That Feels Soft and Fluffy...

It seems that there is a huge cavity in our emotional needs that can only be filled by feeling something soft and fluffy.

Children are, especially, fond of this and will crawl, unerringly towards any unsuspecting cat or rabbit that they espy.

What is it in our psyche that says ‘soft and fluffy’ is good? Rabbits are particularly soft and fluffy, by the way.

We are apt to give children live playthings that they then torture with gay abandon because young children are not aware of the pain or terror that they inflict on animals. Especially small, soft and furry animals. Bigger animals like Pit Bulls and German Shepherds are capable of fending for themselves under this torrent of abuse but, then, they are not really soft and furry.

We adults give children these ‘pets’ because we like to feel these animals. To the child it is not an animal but some sort of moving toy that can be abused just like any other toy.

One wonders how many animals are discarded after Christmas, Birthdays and Easter because they are broken? How many are abandoned because they consume time, because their owners ‘lose patience’ with them?

Pets, like children, are helpless. They require the owner/parent to adopt a sense of responsibility.

I have fish. They do not disturb the neighbours and they do not defecate in other people’s gardens. If I fail to feed them they die.

They are entirely dependant upon me for their environment. The quality and temperature of the water is under my control; they suffer if it is wrong—I do not. If they are not fed they feel hungry—I do not. Thus it is my responsibility to care for them because they did not choose to be in my tank—I did.

Any animal that is not ‘at ease’ is ‘dis-eased’. For this reason, children should never be left unattended with animals—small ones in particular; small, soft and fluffy ones especially.

Children need to be taught, at an early age, that animals feel pain and discomfort; that animals need to be cared for just as they do; that animals, if brought into a family group, become part of that family group.

I do not care for cats or dogs. I feel no need to apologise for that. I am just not the sort of person that feels comfortable with an animal that has just licked its bum licking my face.

I do not care for fur or hair on my furniture and I do not have the time or patience to train an animal to do what I want it to do rather than what it feels free to do in my home. In my home.

I also do not approve of cruelty. To anything. Except, maybe, people...

Not having a pet does not make me a bad person; it makes me an honest one. I am honest enough with myself to know that having a pet is not for me.

I am often away from home. Sometimes for several days at a time. How do I ask someone to look after my pet for me while I am away? It is not their responsibility and I do not want them feeling guilty for saying ‘no’ to me. People are inherently kind, they will almost always say ‘yes’ even if it is not convenient for them, even if they are not comfortable with it.

Forgive me for going on endlessly about this but there are some things that pull at my ‘irritation strings’ and this is one of them.

There are lots of people who will sell you ‘pedigreed’ animals of one sort or another. This is not restricted to dogs. There are high priced cats here—some rabbits, too. Years ago I had a pedigree Californian Rabbit called ‘Tuppence’. She was beautiful, we loved her to bits; sometimes she would kick the back door in search of her evening ‘Custard Cream Biscuit’. Tuppence would sometimes wander into the house on a cold night bringing her kittens in with her then proceed to nurse them in front of the fire. She was a real character who, in the end, was killed by a neighbour’s dog. Sad.

So you can buy a pedigree. Do you need to be reminded that a pedigree animal needs more care, very often, than a mongrel?

Mongrels abound. There are homes for abandoned animals everywhere. Why not get your latest acquisition from one of these shelters?

But, before you get your domestic livestock, find out about it. Get a book, consult an expert, ‘Google’ it—see what it takes to care for it, to feed it.

An acquaintance of mine bought a pair of Pop-Eye, Veil-Tailed Goldfish. They were the ultimate expression of piscine life. He was over the moon when he brought them home and put them in the large tank that he had carefully set up for them.

After letting them settle in he fed them. One of them rolled on to its back.

“Oh, no!” he said. Not wishing to ‘upset’ the other one, for they were a pair, he netted the fish out and flushed it down the toilet (NEVER, EVER DO THAT!!!).

When he returned to the tank the other one was, similarly, upside down.

Not having the heart to net that one out he went to bed. The next morning the fish was swimming happily around.

“What the...?”

Now he asked an expert. Too late, of course.

The expert said, “Just fed them? Oh, yes. They always do that. Don’t worry about it.”

So, you see, even with fish it is always a good idea to find out first.

How important is it with rabbits and guinea pigs and cats and dogs and gerbils and hamsters...?