|
My confession time. When my boyfriend lived with his mom they had a rat terrier mix named Roscoe. Real sweet dog. He mostly got let out in the backyard to run around and tire himself out. As a result he still had WAY too much energy. Still, I only ever got him out for walks about once a week. He wasn't my dog but I was over there all the time and still feel a little guilty I didn't take more time for him. One day I decided I was going to try my hand at nail clipping. Roscoe's nails had probably never been trimmed and they weren't REALLY long but they were enough that he scratched pretty much everyone. So silly me went to Petsmart and bought some clippers. Roscoe's nails were black as night and I had never trimmed an animal's nails before. We all know what happened next. He yelped loudly and I was horrified that I had hurt him. It bled considerably for a few minutes and I was like  all over the house trying to figure out what to do. The bleeding stopped and fortunately it healed on its own with basically no treatment and no problems. He didn't even limp and was snuggling in my lap like 20 minutes later. I know I probably should have taken him to the vet but I was young and broke and was just trying to make him pretty.  Roscoe now lives fat and happy with my bf's mom who has a mastiff and doesn't exercise either of them except to let them out in the backyard to chase each other. They have terrible manners and they are not my problem. I still feel a little bad for them though.
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2012 17:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 10:01 |
|
|
I have had a house plant for like 3 years. Recently I got kittens and they immediately devoured all the leaves and most of the stems off my house plant. I was sad but have been trying to nurse the thing back to health. It's been a few months and every time it sprouts a leaf, the cats find some way to eat it. The only way the thing can get sunlight is putting it within the cat's reach. It's too cold to put the plant outside.  I'm at my wit's end. I end up putting it on top of the fridge at night and only leave it at the window during the day. But if I turn my back for 2 seconds it's viciously attacked. I have been using a squirt bottle to try and discourage their interest in the plant. Today I chased one of the cats around the house squirting water frantically and terrorized her for a good 3 minutes after she ate my plant's most recent bud. She hid under my bed partially soaked for like 20 minutes after that. I'm sorry Terra! I just want my plant to grow and you keep ruining my dreams.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2013 02:49
|
|
|
My 10 month old kittens are awesome. I'm so glad I got two. But sometimes I still feel like a bad owner. Yesterday I went to visit a friend who lives an hour away. My cats are used to having some dry food to free feed on and I made sure to fill their bowls before I left. I was gone all day and since I left in the morning I didn't think to leave a light on for them and the apartment was pitch dark when I got home. Also their food bowls were empty (they still had water) When I filled their bowls they didn't eat any so obviously they weren't starving but I still felt bad. I was so tired I pretty much went straight to bed without playing with them. They have each other and I'm sure in reality they played and slept and ate and slept and didn't miss me much at all, but I still feel terrible for leaving them all day with no lights for when it got dark and no humans to keep them company. 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2013 15:57
|
|
|
Dear Confessions Thread, My confession is that something happened that I'd had nightmares about but not done anything to prevent because "That won't ACTUALLY happen..." One of my kitties, Terra, fell out our 2nd story window.  She was just standing on the window sill, not pushing on the screen or anything and POP! The screen fell out and she went with it. I leaned out the window and looked down just in time to see her sprinting off towards the side of the building. I closed the window so our other cat didn't get any ideas and then ran outside with no shoes or jacket hoping not to lose sight of her. She ran around back and I lost her. Panicking I ran back inside and grabbed shoes and ran off into the woods behind our building. After only a few minutes of searching I heard her at the next building over meowing at someone else's door. Poor thing was confused and just wanted inside what I guess she thought was her home. I snatched her up and ran back to my apartment with her. After hiding under the bed for a bit she came out and I checked her over. I flexed her legs and mashed on her paws and even checked her teeth to make sure she hadn't hit her chin and broken them in the fall. She was clean and seemingly unscathed. So here's the second part of my confession: I didn't take her to the vet. She didn't have a limp, she was eating and drinking fine and I didn't want to pay $50 just for them to say "Yup, she's fine!" I feel like a terrible owner for 1: Letting this happen in the first place and 2: Not taking her to the vet Just In Case but it's been a week and she's acting just fine. I'm just so glad to have her back unharmed because for a minute I was worried I'd never see her again at all. I'm never opening our windows again
