It sucks. I picked up my rescue shibe during peak doge ~4 years back. I believe huskies and shibas have a similarly primitive-dog mindset.
Yes.
But in a good way.
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My aunt’s Bernese mountain dog Duke was like that, especially on family outings. 60kg of affection and good-natured, self-assured watchfulness over his herd of unruly humans.
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Thank goodness that The Golden Compass was such an abyssmal flic.
I respectfully disagree. Granted, lower maintenance then a husky (FFS, these are bred to RUN, under COLD conditions), but species-appropriate maintenance of cats would be higher than most people are able to provide.
For one thing, cats are night-active hunters, and keeping them in a flat is not appropriate. Bonus worry: as a biologist, I cannot advise you to let your cat roam free at night - there are far too many cats, which is a terrible thing for bird populations.
My advice: don’t get a cat. It’s better for everyone (maybe except yourselve).
I grew up with pets. Various very different pets. I did my very best to keep them happy and healthy. But from today’s perspective, I am hesitant to say I always succeeded, and unsure if most people realise how difficult it is to do so. Our human perspective is pretty limiting.
OMG, I’m gonna be so unpopular on the interwebz when I hit that reply button.
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I had a friend stop talking to me for a few weeks because, when she told me she wanted to adopt a German Shepherd puppy, I told her I thought it would be a big mistake. She had zero pet ownership experience, other than a cat her mother had when my friend was still a child, she worked full time, and she was just generally not the most responsible person I’ve ever known. She’s also a little flighty and prone to changing her mind frequently, and I just knew if she adopted this Shepherd puppy she’d end up taking it back. Luckily, the breeder she was going to adopt the dog from was a responsible one that required her to fill out an application (to my friend’s credit, she didn’t lie on the application) and they rejected her application.
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In other words, dumb people are still as dumb as ever, and others (people, animals, ecosystems, the whole planet, etc.) have to suffer (still) for their ignorance.
This is my Not-surprised-face: -_-
Depends on the cat. One of ours is pretty high maintenance. Not as high as a high maintenance dog, but more than a low maintenance dog. Not so much the exercising (though she will go for walks) but she has food security and people security issues, even after 17 years with me, among other issues.
I think if you get any pet, of any kind, you need to be committed to providing the care that animal needs, even if it ends up being more than you anticipated even after research.
Huskies are cool dogs, but they do need a lot of exercise and the shedding is insane. We had a husky mix as a kid, and he was only ok because there were 3 kids to play with him, a big yard, a pool to swim in, and he was lower energy than a lot of huskies. We had drifts of his fur in the corners of the house no matter how often we vacuumed. And spring! sheesh, He shed in clumps for weeks.
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We are more or less required to have a cat. The inside cat patrols at night, going everywhere in the house, looking for critters. There are occasionally mice or the odd snake. Or various bugs that have managed to find a way in. I don’t know how they manage to get in, but they do. And the cat kills them.
But when we are out of town, sometimes for months, we leave water trickling in the tub, a hog feeder full of cat food, and three or four litter boxes. A neighbor comes by every week or so to check on things, but never sees the cat. She just keeps patrolling. We come back to find the desiccated critters under the coffee table, and the cat wanting to be cuddled. But we have had zero problems for the 19 years we have had her, except for cat hair accumulation under the beds, and on any nice sweater inadvertently left out.
I think she finds her life very fulfilling.
This stuff kills me. My last dog died in 1988, and it was 28 years of ‘wanting’ a dog before it was finally time to get one.
People who wake up one day and say ‘Hmm, I think I might get a doggie today’ drive me nuts. 1-3 years later the dog is neglected, given away or abandoned. Assholes.
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Our Samoyed shed like crazy, barely brushing up against him would ruin clean slacks on your way out the door. Still i would get another Sammy in a heartbeat if i had the availability to properly house a dog.
My current pet is a cat, and he’s relatively low maintenance with the exception that he’s not great with new people or the vet. So when i have plans to be out of town having someone look after him is usually out of the question. I have to drive him to Houston to hang out with my parents for a while.
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And don’t train them, or exercise them, or groom them.
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Easter bunnies and halloween black cats all over again.
Everyone wants the puppy. Then the puppy gets big and huskies are high energy dogs. VERY high energy and get bored very F’ing Easy.
I have a terrier and a pit/border collie mix. They keep eachother company, though Tik’s very jealous whenever little dog gets paid attention to. Both are good girls.
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I’ve known people who have their dogs be outside dogs, aren’t allowed inside the house, and they barely interact with them other than to give them food and water. At that point i wonder why even bother? Might as well get an aquarium, would be lower maintenance and less cruel.
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Legally Blonde.
You’re welcome.
My upstairs neighbor got a baby chick for his granddaughter a couple of weeks ago, and it’s growing fast. I think they’re going to eat the eggs for a while, and then kill it for dinner sometime down the road.
Problem solved.
ETA: There’s a butcher a couple of blocks away, so I sincerely doubt he’s going to subject her to a horror show.
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She puts videos on the youtubes, right? Cause we need to see this now!
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True enough. We’ve been lucky enough to have relatively independent-minded kitties.
I don’t disagree and didn’t think I meant otherwise in my comment about cats. My point was just that, as a whole, cats tend to be lower maintenance than dogs. Of course, you still need to take good care of them and provide for all their needs.
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Sounds interesting, but you definitely ruined the impression on the last line:
My parents have a plaque that says “we had to get rid of the kids, the cat was allergic”. It’s pretty hilarious, because they have a lot of cats 
but that didn’t happen until all of us grew up and moved out. Empty nest syndrome is definitely a thing.
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We have had her for 19 years, and in that time we have been able to get a pretty good sense of her likes and dislikes. What she dislikes are closed doors which interrupt her routine, and stale water. Beyond that, she mostly wants to be left alone to do her job.
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