Adding another pet - guilt?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 9 months ago by Molzy.

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- 07/11/2011 at 2:55 PM
  Molzy
  Participant
  161 posts
  Hey guys!
  
  So I’m curious if anyone else gets this. I have quite a few animals (3 birds and a rabbit) and I live in a 1-bedroom apartment. I’ve been strongly considering adding a cat for the past couple of months (I miss having a larger non-caged animal around, and lived with a roommate’s cats for 3 years previously).
  
  I have gone to the shelter a few times to look over the past few months, and never really clicked with one. But this weekend I went in to the local shelter with my mom who was visiting me to look at dogs (for her), and I found the perfect cat! He has been there since the beginning of May, and is so sweet! I am wrestling with the idea of going back to visit with him and actually take him out of his cage to see what he is like…but for some reason I feel like I shouldn’t! I’m pretty sure the reason for this guilt is because my parents have always complained about how many animals I have, and I know they wouldn’t approve of me getting a cat (they both hate cats). Now – I’m 24 years old, and I shouldn’t care what my parents think anymore! I don’t live at home, and am independent of my parents financially. I don’t have a ton of money (graduate student), but I have always put my animals first and never skimped on their food or care (I’ll live off ramen noodles, but they still get their fresh veggies!). My main requirement for any cat is that it has a low prey drive, since I do have all prey animals at home right now!
  
  Ugh. I’m so worried he’s going to put to sleep since he’s been there so long…I think I have to at least go talk to the shelter workers on his chances of being adopted. Does anyone else get the guilt complex when they think about adding to their pet family?
  
  Oh, and FYI, he is a 3-year-old orange tabby male that was found as a stray I believe. He literally threw his whole body against me to cuddle when I was there (which is exactly what I want - a lap cat!).
- 07/11/2011 at 3:34 PM
  brittbritt
  Participant
  542 posts
  My mom used to tell me all the time I have way too many animals in my home. I just smile and love on all my babies. If you feel you could financially and emotionally take care of one more animal than the choice is up to you. I happen to have an elder 13 year old cat named Abby and she could care less about my guinea pigs and rabbits.
- 07/11/2011 at 3:52 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  I would wait. You have lots of animals as it is right now, and going to school. Wait until you are more financially secure, with a good job. And more room, in case all your critters don’t get along
- 07/11/2011 at 4:03 PM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  I wouldn’t add a cat with a one bedroom apartment and birds – it will get along with the rabbit if well tempered, but cats very often will not get along with birds (and even a small scratch on a bird from a cat can be fatal) and without space for them to have play time away from kitty without having to lock kitty up in a small area, imo it wouldn’t be fair to the birds or the cat. The reason I got rabbits instead of a predator is because of my bird – he has to have his out of cage time and I didn’t feel right locking him up so I could have another pet, he was here first.
  
  In the end the choice is yours, but if you do decide to get him, maybe see if the shelter will let you do a foster-to-adopt in case he ends up being a bit too prey-driven for your home.
- 07/11/2011 at 4:54 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17242 posts
  Oh my gosh, I felt so guilty after bringing Wooly home. I kept wondering if I had done the right thing and I was worried about introducing him to Leopold. Good thing everything turned out fine!
- 07/11/2011 at 6:11 PM
  Molzy
  Participant
  161 posts
  Thanks everyone!
  
  BrittBritt – my rabbits best friend was a kitten my roommate rescued a few years ago – the cat would jump in his pen at night to sleep, and they would play tag around the apartment (literally they would switch off who would chase who, it was hilarious!). I do the same thing with my Mom too – she loves all my animals and spoils them (especially Riley the bun), but she just thinks I have too many and that it makes my apartment like a zoo….which it kind of is, but I like it that way. I’m also a neat-nick, so it’s always clean – my friends always comment on how my apartment doesn’t smell like animals despite them all being in the main living area. Luckily I moved to a cheaper area for graduate school, so apartments are a little bigger and cheaper than what I am used to in a large metropolitan area!
  
  MonkeyBunny – good advice! I’m definitely not starving right now (I get a monthly stipend from my department that is actually more than what I was making full-time with a college degree!), pets get SO expensive when you buy the higher-end foods and toys. I spent over $1000 this past winter when one of my birds had a severe respiratory infection, which definitely put a dent in my savings.
  
  StickerBunny – thanks for the advice. I think I know in my head that I shouldn’t do it (I have lived with cats in the past with my birds, and while two of them were fine and had NO hunting instinct whatsoever, one of them had to be locked up when the birds were out, and it made things a little harder for everyone). What type of bird do you have? I have two cockatiels (females, 11 and 6 years old), and a 14-year-old Meyers parrot. Birds will always be my first love.
  
  LBJ10 – Glad I’m not the only one! That is actually why I have never added a second rabbit to the family. I love Riley, but if they didn’t get along I would feel terrible! Not to mention I have never lived somewhere where I could keep them seperate enough to avoid poop wars and the like, and I have FINALLY gotten Riley to a point where he doesn’t eat every thing in sight (though he has a real taste for new furniture and expensive purses!).
  
  Thanks again everyone. I am going to have to sit down and tally some numbers to see if it is affordable, and then also talk to the shelter about his prey drive and whether they have a foster-to-adopt program or anything.
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