I spent hours every day watching the Animal Planet channel (back when it was actually good and informative), reading books, and things like that. The diversity of this planet and the things animals are capable of is a never-ending source of inspiration and discovery. Though of course there's a difference between wild animals and domestic pets. Domestication is also incredibly interesting - the molding of an animal to better suit habitation with humans.. such an amazing concept with results that have shaped society. We have work horses, seeing-eye dogs, police animals, and most prominently, pets as companionship animals. They are so ingrained in society that I have to imagine a life without pets to be quite boring, but that's just my passion talking! It is definitely a lot of work bringing in an animal that cannot survive without your care, especially if it is a new animal you're not familiar with! Not owning animals is definitely a respectable choice if you know you'd be unable to properly care for or afford them. I recently went looking into skunks as pets and the fine details of their care, differing greatly from rats, was quite daunting indeed. obviously for me, pets have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and some I have connected to easier and stronger than others (rats trump all else, haha).


Despite ever having a pet, I have always had a deep love of animals. My mother dislikes all animals because they are dirty and messy (she is quite clean and likes the quiet - and had her fair share of animals when she was young). and my father is indifferent and would rather not take on a 'chore' or another 'responsibility'. Ergo, neither parent wanted pets for their own reasons and despite my pleads for a dog well until my teen years, would never cave in. So unfortunately, I used to be quite awkward around animals. Like, didn't know how they act so would never come up to dogs. Just look and enjoy them running around. I would never pet anything or come up to animals, really. Too afraid of what would happen...would they bite me? lick me? would I unintentionally hurt them? how do I act around them? Lol. 

When I was thirteen I convinced my dad to give me horse riding lessons (western style), which was my first experience being close to and working with an animal. Crazy scary at first, until I discovered that horses are more skittish then I was . Three years of that showed me that yes, I was obsessed with animals. Still couldn't properly pet a dog until I got my rats though. 

So I'm sad I missed out on the good times, but I guess living without pets was a cleaner, quieter lifestyle with less chores. Although your description of life with animals sounds like a great future for me  Maybe I was a late bloomer, but I'm in the pet life now!


----------

