I'm not sure this part is a culture thing.

Yeah. I've given pets a bath, but they're not invited to participate in my own.

To me, dogs are outdoor pets. Ideally cats would be too, but since they're self-cleaning I don't have as big an objection to them sharing the furniture. My mom, however, displaced her craving for grandchildren onto her latest cat. And it is clearly the alpha in my parent's house.

My cat is part of my family for sure. And, I know I do things with him that are strange to even some animal lovers (get your minds out of the gutters, I let him lick ice cream off my spoon). He sleeps on the foot of my bed. He travels with me when I am gone for more than a couple of days. He is always in the room with me (that's more his doing than mine, he follows me around). Right now, he's laying on the desk right next to my computer which is his normal place when I'm on the computer.

My dad had a hard time with me bringing my cat to his house at first. He grew up on a farm and cats should live in the barns and be mousers, not indoor pets. My mom wasn't terribly fond of cats, either. She figured the barn was the right place for them, too.

Now, both of them refer to him as their "grandcat" and dote on him. He gets treat food and catnip and toys from them every Christmas. And, they have 8 real grandchildren, so it's not a displacement thing. I do think they've realized this is the only grand-whatever they'll get from me, however.

I worked with a woman whose son got a pup from people whose bitch had many, many litters. They wouldn't get her spayed because they didn't want to put money into her just to have her get hit by a car. . . so I asked why they couldn't keep her penned while she is in season? I mean, it is a finite time and it only happens about twice a year.

Basically, they just couldn't be bothered. Is that good animal husbandry? Isn't farming about taking care of your animals too?

(They had a male dog who they wouldn't get fixed either -- but even if they did - a bitch in heat will attract whatever dogs there are in the area.)

I did have a big dog in the house when I lived with DX,

My groggy mind was trying to remember when Zenkitty lived with DXM.

My step-dad was a Minnesota farm boy and didn't quite get our relationship with dogs in the house. They don't have dogs themselves, but all of us leave our animals with them when we travel. They love their granddoggies. He has been converted to an inside dog person. My cat is outside much of the time, but seems to prefer being inside more with age. As long as she continues to prefer to pee outside we're good. She only uses a litter box if she is inside for a long time because of storms.

eta: I left the cat in Florida and regret this decision, not only because I have mice here!

Packing. How the hell did I accumulate so much stuff?

Some new pictures of the new place here: [link]

It's fab, Brenda! Verra excited for you.

That apartment looks awesome, brenda.

The new place looks great!

Thanks guys! Still freaking out more than anything, but I expect that will pass.

What's the difference between in your bed and on your bed?