Does your family accept the role the cats play in your life?

[Barbara]

After reading AmberLee's thread I thought it would be fun to know if your family accepts your pets like they accept skinkids.

My mom always asks about the boys and her dog is closer to her than my sis and I used to be- nearly:D

The case of my sister is clear: she loves her cats and dogs more than any family members:D

[Edwina's Secretary]

Edwina and Eddie always exchange gifts with the various other furred relatives, my mother's dog, my sister's dog, my brother's assorted animals. On my husband's side...they have a name drawing for gift exchange....just for the four-leggers!

[aly]

My family usually gives me more presents for my animals than myself on my birthday - but I want it that way! :)

[emily_the_spoiled]

I don't know if they are "fully" accepted as members of the family. But my sister and her kids always buy a Christmas present for "the kitties" from "the kiddies". I know that my mother would much prefer grandchildren, but this is as close as it is going to get ;)

[CatMama78]

Hmmm well they do always ask about the boys, but I think it's more of a politeness cause they realize how important they are to me. But I think they think I'm a tad crazy when it comes to the cats, and maybe I am to the average eye, but too darn bad. I feel like in my family cats are not considered as close to being one of our own as dogs are and it kind of hurts my feelings. But the effort is there and my step-mom did get my cats a great Christmas present, the Panic Mouse (supervision only toy, lol).

[RedHedd]

Yes, they get (and sign) Xmas cards and the fur kids exchange gifts. It's SO much fun. My sister even made me a set of kitchen towels with Mishi and Mitzi's pictures on them this past Xmas.

[lbaker]

Without a doubt all my furkids are accepted. In fact whenever someone has a question about dog or cat care or concerns - even from a friend of theirs I've never met - the family will tell them to ask me or will tell them "let me ask Laurie, if she doesn't know she can find out through her PetFriends" I received a call from a friend of my older brother's in California just the other evening. She heard "about me" :rolleyes: doG only knows what she heard :eek:

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

Yes, my family does accept the importance of my girls. All the pets in my family exchange Christmas gifts.

Also, since neither my sisters nor I have human children, my mother carries photos of our cats and dog in her wallet and introduces them as her grandchildren. Now that's acceptance! :)

[catcrazylady]

My family knows but I wouldn't say understands. My mother is an animal nut and she has dogs. She has five shitzus and two cats. We have always had animals around. My brothers care for their pets but do not see them as major family members.
I happen to be the only one that is into animal rescue and big time advocate for all animals.
So, most of the family feels really sorry for me because I don't have any children and I obviously have replaced my need for kids with animals. It has pretty much been decided that I will be the crazy old lady that dies alone surrounded by a million cats. I don't know what they think is going to happen to hubby, my step-kids, and step-grandchildren!
At any rate I accept their misguided views of me because I believe very passionately in what I do and how I feel. If I can make a difference in the lives of a few beautiful, lost, and lonely animals then be darned with what anyone thinks. These are live beings that I could never turn my back on for fear of looking like the crazy cat lady!!
I'm off of my soap box now. In case you can't tell this is a sore subject with me. Sorry but it sure felt good to get it off of my chest!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif

[RICHARD]

As far as my family goes....I really don't know.

They all have pets!

[aki]

Our furbabies each have a Christmas stocking (one kitty and one puppy) and both get Christmas and Birthday presents. My daughter receives both Christmas and Birthday presents from our pets too (sometimes also from her goldfish). :D

We also include their names on all of the cards we send out and I have the cutest puppy and kittie paw print stamps that I put by their names.

My Mom calls them her grandchildren and when we go to visit her with the dog, she fixes her a complete plate of dinner when we eat. Butter on Nina's baked potato too! Chuck gets his dinner brought home in a special tupperware from Grandma.

I think we're the most nutty at Chrismas though. My daughter bake "Christmas" dog bisquits for all of the dogs in our family and give them to them from our dog. We still have to find something clever to make for the cats from Chuck. Any ideas??

[ramanth]

Within my immediate family it's accepted. Each of our pets get gifts during the Holiday and on their birthdays. :)

[Fallon]

I'm voting for the first one because it's so very true.

[Cataholic]

My family:
Mom- 3 cats
Dad- 3 dogs, 1 cat
Brother- 3 dogs
Sister-5 tiels, 1 dog
Sister- 1 dog
Brother-1 dog
Me-7 cats
Sister- 3 dogs, 3 cats
Brother- Weird. None. He wants a cat. Wife says no. :(
Brother- 3 cats.

10 people- 34 pets :eek:

Everyone in my family is into each others animals. Some of us exchange cards/presents. All of us know names, and ask about them.

Most of my cats accept my family. Most of them.

[sirrahbed]

My kids and their families love animals as I do so it is fun! We exchanged Christmas gifts for the furrkids and I am grandmeowmie:D My dad on the other hand, thinks I am nuts but who cares:D I raised animal lovers and That is what matters.:p

[jenluckenbach]

They think I am crazy (of course they'd be right!!!) but not because of the cats ;);):D:D

I don't even thionk my dad know how many cats I have because all I would hear are a bunch of speaches about getting DOWN to an ACCEPTABLE number.

[Miss Meow]

Yes. Their grandparents usually bring treats for the cats and dogs!

