of people and cats

[lisa_thecat]

I guess I feel a bit disturbed when I hear about fur babies. I love my cats like any other crazy cat lady, but I don't consider myself their mom. When I call them (and they don't come, of course), I ask them to 'come to Mira'. I've had some contradictory discussions with my sister on this matter because, of course, I had to 'psychoanalyze' why she calls her cat her baby and always she shut me up by demonstrating how much of a slave to my own cats' whims I am, probably worse than she is. Maybe it's about giving a name, any name, to the affection we feel for our pets. They are members of the family anyway.But I'll never use this mom-baby connection in reference to my cats. It just seems embarrassing to me. But then, I'm the easily embarrassed type anyway...

Comments

[gale_storm]

Understood! That is, I understand how you deal with this, as I seem to feel much the same way. Indeed, Moxie is sweet and furry and all, but I don't use the term 'fur-baby' for her at all. Of course, I don't want babies at all, and I even fixed her up so that she doesn't have to worry about that either. :-)

[lisa_thecat]

I like babies but from a distance and I am pretty good with kids for shorter periods of time. I don't have any and unless something strange happens like I marry someone with kids or I decide to adopt a kid, I won't have any and I feel quite good about it. Maybe I am a selfish for that, but it's how I like things. I have cats because I like cats and I don't think they are replacements for kids. They're just my pets. Referring to them as furbabies would make me look pathetic in my opinion. And I dread feeling ridiculous.

My cats aren't fixed. Lisa is already too old for that and Meli will get it probably next summer. I admit that if they were male cats, I would have done it without a blink of an eye, but only because the operation is much easier for them.

[dadi.livejournal.com]

I do use it sometimes, but in a making-fun-of-myself way. Like, "come to yo mama" :D.

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

hahaha - I can picture you calling Rossini from his adventures 'in the wild', fights with neighbor cats and who knows what else, with his fur all tangled, and you have to brush him again!

[dadi.livejournal.com]

Actually, thinking about the book of faeces, I am guilty of the cat mom thing. Rossini has his personal page...and is listed as my son :D

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

I've only seen that now! And he's in a relationship too!!!

[dadi.livejournal.com]

With Blanche, yes. But it is platonic :D

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

We're not easily embarrassed, and Mubbie is our baby. *gg*

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

But Mubbie only calls you AiAi! He doesn't recognize Chris as his mother ;P

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

Funny, we were just talking about that - LOL!

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

hahaha - so I was right!

[minemouse.livejournal.com]

Eh, we refer to ourselves as Mom and Dad to our kitties all the time; but usually not in front of other people. We have no skin children but choice so to us our cats are our babies.

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

My sister and her boyfriend are like this too. Are those in your icon your cats?

[minemouse.livejournal.com]

Yes, those are my cats; Bella and Bailey.

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

I think that in all ways importantly I am the cat's mother, I might not have given birth to her but I feed her, give her comfort and keep her safe. So I don't have an issue with referring to myself as such.

*hugs*

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

I guess if I have had kids, I wouldn't have spoiled them like I spoil the cats ;) Kids need a bit of discipline, cats can't be disciplined.

[schwester-grimm.livejournal.com]

As much as I love my foster pets which I host once in a while, I don't call them 'my babies'.
I feel responsible for them like they were my kids, I spoil them rotten, and I make a fuss if they show a minor ailment.
Still, the notion of actually giving birth to a rat (or any other furry fellow) makes me shudder.

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

Foster pets? My only foster pet is Tesi, my sister's cat when she and her boyfriend are going on vacation. What pets do you foster?

[schwester-grimm.livejournal.com]

I foster a rabbit, a turtle, an iguana and a rat when their respective owners are on travel.
I only have to make sure it's only one at a time. Those critters refuse to be friendly with each other :))

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of a rat pet before. But to each their own, I guess...

[zestfive.livejournal.com]

For me, I draw the line when it sounds like I care about pets more than the people in my life. I have to cats, I think they have a pretty good life but I don't treat them or refer to them as they are my children.

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

I don't have kids and I am careful not to appear to be the type that replaced kids with pets and treats pets as their children. But I do pay a lot of attention to my cats and spoil them rotten. Worse, I would love to have even more cats but I am aware I don't have the space for that.

[freecloud13.livejournal.com]

I don't tell Peggy to "come to mum", but I don' t mind saying that pets are like children sometimes, in the sense that they become part of the family. Also, I kind of believe some people are definitely more responsible 'parents' to their pets than some other people are to their human children.
But then again, other people are plain scary when they spoilt their pets rotten (and refer t them as 'my furry kids'!) and even cause them health issues from the excessive 'love' they feel the need to show them. Sometimes it's because they cannot have children, and I think that's both sad and sick.

[lisa-thecat.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you are talking about and I wouldn't ever want to be a sad case of cat lady who can't have kids and projected all the motherly love towards the pets. But yes, the cats are part of the family and they have their rights as members of the family as well.