Wouldn't phaze my dad a bit sad to say. he hated my dog too... he actually did a dance when she had to be put to sleep (24 years old, had cancer).
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
I am extremely upset about this
- Thread starter lorie d.
- Start Date
Wow, after reading some of these things my family's reactions seem very mild. Everyone else just sighs and then laughs now when I tell them about a new pet, my mom is the one that annoys me... She always has this resigned/angry voice and says something like 'no, not again' and refuses to talk about it for a bit. She does come around though. By now she knows that arguing with me will do no good, I am an adult and make my own choices, but it's still really annoying that she has this negative attitude. Of course I can't even get angry, because it's very minor, and she always comes around (loves all my pets) and takes care of them when I'm away (as I do with their dog).
My most recent pets are four geckos, and mom didn't even want to hear about them at first, but now listens to my little tales just fine, and has even agreed to feed them mealworms if needed when I'm away. For me what works is that I don't push the issue at first, and then just talk about my pets, tell her about them, and usually she becomes curious and learns. Those people that honestly dislike my pets don't come and visit me in my home, I go to their place or meet them elsewhere. I have a good friend that has a strong dislike to especially dogs but cats too, but she's made the effort to deal with it, and listens to my pet tales just fine, just as I listen to things that interest her a lot, but I'm not too keen on.
Could you possibly talk to your parents and say that since this is a topic you will not agree on, could you just not talk about it because it's making you upset and not getting you anywhere? It seems to me that if your parents will not change her views about cats, there's no point in talking about it, but it would make your situation easier if you could just agree to disagree and respect each other's right to their own opinions. I know it's easier said than done...
My most recent pets are four geckos, and mom didn't even want to hear about them at first, but now listens to my little tales just fine, and has even agreed to feed them mealworms if needed when I'm away. For me what works is that I don't push the issue at first, and then just talk about my pets, tell her about them, and usually she becomes curious and learns. Those people that honestly dislike my pets don't come and visit me in my home, I go to their place or meet them elsewhere. I have a good friend that has a strong dislike to especially dogs but cats too, but she's made the effort to deal with it, and listens to my pet tales just fine, just as I listen to things that interest her a lot, but I'm not too keen on.
Could you possibly talk to your parents and say that since this is a topic you will not agree on, could you just not talk about it because it's making you upset and not getting you anywhere? It seems to me that if your parents will not change her views about cats, there's no point in talking about it, but it would make your situation easier if you could just agree to disagree and respect each other's right to their own opinions. I know it's easier said than done...
My dad used to love to tell me horrible stories about what his disgusting friends did to cats. I finally told him if he didn't knock it off, I wasn't coming to see his miserable old butt any more. He acted like he didn't see the problem, but he stopped.
My first MIL wanted us to get rid of our dog, when Richard was born. She said that Penny was so spoiled, that she'd be jealous and hurt the baby. Shoot, Penny didn't even notice Richard, for three days. Then, she sniffed him, all over, licked the top of his head and ignored him, until he was old enough to play. Richard, actually, cut a couple of teeth, on Penny's tail. Whenever she had enough, she'd pull away and go where Richard couldn't reach her.
Thanks for the reassurance Anne.
I have no doubt that if I ever do have children, Spike will be loved as much as he is now.
And no, my family really isn't a bunch of psychopaths (at least I don't think!
). I have tried the baby reference actually... even beyond explaining that when they say things like that about Spike, I take it as if they'd do this to my child, because that's how I feel about him. People that adopt children instead of having them love those adopted children like their own, and I just don't get why they refuse to accept I love Spike like that.
For now, I just try not to bring him up in conversation. I really do love all my family members, and most of them are quite nice and loving (besides the cat issue). Last time my cousin commented with the words "drop-kick" and "Spike" in the same sentence, I asked her to remember that for when she has kids and asks me to babysit. What's good enough for my child, is good enough for hers.
And no, my family really isn't a bunch of psychopaths (at least I don't think!
For now, I just try not to bring him up in conversation. I really do love all my family members, and most of them are quite nice and loving (besides the cat issue). Last time my cousin commented with the words "drop-kick" and "Spike" in the same sentence, I asked her to remember that for when she has kids and asks me to babysit. What's good enough for my child, is good enough for hers.
Lorie, I just read all of this for the first time. I am so sorry to hear you are still having to deal with your parents not liking your cats. I wish I could give you some good advice....I feel so bad you have to be put through all of this by them.
