Everyone out there in TCS-land, care to assist?

Benefit: their love & companionship
Drawback: losing them when it's time. It would be so hard.

I'd have to say too that I really don't see litterbox duty and hairballs as a drawback. It just kinda goes with the territory of caring for them. Same with vet bills, etc.

Drawbacks, I would have to say the Pet Deposits and Pet Rent for apartments. I have yet to see "Kid Deposit" or "Kid Rent" but small children can be just as destructive or moreso than pets.

Another one would be stepping on sharp things (toys/food) or squishy wet things in the dark.

And the biggest one is one a few people have also already said...losing a piece of your heart when they cross the bridge.

Yeah, although scooping poop and cleaning up puke isn't my idea of fun, I wouldn't call it a drawback, as I don't mind doing it either. I posted my drawback & benefit as what I saw to be THE ultimate one. Everyone pretty much had everything covered.

I need to know, what do you consider a drawback or drawbacks to pet ownership?

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I think the biggest drawback is how some landlords essentially extort pet owners. We looked at one place recently that wanted $500 deposit, pet rent AND required the cats be declawed and view their vaccination history to make sure they are up to date. No one requires that if you have kids--to see their medical records before approval. I thought it was way over the top--because it wasn't just rabies vaccination, which is the only thing they should need to know IMO. I live in an area where most clinics still vaccinate annually for everything. Mike told me when he was looking, we were moving out of state, that one landlord was so over the top he actually told them that the requirements/deposits were ridiculous. Our current landlord was reasonable about deposits and only required a copy of current rabies certificates. Which I can handle, it's required by law to be up to date on that.

That was something I had no clue about when I first got cats while in college in 1998. I really had no idea.

The other drawback is finding a good pet sitter. For various reasons, it can be hard to find a good one. And that can impact being able to travel.

vet bills, expenses for necessities such as litter, vaccinations, tags, destructiveness on occassion, carriers, food, water, soft claws for us, etc, cleaning up the inevitable fur balls, constantly vaccuming to keep as free of fur as possible (i have asthma & allergies-but it's not a big deal so long as i keep it clean ), and yes there is the traveling issue- you have to plan ahead and find someone you can trust to watch them while you're gone and that can add up expense wise. As far as the dogs go- one of ours, Fosters is an Australian Shepherd- so he's insanely high energy- That breed is a working dog- so they HAVE to have a task- otherwise they get destructive....so we constantly have to keep him entertained and play with him or put him to work- which for us is perfect as we love to do that- but for the wrong home- a high energy pet might not be a good match. We also adopted our Carolina Dog Whiskey as an older dog who had been abused and had a lot of temperment issues/etc- so we had to work intensely to train him (he's amazing now!) but you definitely have to be committed not just financially to your pet but also to training and spending time with them. That's not a burden in my book though- i love them, so i don't mind spending time working with them. The only thing i would like is my bed back They all 6 (4 cats and 2 large dogs) wanna sleep in bed with us at night so it gets a little crowded

I wouldn't trade ANYTHING in the world for my furbabies though- they're worth everything! They are such amazing companions and always let us know how much they love us.

Originally Posted by sarahp

The only drawback I can think of is that it's hard to travel. We like to travel, but Stumpy in particular is very needy of human interaction and play time. If we go away for more than a few days we need to get a housesitter to stay at our house.

We're lucky in that we have 3 lots of neughbours in our building who'll happily look after the kitties if we go away for short trips, but if we didn't have that it would be a lot harder.

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This is the only drawback I see, and it's not much of one if we have a house sitter/pet sitter. Right now we have a problem, in that all three of our cat sitters won't be available when we need, for legal reasons pertaining to home ownership, to travel abroad in May. There are four "good" cat hotels in the general area where Jamie can be boarded, all of which can keep him separate from other cats (an absolute necessity), but I hate to have him ripped from his accustomed environment.

The only drawback as far as I'm concerned is one that several have already voiced, ....the fact that as a rule, their life spans aren't nearly as long as we humans need them to be.

I am free spirit and LOVE to travel and have been lucky to be able to travel on the spur of the moment, a lot, until a feral cat and her kittens moved in. They only trust a handul of people, so I just cannot just leave them and go anymore, I have to stay home.

My cereal bowl has to be carefully guarded or there will be little kitty tongues all in it. And if I dont share it, Laura will hunt me down.

Kiko likes to go into another room and meow, nonstop, like he is in pain, until I go and get him

Leather shoes, someone, has put their little teeth marks in several pair and chewed a few straps off of others.

Poo! Thats the #1 drawback.

I wouldnt trade my baby's for the world, they have changed my life and I love them dearly

The only drawback is that their lifespan is too short.

For some reason, God seems to give me the 'special needs' kitties. It can get expensive, and sometimes they don't understand that everything you do, is for their own good (medications, sub-Q fluids, vet trips, etc.) However, I understand and accept the expense. I limit the number of kitties I have, so that the ones I do have, can have the best care I can give them. Because the cats I have always seem to have CRF, I need to make arrangements for special feeding, medications and fluids, before taking any extended vacation (longer than, say, just a weekend.)

I need to know, what do you consider a drawback or drawbacks to pet ownership?
drawback - cost of food, neutering, vet visits... you name it!
sorry, that's the only one i can think of - everything else is a benefit!

ETA: short lifespan would be a drawback, i guess... oh, & need to plan for trips - making sure food, water, etc. was available & that pets would be taken care of during my absence.

Originally Posted by rescuecatsrule

Seriously though, vets bills are the only drawback I can think of.

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The above, and when they ultimately cross the Rainbow Bridge..

I've never regretted one day of being a Meowmy..

~KK~

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

The only drawback is that their lifespan is too short.

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That is so, so true

Biggest drawback is a somewhat loss of freedom to come and go spontaneously. You need to find someone to take care of your pet(s) in order to go away for a period of time.

But there are so many positives of pet ownership it outweighs the few drawbacks

A small drawback is loss of freedom...free to go where ya want, when ya want without having to worry about making sure that the birds have had enough attention and stuff like that. Not being able to go somewhere over night as easily as you could if you didn't and finding someone to watch them (that you know you can trust) if you have to go somewhere longer. But it is something I have gladly given up as you can see.

I agree with all of the drawbacks cept renting. We own so that's good.

For us, I think the biggest is we have special needs (i.e. mentally challenged) cats and we have to cater to specific needs and attitudes, break up fights, be prepared to run out the door with the injured kitty and race to the vets and hope it's nothing serious, be prepared to catch Jake as he hurls himself across a room to attack any person that walks in he doesn't know, grab Isis before she falls off of something and breaks a bone...again.

I guess what I'm saying, for us, is the constant worry. I worry over each and every kitty we have whether they be indoor/outdoor/tame/feral/whatever as each of them have very specific issues/needs.

But, reality is, I wouldn't trade a single one of them for a "normal" mentally healthy cat. I love my 4-legged doofus'!

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

The only drawback is that their lifespan is too short.

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That's the only drawback for me as well

The same drawbacks a child would bring. Money, time, emotions. But it's all worth it

I think you've got the top 3:
Hard to travel spontaneously
Expensive (vet, food, toys, etc)
Harder to find a place to rent (or move).

That being said, I don't feel that any of this would keep me from getting more furkids (even if I did just spend $252 on Stan's teeth )

Honestly, it's hard for me to say there are any drawbacks because any inconvenience or expense associated with pet ownership pales in comparison to the joy, companionship, humor and love they bring to my life.