Tell me about a pet you've owned that you've really disliked.

[Orrex]

What did you do about it?

[justgamma]

1. Long haired cat named Fluffy.

I hated the feel of her fur. Didn't much like her.

She was an offspring of the best cat in the world. Puff. When we moved 2 blocks away, Puff disappeared. Searched and searched for her and no luck. I was heartbroken.

One night, almost a year later,Fluffy was howling at the door. Low and behold, there she stood with Puff right beside her. It took a little while to get reaquainted with Puff. I went to thank Fluffy and she was gone. I never saw her again, but I'll never forget her.

[mcctatas]

2. neurotic border collie that my ex bought from a breeder for Christmas

it was the last in the litter and as soon as we brought it home, it was clear that it had issues. It would cower any time anyone went near it and lose control of its bowels at any sudden noise. I realize these are classic signs of an abused/neglected animal and it was no fault of the puppy but at the time I had a 3 year old and a 5 year old at home so I was totally not equipped to handle its needs. Long story short, I called the animal shelter and they put me in touch with Collie Rescue who came and got the dog so they could rehabilitate him and find him a good time. We also reported the breeder to the AKC and the Animal Control people but I'm not sure if anything ever came of it.

[HipChick]

3. the ex-DH...

I got rid of him...

[Arugula Latte]

4. I've never disliked a pet.

I've had lots and lots of kitties, and I've loved them all very, very much. The bunny is sweet, the hamsters are soft and entertaining, the fish are pretty and calming, the lizard was interesting, the rats were smart and friendly, the horse was beautiful and lots of fun (if a little dangerous!). We did have a dog (a stray Lab) for a little while. She slobbered a lot and did some of the annoying stuff dogs do, so that got old, but I never disliked her. We found her a home with some Lab-loving people.

[femmocrat]

5. Long ago, I had a huge dog and a new baby.

The dog had to go. We sold him to a neighbor who in turn gave him to someone who lived out in the country.

He was gorgeous, but the dumbest dog I've ever owned. He was the wrong dog for us at the time.

[bigwillq]

6. I would've sold the baby!

:evilgrin: ;) :P
:rofl:

[femmocrat]

8. So NOT funny!

:spank:

LOL

[bigwillq]

10. I was only joking.

I like kids. Just don't want any of my own.

:) :hi:

[femmocrat]

11. (I know.)

You're forgiven. :hug:

[bigwillq]

12. (ok good)

(wasn't sure if you thought I was being serious)!!! :P ;) :)

[XemaSab]

7. When I was young, we had two old poodle mixes

When they passed away we got a neurotic cocker spaniel.

We were totally unprepared for having a dog of that energy level, and we gave him away to the guy next door (who LOVED him) when we moved.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. I had this water buffalo once. FULL of anthrax. Worst fucking 12 years of my life.

Not to mention the damage to my SRO.

[dannofoot]

13. Ever had Hermit Crabs?

When the Little Foots were still in single-digit age numbers, they clamored for them. Mrs. Danno and I bought five, and set up a marvelous 15-gallon terrarium/crab luxury condo for them.

Sea Monkeys are far more exciting (some, actually, call them "amazing").

Being mostly nocturnal, hermit crabs sit quietly in their shells during daylight hours, and whenever the lights are on. Late at night, they'll scuttle through the pristine white sand you've provided and gnaw on the cut grapes, carrots, and processed hermit crab de-lite you've laid out. In the morning, the children will happily exclaim, "two of them moved last night!"

They don't like to be cuddled, or even held. While it hurts an adult finger when they pinch, children tend to react as though a pit-crab has them by the forearm. You can see no expression of gratitude, love, or even acknowledgment in their pin-sized eyes.

They live a long time, too. Like five to six years. Christian charity kept us feeding them, and cleaning their condo, changing their water sponges (don't ask), etc. When they die, you really can't be sure until you've checked off like 4 weeks on the calendar without them moving. Then it's off to the Pet Sematary in the back garden because you really don't want to flush a shell like that.

Thank goodness we adopted a greyhound when the last "crabbie" side-walked to his next spiritual level, likely that of a cicada.

[Arugula Latte]

14. That was a very entertaining little rant on the joys of hermit crab ownership

:rofl:

[dannofoot]

15. Y'now, it's been years...

...and I still feel the anger build when I walk past the crab display as I walk through the pet store to buy dog food. Doesn't help, either, when I see those shells in the garden every spring before the day lillies pop up.

