People are proud of their pets. They put a lot of time and energy in to ensuring that they're healthy, happy and well cared for. Hell, some people even dress up their pets.
When my wife and I got our dogs, Harrison and Hemingway (pictured below), we treated them like our children. We took them everywhere we could, we let them sleep with us at night and we even made their own raw-food. -Chicken backs and veggies.
What kind of pet do you have? What's your pets name? Why did you name it that? Are you glad you have a pet? Do you want more?
Harrison and Heminway. I'm a big Beatles fan and I love Ernest Hemingway's writing. We had to euthanize Hemingway about a year ago, he was very sick and in a lot of pain. Hardest thing I've ever done. -By far.
I had a lab growing up named Luke. Second hardest thing I've ever done
ALRIGHT HUBSKI. NOWS YOUR TIME TO LET YOUR PETS SHINE
YAS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS. mostly because i think hubski has a dearth of cat pics. I always had cats growing up. Ever since I was very little I remember there being cats that my parents brought to the house I grew up in when they moved (~4 cats total, 2 they brought and 2 farm cats that came with the house). And I have always loved them. I was a weirdo cat girl for WAY longer than it was appropriate (pushing 13... CRINGE). Somehow, cat ladies became en vogue recently which is bullshit because I was clearly way into that before it was cool. At its peak, we had 7 cats at my house. Our house used to be on the edge of town so there were tons of fields and people would dump their cats there. There was a feral pair that mated and had kittens and we spent the next month or so doing TNR on them which was better than TV for little 6/7 yr old me. We were able to catch all but the mama cat who eluded us until she quietly disappeared. The tom was the next to disappear because of our reigning lightweight champion farm cat who lived to the ripe old age of 16(?) before promptly dropping dead on my 10th birthday. The 3 kittens all survived and thrived (except for 1 that I didn't know about until a year or two ago because she was stillborn and quietly disposed of, RIP Precious), keeping our house rodent free during the land development that occurred on the old farmland across the street from my house. They were semiferal and really only my brother and I could ever get close to them. When I moved away to college, my little brother socialized with them a lot and got one of them to be a lap cat in his old age. One of them disappeared around my senior year of high school, and the other two died in rapid succession my senior year of college (last year). They lived to be 16 or 17, which is a long and fulfilling life for feral cats. Pictures of them are rare. There's one picture of all 3 of them hanging on my fridge at home. Here are the 2 that survived the longest, taken by my brother to preserve their memory. When the farm cat died, my parents felt terrible because it was my birthday and I was devastated. My dad spent the better part of an hour trying to water what essentially turned out to be bedrock to illegally bury my best friend on our property. To make it up to me, they promised to get me kittens and I was so jazzed. I really wanted a little tricolor, and my parents found a litter with a tortie and BOGO'd a second one. They were beautiful little fluffballs who grew into the worst tempered cats my parents have ever dealt with but they were mine. One of them is fat and bitchy and has expelled all sorts of excrement all over the house, and the other one is skittish and neurotic and has also expelled all sorts of excrement all over the house. Now I know to go for adult cats because 1) they tend not to get adopted as quickly and 2) they have established personalities.
Now that I'm in DC, I have yet to live anywhere where it made sense to have pets but DC's first cat cafe opened last month and I have been once a week basically every week since it opened and I think it's still cheaper than having my own cat.
Anyway this turned into a novel and I'm sorry but I just really love cats
Bonus picture of my dad harassing my fat bitchy cat 
try this video. i've been laughing about it for nearly a week straight now. kats r so dum
FREE HIM!!!! Online reviews for the coin bank are hilarious. Most of them end with it broke/i had to hide it because my cat wouldn't stop playing with it.
The actual Tacocat I got him a few months before I signed up here. He spent a few days crying outside and climbing inside a Buick engine compartment so I captured him. Edit: Why'd I name him that? Aside from the palindrome, his first bowl was a salsa dish. I was thinking something Buick related at first but Park Avenue is a terrible name for a car. And a cat.
Chiana and Zaán kitties! Ser D'Argo of Betta
I love cats but I am extremely allergic. Last night I told my daughter a bedtime story about how Han Solo's parents were allergic to dogs and cats and he couldn't have a pet. But they found out they weren't allergic to wookies. This is how the Solo family came to adopt Chewbacca. She loved it.
