It’s sad 😞
I’m better at taking care of my dogs than I am at taking care of myself… What’s up with that?
I always remember to feed them on time, take them out for walks at a regular time, I notice when they are sick and take them to the vet right away, I make sure they don’t get extra treats or things that might hurt them.
But I never remember to feed myself, have a hard time keeping any other kind of schedule for myself beyond what’s needed for the dogs, never go to a doctor, and eat all of the junk food. 😮💨
I have some things to help me take care of my pets. I have an automatic litterbox that scoops itself and gives me a notification to empty it. I have an automatic feeder that feeds my cats three times a day so I don’t forget. I have a water fountain that I refill and clean weekly. I used to be very forgetful or struggle to make my mind do the tasks to take care of my pets, and I felt really bad about it. Now, most of the time I spend taking care of my cats is brushing them, petting them, and just hanging out with them. These items weren’t cheap, but to me, they’re worth every penny.
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yeah my cat is pretty great at reminding me to do things. i currently don’t have automatic things because they’re loud, but i take my estrogen at the same times i feed my cat, so mittens reminds me to take it and feed her at the same time
Probably a lot more reliable than electronic reminders too. It is super easy to acidentally turn off the alarm you set on your phone / watch / whatever and then immediatly forget why the alarm was set in the first place. But a hangry cat has no snooze button, so that won’t be an issue. ;)
Visit your friends pets, feed ducks at a park, volunteer at a animal rescue.
Lots of ways to build relationships with animals around you
I have an aquarium… generally find a low-stock planted aquarium isn’t too high maintenance. Lights are on a timer (actually spent just a little more for a dim on/off system so they’d have a ‘sunrise’ and ‘sunset’) I feed them when I have dinner, or when I get home if I’m having dinner out of the house. I’ve got tape marking what I try to keep as the minimum water line (warm water, it evaporates over time).
Water changes used to be a big enough chore I’d let it go longer than I should but then I got a nice Python system and now it’s only an issue if there’s dirty dishes in the sink (don’t want to dump tank water on them and the system requires a faucet with temp control)
My spouse wants a second pet. While I agree that our current pet could use a companion, I just can’t. I’m already overwhelmed and cannot handle more.
Definitely second animal rescues.
For the most part, they just let you take the dogs (probably depends on location). Go for a walk, have a good time, the dog is happy, you’re happy, and it actually helps the shelter.
Also, some people can get attached to houseplants like pets, if you’re one of them, plants are a bit lazy but they’re very good at learning “stay”, and different varieties basically have different personalities.
2 decades ago I got the cutest kitten from the local shelter. I loved that cat. Started to notice, he was getting increasingly skittish around me. I realized cuz… I didn’t realize I was doing it, I was never mean. but whenever he’d jump on me, wake me up, scratch something… my freaked out, startled response I think started to scare him.
Would love to get another cat, but that it might become scared, uneasy around me… don’t want to risk it.
