What ChiKat said.

(Hi there, ChiKat!!! kermit waves ChiKat-ward)

I may not be leaving money for my dogs in my will directly, but you can be damn sure I have a plan set in place for if I perish before them. And that does include proper $ for their care. I do not think that is strange; I think it's being a responsible pet owner. I volunteered at the SPCA and saw way too many animals put down because there was no plan for them after their owners died.

Oh, and I'm walking around with a big honkin' gauze bandage on my neck, and I'm just waiting for someone to ask me what happened so I can tell them about my vampire attack last night.

How about a category for people who would really like a dog, but doesn't think that would be fair to the dog because of their lifestyle, so has cats and trains them to act like dogs?

How about a category for people who would really like a dog, but doesn't think that would be fair to the dog because of their lifestyle, so has cats and trains them to act like dogs?

I would call that the "Awesome people" category!!

If you can train a cat to act like a dog, I think your category is "magician".

I think giving an animal special food (which many people do or else most food companies would create special diets) is very different than cooking special food. A woman I do yoga with has a pack of dogs and, though she is a vegan herself, she does have her personal assistant cook special all-meat meals for her dogs because she finds the toxins in all processed dog foods too terrible for her dogs.

It seems like there is a lot of privilege wrapped up in the ability to do that.

My medical treatments for a dog (not our current dog) would be predicated on what is actually beneficial for the dog vs. the amount of pain it would cause the animal + the expense.

I view pets as more trouble and expense than they are worth. Though I accept that this is not the way people who love their pets feel.

I'm a pet agnostic.

Kathy, if the power of my will can affect people in Chicago, someone will be asking you about that bandage soon. That's awesome.

A major bone of contention (no pun intended) in our family is that I do NOT want another pet after our current dog dies. Again, I have very little mental bandwidth for caretaking critters that are not my progeny at this point, given how much work my progeny take.

And frankly, our family is not a good place for a dog. Low animal on the totem pole and not enough attention. Plus Grace has boundary issues and is a trial for our current dog. Cannot imagine another.

Plus, a hair-free environment would be thrillingly fun for a bit.

I cannot imagine going through the hospital scenarios that I currently go through on a 6 week cycle for a pet. I get that other people do it, but I cannot and would not.