The most glamorous picture of Fishes that I could find. He's a dog. He does dog stuff. Loves making gross noises. We have him because he jumped into our car when we spotted him running down the side of the highway and stopped to check on him. Opened the door to check for a collar and --BAM -- dog in car. He smelled like stagnate water, thus the name. He'd have a better name if we'd known that we wouldn't end up being able to track down his family. I still spend a lot of time worrying that we kidnapped him, but I didn't want to see him get hit. He'd been on his own for a fair amount of time, if the multiple baths it took to clean him were any indication. He gets really agitated around cardboard boxes, so my best guess is that he got separated in a move. He's amazingly well behaved in regards to people, but other dogs are a touchy issue. He does great with most, but some breeds he just doesn't like. Golden retrievers appear to be the worst, which is sad. He's made progress, but still has a ways to go. He's probably two years old.
Thank you for scooping up the road doggie. A few years ago while rolling along a clogged interstate in Chicago I rolled past a dog on the side of shoulder. It didn't click in my head what was happening and that the dog needed help until I was past. There was a car somewhere along there (I forget now if it was ahead or behind the dog), and I think someone lost him and was trying to get him back. I hope they did, and I'm glad Fishes has you.
Here's my boy Jasper:
He's some sort of Kelpie mix which has made his training difficult but now that we're basically done he's show me he's pretty darn smart. I love this guy to death. He loves to hike and explore with me or just chill out on a lazy Sunday. Wouldn't trade him for the world.
They're stunning! I assumed they were flatcoat retrievers on first glance. are they keen swimmers?
I'm pretty anti-dog (neighbor growing up had a hyper Collie that bowled me over one too many times) but i love huge dogs. they look very sweet!
I do not have any pets but my girlfriend has 2. And I can tell everyone right now that when we move out on our own, pets will definitely be in the picture. Any advice for someone who has never had pets but will likely be having a dog and a cat in the next 4 years or so?
uh so i meant to respond to this right away but i was in the middle of my cat novel which (combined with actually working at work) apparently took half an hour. definitely take the time to make sure they're introduced to each other properly. if you have any level of allergies, keep them out of the bedroom and vacuum regularly.
I'm getting a cat because I am one High-effort-edit: Cats are actually really important to islamic culture. We like 'em cause they're so clean. Even neutering them is frowned upon. The Prophet Mohammed said that "a love of cats is an aspect of faith." One time a cat saved him from a snake, and he stroked its head, which is reported as what gave cats the "righting reflex." He also had his own cat, named Muezza. He was so fond of it that once, when it was sleeping on part of his robe, instead of disturbing the cat, he cut off the part of the sleeve that it was sleeping on. If I get a cat I wanna name it Muezza, but my roommate was like "you have to get a feel for the cat (vijor you dirty hippy I know you're lurking)", so we'll see.
Sadly, it is one of the few animals that gets love in islamic culture. Try keeping a dog or any other animal that isn't a cat or a bird. Some people will stop coming to your house because the dogs aren't "clean" and they keep the angels out of the house etc. I have to add that I am very sensitive about the subject. Two of our dogs were poisoned to death (intentionally by my uncle's wife/kids) and one was kidnapped and set free in the desert (by my uncle).
This is true, sadly. I remember when this guy in Egypt was harassing a dog. Luckily he got his ass bit, but still. Dunno why we can't just coexist, they're just animals, God's creations like anything else (depending on how you look at it, of course)
I didn't realize cats and islam had such a connection. Thanks. I have had both cats and dogs over the years, despite being crazy allergic to cats. I don't see how anyone could think that cats are cleaner than dogs? A cat poops in a box, paws at the litter in the box and then walks all over your counter tops etc. Dogs let you know that they'd like to be let out and do their business outside. Dogs can be trained to happily stay off furniture etc. Cats pretty much do whatever the hell they want. -this is fine, I actually respect cats and think they're awesome animals, but I definitely don't think they're cleaner than dogs. Plus, as thundara well knows, cats make you cray-cray: Aside: What's up Vijor? I'm sorry you have to put up with 8bit. I'm not sure I agree with your assessment that 8bit needs to get to know the cat first. We don't even do this with people, why would we with pets?
I have known people with this same superstition and it's always reminded me of my grandma's habit of closing books around the house to keep the devils from getting at them or something. In Selçuk, Turkey there were two young (14-15 year old) men who helped a group of us. They also had these two wild dog companions who followed us all the way to the bus station ( 5 miles or so!) https://goo.gl/photos/NToa9TVyyGWLiTDD8 In Istanbul, Turkey during Ramadan there were wild dogs hanging out in the streets during the evening feast, nobody really seemed to mind (this was outside the blue mosque) https://goo.gl/photos/abiCsEZ1Pqipiibo7 and even gave them some good treats (mmmmmm Lokma!) I am sorry about your dogs :( I hate superstitions like this, they don't serve any person but really seem to drive fear and pain to extremes.