My brother is some kind of Dr Doolittle. Animals just gravitate towards him, even though his loudness and mannerisms suggest he'd freak out animals. Maybe it's his smell??? :eek:

[catnapper]

Originally posted by catcrazylady
[B]My family knows but I wouldn't say understands.

So, most of the family feels really sorry for me because I don't have any children and I obviously have replaced my need for kids with animals. It has pretty much been decided that I will be the crazy old lady that dies alone surrounded by a million cats. I don't know what they think is going to happen to hubby, my step-kids, and step-grandchildren!


Hee hee... that about sums up my family too! They seem to forget about my husband when they think about me and the love of my pets.

[NoahsMommy]

While I'm sure they don't approve of the number of cats we have, they do treat them as family. We get cards in the mail from "the cats" (my mom) all the time. :)

For Mother's Day, my mom helped all eight shop for a really cute pink jacket for me. ;) "Thier" card was soooo cute, it was a Mother's Day card from the cat. Too cute!

My grandma and my mother-in-law buy presents for the kitties on Christmas as well.

[moosmom]

My family is amazed at the number of cats I'm owned by. They think I'm nuts, but to be perfectly honest with you, I don't care!!!

My cats have been with me through thick and thin. I can't say that about my family.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

My MIL will ask how Ally and Connor are, but my Mum doesn't really bother too much. (It caused quite a rift between us last year when I asked her to consider taking Connor when I was having all the introduction problems, and she flat-out refused!)

My hubby thinks I am "obsessed "( some day I'll take a photo of all the cat stuff in my house - you may just agree with him!!!). He also asks me to tone down my "fanaticism"about animal rescue when I am with his colleagues! (Luckily his bosses' wife is also cat-mad, so at company events the two of us just dissapear into a corner and talk cat).

My SIL is a sweetie - she has one cat - my furniece Alexandra - and she includes my two in her Christmas cards etc, which is nice.

[catmandu]

Thankfully I am alone so there is no problem!

[lbaker]

Hardly alone Catmandu, not with your furcrew and your friends here at PetTalk ;) :D

[jazzcat]

As a whole, no they don't understand or accept. Most think I'm crazy.

My sister kind of understands because she has two cats and two dogs. She will baby sit her grand cat and grand dog too.

My sister in law has started giving my pets Christmas gifts so she understands somewhat but my brother (her husband) is a dog man only so he's not wild about my three cats.

My mother was the only one who truly understood. That will be another hard thing about her recent passing because she was the only one I could really share my stories and worries with. Guess I will have to rely on you guys now.

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by jazzcat
Guess I will have to rely on you guys now.
As much as our familes may understand - nobody listens or appreciates our babies like the folks here on PT!!! We are here for you:)

[Kirsten]

Hmmm, interesting question...

I don't have many family members left, and I know my sister understands what my cats mean to me. So does my mother, but on the other hand, SHE cannot deal with the fact that I have decided not to have husband and kids and to live with my kitties instead. She cannot be without a relationship, so she definitely thinks there's something wrong with me. Same goes for her fiancé. But since there are minors reading the board, I won't repeat what he's usually telling me! :rolleyes:

However, the other day, my mother complained that she has no grand-kids. I was like "oh, you've got two of them, only with fur and paws... I'm telling them you're their granny!" ;) Her reply: "Nope, I'm NOT their granny..." :rolleyes:

Kirsten

[catlady1945]

We (immediate) family are all cat-nutty. We don't discuss the cats with other family members.

[Catsnclay]

Originally posted by Kirsten
Hmmm, interesting question...

So does my mother, but on the other hand, SHE cannot deal with the fact that I have decided not to have husband and kids and to live with my kitties instead.

Kirsten

I have the same problem with my mother, too. :rolleyes: Many years ago I told her that I wasn't planning on having any children, and she always told me that I just haven't met the "right" man yet (like that makes the difference?!) She has finally realized that I am NOT going to have any human children, but still will not refer to the boys as my "kids".

As far as the rest of the family, they already know I am crazy!! :eek: Any time I send a card or note in the mail (and e-mail) I enclude the boys names. They all get Christmas gifts from us, they have their own stockings. All gifts that we give, are from the "family". If there is someone in our family that doesn't realize that we have fur-kids by now, they just aren't paying attention!! :rolleyes: :D

I still stand by my decisions........my boys mean the world to my husband & me. I will take a dozen cats over a human baby.....any time!! :D

Besides, my mother & I are still at odds over the problems we had with Lucky. Many times she flat out told me......"he is ONLY a cat" (as in when he was very ill, she wanted us to "put him down" because we were spending too much money on his health.........don't even get me started on this subject! :mad: )

BTW Kirsten........don't ever feel that you HAVE to have children because someone is pressering you to do so!! :mad:

[krazyaboutkatz]

My family has learned to accept the fact that my cats are my kids and my family.
My parents love cats but when my RB Pepper passed away they didn't want me adopt any more cats. They didn't know about Cirrus until I had already had him for 2 months and they didn't know about Sky until I had him for about 2 weeks. Now my father thinks that Sky is the best cat in the world because he's so friendly.:)
Both of my sister-in-laws are highly allergic to cats so their children will never be able to experience the joy of having a cat.:( So far their homes are petless. I did receive Christmas gifts for my cats this year from them though.:)