Poll of the Day > dogs and cats need to live longer

(+) Yeah! (+)

it's not fair

Make them smarter too, make them smarter than humans. There's no reason we can't.

My sister just found her cat dead in their backyard. Appears to have been attacked by something and dragger herself back home. Her daughters are devastated.

RIP Lucy Lunchbox

Cats for sure but not dogs, those need to have lower average lifespans.

drizzt_rocks posted...

Cats for sure but not dogs, those need to have lower average lifespans.

Ew.

drizzt_rocks posted...

Cats for sure but not dogs, those need to have lower average lifespans.

what an odd opinion

Imagine waking up in the morning and thinking "man, I wish dogs died more often."

Unless, of course, he's going for "people do too much to prolong the lives of old dogs that are clearly suffering instead of humanely letting them go at a more appropriate time," which isn't entirely without merit, but "dogs should have lower average lifespans" would be a really weird way to present that argument.

If cats lived longer, i think we'd have an even bigger feral problem.
Unfortunately, even people who "like" their pets, don't like them to live a long life. The amount of people who say they like birds or reptiles, but then don't like they live a long time is weird.
Plenty of my cats lived 18, 20+ years and I'd give a lot to extend those lives.

I wonder if that's how elves feel about men in fantasy stories

drizzt_rocks posted...

Cats for sure but not dogs, those need to have lower average lifespans.

This

adjl posted...

Imagine waking up in the morning and thinking "man, I wish dogs died more often."

Every day, at 4 am, because those bastards don't ever shut up

the two dudes wishing dogs lived even shorter lives are fucked in the head

Nade_Duck posted...

what an odd opinion

Not odd at all. Dogs are aggressive, constantly barking, slobbering beasts. Would prefer if we had them in zoos instead of homes.

adjl posted...

Unless, of course, he's going for "people do too much to prolong the lives of old dogs that are clearly suffering instead of humanely letting them go at a more appropriate time," which isn't entirely without merit, but "dogs should have lower average lifespans" would be a really weird way to present that argument.

he was not going for that.

pedro45 posted...

If cats lived longer, i think we'd have an even bigger feral problem.

Probably not. Average life expectancy for an outdoor cat is like 2-3 years, versus ~15ish for an indoor one. Now, a big part of that is that most of them die as kittens and bring the average down, but even so you don't get too many feral cats living the full potential life expectancy of a cat.

pedro45 posted...

Unfortunately, even people who "like" their pets, don't like them to live a long life. The amount of people who say they like birds or reptiles, but then don't like they live a long time is weird.

That's less a matter of "I don't want to have to deal with the pet for that long" and more "there's a significant chance that pet will outlive me and I don't want to commit to taking care of it when that includes gambling that somebody else will take over from me." Lifelong friends are great, but being responsible for them even after your death is a steep ask.

HValle posted...

Every day, at 4 am, because those bastards don't ever shut up

It's definitely very healthy to wish death on annoyingly noisy entities. Especially when the entities in question are most likely only noisy because the humans responsible for them failed to properly train them.

adjl posted...

That's less a matter of "I don't want to have to deal with the pet for that long" and more "there's a significant chance that pet will outlive me and I don't want to commit to taking care of it when that includes gambling that somebody else will take over from me." Lifelong friends are great, but being responsible for them even after your death is a steep ask.

part of that too is probably because a bird or a reptile isn't in the same level as a pet dog or pet cat

those two animals get essentially free reign of the house, there is a very real connection and level of understanding they have that you and them are companions. birds and lizards? not so much.

if someone died and bequeathed to me their dog or cat, the chances of me getting rid of it is 0, whereas if someone gave me a fucking bird, or a turtle i am going to find somewhere to get rid of it. dogs and cats both have a utility too. dogs are friends, they're alarms, they're defense. cats are friends, they keep rodents away. what the fuck is a cockatiel bringing to the table. dancing? my dog can do that, and sing along.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

part of that too is probably because a bird or a reptile isn't in the same level as a pet dog or pet cat

those two animals get essentially free reign of the house, there is a very real connection and level of understanding they have that you and them are companions. birds and lizards? not so much.

if someone died and bequeathed to me their dog or cat, the chances of me getting rid of it is 0, whereas if someone gave me a fucking bird, or a turtle i am going to find somewhere to get rid of it.

Lizards, maybe not. But I feel like most bird owners don't just lock them in a cage 24/7. They can also be kind of intelligent, too from what I've seen. For an animal at least.

people who let birds out to roam around their living space shitting everywhere are freaks

I used to have a leopard gecko when I was younger and I'd try to let it out every now and then because I felt bad that he'd have to stay in his terrarium all the time. But he didn't really seem to enjoy roaming much. Much more comfortable under his warm rock.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

part of that too is probably because a bird or a reptile isn't in the same level as a pet dog or pet cat

That's a reason to not be keen on the idea of a bird/reptile, but it's probably not a consideration if they're breaking out the "they live too long" concern.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

if someone died and bequeathed to me their dog or cat, the chances of me getting rid of it is 0, whereas if someone gave me a f***ing bird, or a turtle i am going to find somewhere to get rid of it.

And that's why "they live too long" is a concern. It's not that easy to find somebody that you can guarantee will take over care of a parrot in 40-50 years' time, since they're not popular pets. You can probably manage to keep friends around for your whole life that will be willing to take in a dog or cat if you happen to die within the 10-20 years they're unlikely to exceed, and even if you can't there's at least interest from the general public in adopting dogs/cats that were left behind by a deceased owner (we adopted one of our cats at 15 after her owner died, and she almost made it to 22 before we had to put her down back in May). That's less true of more exotic pets.

I rarely, if ever, hear someone say they don't want a parrot cause it will burden someone else. I almost always hear they don't want a parrot cause they don't wanna take care of a bird for decades. It is anecdotal evidence, but that's where a lot of my statements came from.
As long as people recognize pets are living creatures that deserve to live as much anything else including humans, it's all good. You don't own them, you befriend and take care of them.

adjl posted...

It's definitely very healthy to wish death on annoyingly noisy entities

I bet you think that every time a mosquito flies to your ear

That's right. Many other animals need to live longer, too.

HValle posted...

I bet you think that every time a mosquito flies to your ear

Dogs definitely do that.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

the two dudes wishing dogs lived even shorter lives are fucked in the head

I change my opinion and also wish dogs died faster, they made compelling arguments

Basically, if it's my dog, then I love it. If it's your dog and it's being a little shit, I hope it gets punted off a cliff

HValle posted...

Every day, at 4 am, because those bastards don't ever shut up

My cat has woken me up significantly more than my dog that I've had for 7 more years than the cat. I think you've misplaced your anger with the owners of the loud dog and you're likely a pretty miserable person in general.

HValle posted...

I bet you think that every time a mosquito flies to your ear

If a mosquito flies into my ear, I'm less concerned with the noise it makes and more concerned with the fact that it's seeking to cause me actual physical harm. The noise is a little annoying, certainly, but my initial reaction is overwhelmingly due to the unexpected invasion of my personal space, then subsequently to the idea of getting a mosquito bite in my ear.

hockey7318 posted...

My cat has woken me up significantly more than my dog that I've had for 7 more years than the cat. I think you've misplaced your anger with the owners of the loud dog and you're likely a pretty miserable person in general.

My cat stole my pillow while I was using it last night somehow.

Yeah, people seriously underestimate what horrible little gremlins cats can be.

Kallainanna posted...

Yeah, people seriously underestimate what horrible little gremlins cats can be.

that's why we love them though.