My boyfriend and I were going to get my moms cat. She couldn't fly him out, so we decided to head to the shelter and check out rescues. That's where we saw Reptar. His cage was too small, he was hideously underweight, and riddled with parasites. I went home that night and I couldn't leave him there. We got a tank on craigslist and went back for him the next day. On a walk a few days ago: Being a goof: Dressed up for halloween! With bonus neighbors husky: 
I love that name and the tank background you got him is fantastic! I never realized that there were shelters that had reptiles. I always thought of them mostly as having cats and dogs. It's neat that you were able to find him and awesome that you were willing to give him a great home.
This is my boyfriend's Great Dane, Bruce. He is kind Scoby Doo like in his dopiness. He is 5 so he is sore and grumbles often. I take up space in his bed when I visit. He used to smash me in my sleep, and I would wake a pretzel. He now stays off the bed when I am over.
My boyfriend also has a beagle, she is old and kinda gross. She is the kid's dog, so she has diplomatic immunity. He also has a black cat. She is psycho for a cat, she is named Aristotle, but I call her Knives. She stabs you every time you pet her. I respect her authority, we get along. I put a picture of her up a few days ago. My Mom also has two St. Bernard's and a French Mastiff.
This is Hucules, he is very fancy and bosses the St.'s around.
This is baby Zues
This is Zues now at 3, it doesn't look like the same guy. It is like an evolved pokemon. He is monstrous. He is very whinny.
The other St. Bernard is my favorite, but he hates pictures. I don't have any really good pictures of his sweet mug. I don't have any pets of my own, because I have so many to visit.
I have two cats! There's Max, a handsome brown tabby, and Tess, a pretty grey lady with white mittens. Max is named for James Maxwell, the physicist that identified the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Tess is named for Nikola Tesla who invented the modern world. I need to mention Samson, too. Max and Samson were my first pets as an adult. They were littermates, six years old and had been in the shelter for six months. They were the best first pets. Samson was named for the Regina Spektor song. Sadly, he passed unexpectedly about a year later. It was tough for both Max and me. It was just the two of us for about a year and a half. I'm sure Samson would be glad Tess came out of the shelter, but almost four years later now I still miss him. I'm really happy with my adult rescues.
booped for regina spektor and also of course cats
This is Eloise and Matilda, the two cats that belong to me and my fiancée: Eloise is a pretty little calico we found at the local shelter that I fell in love with at first sight. Matilda is a ragdoll kitten about 5 months old. My fiancée has wanted one for about as long as I can remember, so we were able to find a local breeder who had kittens. 
I LOVE THEM. this is an ideal pair for me in the future. oh man i am so happy this thread is happening
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee time to show off our rabbits! They are my favorite little fluffballs ever. Here they are! This is Luna, after our favorite Harry Potter character. She's an adorable grump who has no problem nudging us out of the way and nipping at us when we don't immediately comply:
And this is Timothy Hopper, who got his name from the animal control worker who dropped him off at the shelter as a stray. We loved the name and kept it! He is sweet, gentle, and shy, and loves gettings pets but is scared of literally everything:
We love having rabbits. They are loving, lovable, quiet, clean, and hilarious. They are the perfect pets for us, both personality-wise, and because they are great in an apartment environment. I would have more rabbits, but that would be against our lease agreement and, more importantly, expensive (relatively speaking!).
Hubski, say hello to Dr. Watson. We've taken to calling him Watson for short. He's some kind of Lhasa Apso mix and we think he's about 3 years old. We adopted him from a foster based rescue about 4 months ago and have been loving having him in our lives. The rescue thinks that he was abandoned by his previous owners because he was found on the street but had been neutered already when he was picked up. When we got him he was named Mr. Watson, but we upgraded him to a Doctor because 1) my wife and I both really like Sherlock Holmes and 2) he reminded me (in the vaguest of ways based on his grumpy resting face) of the Dr. Watson character from Sherlock Hound, which I used to watch as a kid on an old video store VHS rental over and over again. He has a sort of resting grumpy face normally so he always looks sorta sad, but that's just his face: And he loves to rest in some of the oddest positions imaginable: But he's our little cuddle bug and we absolutely love him. We are very happy with him but are probably good with just the one dog for now. He was a bit of a change in our lifestyle (needing to get up earlier than we usually do to take him out, needing to make sure we were home at appropriate times so he wouldn't have accidents, etc.) but absolutely worth it. He loves to come cuddle on our bed in the mornings while we get ready for work. Sorry for the excessive number of pictures, but we find him too damn cute.
(When we first met him at the adoption event)
(his Fourth of July Outfit which he wore begrudgingly for this picture)