Glad you liked...you probably prefer your crabs on a plate or in a nice Maryland-style cake, as i do.

[Arugula Latte]

16. I've had quite a few types of pets, but not those

don't think I'll start, either.

[kimi]

19. I've actually been tempted a few times . . .

while wandering through Petsmart. I do believe that I'll pass though.

Great summary, thanks! :D

[quakerboy]

17. A goldfish

I was young. we bought like 10 feeders. Over a few months, all but one died off, and. Many months later, I was bored, older, and my tastes had matured. I set up a tank, and got some more interesting fish. He bullied and infected all the others, and they all died in short order. I "forgot" to feed him for weeks/months at a time. He grew. I aged. At about the 1 year mark, I gave him to my little sister. She fed him Cheerios and milk. She kept him for about 2 years. I left for college. My mom took over care of the fish. My sophomore year, roommate and I decided to start a tank. Mom donated the tank, with the goldfish. Everything else died, he lived. Decided to liberate a lab mouse, returned the fish to my mom. My junior year, I started a really awesome fish tank, matched color fishes, rocks, etc. I conquered the PH balance issue, and all was well. My mom somehow got wind, and drove all the way out to my college, to deliver the fish. Fast forward 3 weeks, all the cool fish are dead, and I have one large bright orange gold fish to contrast purple, green, and black rocks, background, etc. That year one house mate had a large turtle, and he mentioned that it ate goldfish. So we grabbed a few(ok, a lot of) feeders, and tossed it and them into the turtle tank. Fast forward 3 hours. of 51 goldfish, 7 are left. Turtle is feeling like he overindulged, but cant resist. next day, 2 fish left. Turtle got sick, as apparently goldfish are toxic, particularly in ridiculous quantities. But guess which one he never did catch?

I fostered him to another house mate, who took him home on a break. Last I heard he was well and thriving. Ive made a point of not asking, lest he somehow return.

[hyphenate]

25. That fish never met my mom's cat!

In 1994, when we had the Northridge earthquake, I was working with a friend who had an aquarium on her desk. The major quake had passed, but we were feeling jolts from smaller quakes a lot of the time. This day, which had one of the largest tremors, we smelled something really bad, and we thought it was from the quake opening up a gas line or something.

Well, we were told to evacuate and go home for the afternoon, but my friend didn't want to leave her fish there, so I offered to take him home with me over the weekend. So here I went, taking her fish home.

Except I went to my mom's, which was on the way home, and we decided to go out shopping for awhile. We found a nice bowl, put water into it, and put said fish into the bowl, with the express thought that he'd be fine until we came back, about two hours later.

Instead, my mom's cat had other plans. She wanted a snack, and was ever grateful that we brought her home such a lovely gift.

When we got home, fish was gone. Totally and completely gone. I was in shock. I wondered what I was going to tell my friend, and as it ended up, I told her that the fish didn't "make it." She was happy with the explanation, thankfully, and I was just glad that she didn't ask the details of the fish not making it.

PS: My mom's cat lived to be 24 years old. So if you had been around my mom's cat, your goldfish problem would have been taken care of!

[quakerboy]

31. I wouldn't bet on it.

Best case, the fish would have taken the cat with it, via poisoning.

That fish survived a youngster who thought fish could eat people food. It survived not being fed for over 2 months. It THRIVED on being hated.

I forgot one anecdote. Gruesome, at that. My sis had a school science class project. She was told to design and do an experiment. She chose to test the effects of Caffeine on fish. That fish was no longer wanted, so she used it and had to buy one less feeder. None of us knew any better, or we wouldn't have let her do the experiment.

It turns out that caffeine, in the form of crushed no-doze pills, does not make fish swim around their little bowls faster. It makes them bleed out through the gills and tips of their fins. No matter how relatively large or small the dose. It killed them all most gruesomely.

Except for him.

I swear to you this fish derived its life force and vitality from being disliked/mistreated.

How can even a highly evolved feline predator hope to compete with that? Even if your moms cat somehow had caught it(far from certain, recall the turtle, a predator with 50 direct in species kills to its credit was unable to catch this fish), I predict it would stay alive swimming around Kitty's belly until it was large and powerful enough to burst forth, alien style.

