Don't have pets if you leave them alone all day. It's torture like solitary confinement.
Pets often suffer from loneliness and from too little engagement and moving. If you kept humans under the conditions a lot of pets suffer from their whole life then human would go insane.
I am not sure you can generalize this to everything. Cats should be generally fine with that, or are there studies that say otherwise? I'd agree you shouldn't leave them for longer alone though.
Was going to reply this as well. We aren't home all the time and the cats are playing with each other constantly. Getting two cats is a good way to also evade behavior that most cat owners dislike. Cats destroy things when they're bored
Kinda, yeah.
The analogy I like best is that dogs are like eternal kindergartners, they are equivalent in mental capacity to a small child and never develop beyond that point.
I think it is kind of pointless to have something (someone?) like that around if you are not there for them most of the time.
Some workplaces allow you to have your dog with you but that is very rare.
I know this is ideal but circumstances can change over a decade of owning a pet. I have regrets over an old family dog that we neglected due to financial strain (parents) and academic stress (kids). We loved that dog to death and we failed her. Our biggest mistake was believing that big dogs belong outside because that was the cultural norm, but the current family dog gets to come wherever we are. I guess the point is people aren't perfect and we make mistakes and hopefully we learn to be better.
Those videos where people put gopros on their pets to see what they do all day are so sad for the single dogs. All they do is lay by the door or window waiting for the human to come home.
The shenanigans my cat gets up to while I'm gone suggests otherwise. Of course, the dog probably would be thinking about me if he wasn't stressing out about what the cat was doing.
Sometimes I get home from work so tired I go straight into bed. There's a spot in the cat room where she can sit and see the top of my bed across the hall. So when I lay down and turn over, there she is staring at me from her room. I know she just wants me to come in her room and play. It works every time.
18 Comments
ladicius@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 19d
Don't have pets if you leave them alone all day. It's torture like solitary confinement.
Pets often suffer from loneliness and from too little engagement and moving. If you kept humans under the conditions a lot of pets suffer from their whole life then human would go insane.
gedfromgont@piefed.ca · 16 pts · 19d
I am not sure you can generalize this to everything. Cats should be generally fine with that, or are there studies that say otherwise? I'd agree you shouldn't leave them for longer alone though.
LeFrog@discuss.tchncs.de · 22 pts · 19d
Cats suffer from loneliness as well. That's why you should have more than one cat if you are not at home all day.
moonburster@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 19d
Was going to reply this as well. We aren't home all the time and the cats are playing with each other constantly. Getting two cats is a good way to also evade behavior that most cat owners dislike. Cats destroy things when they're bored
ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 19d
TIL I must retire before I can have a dog again.
Starf4rged@reddthat.com · 9 pts · 19d
Kinda, yeah.
The analogy I like best is that dogs are like eternal kindergartners, they are equivalent in mental capacity to a small child and never develop beyond that point.
I think it is kind of pointless to have something (someone?) like that around if you are not there for them most of the time.
Some workplaces allow you to have your dog with you but that is very rare.
Drusas@fedia.io · 7 pts · 19d
This is what dog walkers and doggy daycares are for.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 19d
Hence my four cats.
searabbit@piefed.social · 4 pts · 19d
I know this is ideal but circumstances can change over a decade of owning a pet. I have regrets over an old family dog that we neglected due to financial strain (parents) and academic stress (kids). We loved that dog to death and we failed her. Our biggest mistake was believing that big dogs belong outside because that was the cultural norm, but the current family dog gets to come wherever we are. I guess the point is people aren't perfect and we make mistakes and hopefully we learn to be better.
RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 18d
Those videos where people put gopros on their pets to see what they do all day are so sad for the single dogs. All they do is lay by the door or window waiting for the human to come home.
chewypoops@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 19d
Don't have a pet if you're going to leave it alone all day. Have pets. How are they going to get lonely now?
Sanguine@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 19d
Lol this isn't true.
finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 19d
I read somewhere that we have hundreds - even thousands - of different things occupying our minds in any given day. But all your pets have is you.
chewypoops@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 19d
The shenanigans my cat gets up to while I'm gone suggests otherwise. Of course, the dog probably would be thinking about me if he wasn't stressing out about what the cat was doing.
Nomad@infosec.pub · 13 pts · 19d
This goes doubly for kids.
Sometimes_I_do@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 19d
I don't think my fish gives a flying fuck, as long as i feed them
TimboSlice@discuss.online · 5 pts · 19d
Sometimes I get home from work so tired I go straight into bed. There's a spot in the cat room where she can sit and see the top of my bed across the hall. So when I lay down and turn over, there she is staring at me from her room. I know she just wants me to come in her room and play. It works every time.
ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 18d
... Wholesome, eh?... Hmmmmm...