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.

Glad the surgery went well!

I think I fall into a little of all three or possibly none of those pet owner categories. None of them really describe how I feel about my pets. I feel like I have chosen to make their care my responsibility so I pay for their vet care, and meds, and make sure there is someone to take care of them when I can't. And they give me a lot of joy (although I can't say I like them better, or in the same way, as the humans I like) and a lot of irritation (but they don't irritate in the same way that the humans that irritate me do).

I am incredibly grateful that my parents were able to take care of my very elderly, incontinent, senile dog for a month last year while Bob was recovering. Mustering the emotional resources to care for Frank would have, I think, completely overwhelmed me at that time.

Ah, I didn't read that far into the article.

Being, of course, the dominionist that I am. I'm pretty textbook there, and I'm not even sure the rest of my family would qualify. I don't think my parents would go as far as "beloved." "Tolerated" is more like it. They'd never have a pet. Just a working animal, and that would include "amuse the children."

We did, however, cook for our pets. But that was because buying food for them was considered excessive.