[Jade Fox]

18. The Black Mollie (fish) I had who ate her babies.......

I think that turned me off to pets forever. x(

[hunter]

20. Don't get a parrot if you want a pet you can like all the time.

At times you will dislike a parrot intensely. Like when they start screaming when you are on the phone, usually at the worst possible time, like the instant a real person answers after you've wasted twenty minutes on hold. Or when they do hundreds of dollars of damage to your house or furniture, or when they decide they will not tolerate a particular person for no discernible reason and carry that grudge for decades, even if they don't see that person more than a few minutes every couple of years.

But parrots can be smart, funny, and likable when they want to be, which almost makes up for the bad stuff. But knowing what I was in for I probably wouldn't have decided to have parrots as pets.

One thing I like about parrots is their alien sort of intelligence. Humans have a lot in common with dogs, we understand one another as mammals. Parrots are just different. I often have no idea what's going on inside their heads.

[Kali]

24. ...

:thumbsup:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. I've never had a pet I disliked.

I once had a cat who wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he was friendly and good-natured and I did love him, even though he was kind of stupid.

I've disliked some other people's pets, though. A friend had a Papillon who was the most annoying dog I've ever known -- he was spoiled, hyper and badly-behaved. I suppose that was really his owner's fault, but this was not a dog who was pleasant to be around. There was also this old lady I knew who had a Chihuahua who bit people's ankles without provocation.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

22. I had a devil-possessed cat

If I took a nap during the day, I'd wake up with her staring at me from above with this evil "I will fucking stab you" look in her eye. I LOVE cats, but this one really bothered me. She wasn't friendly, she didn't have any cute quirks (unless you consider her psychopathic behavior cute), she'd attack kids on site, she couldn't get along with other animals, and she pissed every where. It's the only animal we've ever had to put down that I wasn't sad about. There was something really wrong and broken in her head.

ETA: we put her down because she had stomach cancer.

[hyphenate]

23. I've loved every pet I've owned

But I was unintentionally rude to our old family dog. Rex was a board collie mix, and he really belonged to my sister and brother. He was a good dog, but I was always a cat person, and when he would try to come into my room, I would yell at him to get out.

Over the years, I have had some kits who got less attention than others, but no matter what, they were loved, pampered, fed, and taken care of. I might not like a dog or even cat constantly at me, but I would never hate them for it.

[Corgigal]

26. My daughter's best friend

who was about 8 years old at the time, gave me a snail. Not any snail, but a giant outdoor snail. The ugliest thing I ever saw. I named him snot because that is what he looked like. The best friend got upset that I named him that but that was what he looked like. I waited and waited for that damn thing to die. Took almost a year and it finally died. Had to keep him since he was "gift" from a child.

[Orrex]

30. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.

What do you feed a snail, anyway?

[Corgigal]

32. not a damn thing

I guess he was suppose to keep the fish tank clean moving up and down the sides. Also possibly why he died.

[hunter]

27. My grandma had a cat that was probably dropped off at the animal shelter by Satan...

... because it was too mean to live in hell.

Everyone was terrified of that cat except my grandma who was just as mean.

[dixiegrrrrl]

28. One of my current cats.

He is the 3rd of the resident felines, I bottle fed him as an orphaned baby.
He has grown into " one of the biggest cats I have seen" said the vet.
And he terrorizes the other 2 cats, even the dog avoids him most of the time.
Doesn't like to cuddle, doesn't purr, can be mellow at times when he is mostly asleep.
Just about a year old and I am waiting for him to become sociable.
All teeth and fangs, in rough play mode, when you try to pet him.
Loves catnip tho.
But he cannot be nice in the house at night, so he is outside then.

Good news, he rarely meows.


We endure him.

[seaker]

29. 'Husband's child bitting dog

Left the husband, he kept the dog

[yankeepants]

33. A cockatiel named Purdue

I rescued it from a neglect situation. Fed it. cleaned it's cage. was kind to it. How did it repay me? It hated me. loved my husband. Sickening sweet, sitting on his shoulder, nuzzling his ear, singing and chortling to him every evening about his day with "that bitch (me)".
It would attack my hand when I reached in the cage to feed or clean.

Purdue passed away after a year. I think it drank too much red wine and coffee.

[BreweryYardRat]

34. My mother's Maine Coon/Silver Tabby mix.

Bipolar (in a non-clinical sense). You try to pet it or even get near it, it's a toss-up whether it'll let you or lunge to the attack.