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2013 01:03
|
|
|
There's a cat that I see all the time around my apartment complex. We lovingly nicknamed her Garbage because of her tortie coloration and her tendency to hang out around the complex dumpsters. My confession is that she seems to have some huge bulge on her stomach. Not like her stomach is fat but like an abscess or a tumor. I feel so so so bad for her and I so badly want to catch her and take her to my vet but I could in no way afford to dip into our savings for medical treatment for a stray cat. We have cats of our own and I try to keep some savings in case something happens to them. I know if I mentioned it to my mom (who volunteers at the local shelter) she would feel like I do and probably catch her, but she'd take her to the shelter and I'm afraid they'd just put Garbage down instead of treating her. I don't want to take her away from home, I just want to treat her and re-release her. But it's not practical! I'm sorry Garbage! Buggiezor fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Mar 18, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2013 15:42
|
|
|
My confession is that aside from the first couple months we had them, I have not been treating my cats with any kind of flea preventative. It's expensive and money has been tight, and they're strictly indoors. Now the last day or so they have been scratching. Guess it's time to go spend some money! I'm sorry kitties for putting you through this!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2013 14:46
|
|
|
I was dog-sitting for my parents at their house and went out to get the mail. Gypsy (dachshund) NEVER runs away, she's always happy to explore right at your feet and for the 5 years we've had her, she's never run off. She has excellent recall. So out we go, she has no leash or collar on, and we have no worries. We do this all the time. We're just going to be outside for a minute. Then about halfway down the driveway, the pit bull from like 7 houses down comes trotting up, tail wagging, at my furry little friend. I didn't see the pit coming until she was right next to us. Now Gypsy is terrified of bigger dogs and even though I've met the pit bull before and she is very friendly, Gypsy FREAKS THE gently caress OUT and starts running away. Of course the pit gives into playful chase. Gypsy's making squealing whimpering sounds and my biggest fear isn't her being attacked, but her being scared off down the street by this big dog that wants to play. Fortunately I yell "INSIDE" which Gypsy knows, and she heads towards the front door. I open it and let her in. With nothing left to chase, the pit bull wanders back down the street towards her own house. Nobody got hurt and Gypsy was never in any danger of being eaten, but I still felt like a TERRIBLE person for making her so vulnerable. We only went into the fenced-in backyard for the rest of the time I was dog-sitting her. I'm an irresponsible dog watcher
Buggiezor fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Oct 14, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2013 14:49
|
|
|
Yeah, you're probably right. They shouldn't let their large dog run loose. I guess I just felt like if I hadn't let Gypsy out off leash in the first place, she wouldn't have been terrified. I was fortunate she listened and ran towards the door instead of taking off down the street.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2013 16:48
|
|
|
Double Plus Good posted:My childhood dog used to freak out anytime anyone whistled the Andy Griffith theme song or did an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. These really bizarrely specific triggers were hilarious and constantly abused. Andy Griffith used to come on at 5PM every day, and my dad would always be home at 5:15 or so. Whenever Andy Griffith's whistle would come on, Gypsy would go CRAZY and run to the door and get all excited. Whimpering and tail wagging like crazy. Anytime we'd whistle it any other time of day would set her off too. We called it dad's theme song. She'd get SO EXCITED to see dad we'd almost feel bad when we teased her with it. Almost.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2013 15:47
|
|
|
I call my mom's dog "Dummy" and "Idiot head" all the time. Hes 5 years old and they adopted him from the shelter about 2 months back. It seems almost like he's never had a caretaker before who loves and plays with him. Or even any siblings to play with. You throw a toy and he stares after it bewildered. He doesn't know any commands either, though my parents are working on it. I know he can't really help it but whenever I dogsit and try to play with him he just doesn't understand and I always end up saying "Oh poor little dummy dog. You just don't know anything  "Mom hates it.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2013 15:59
|
|
|
One of my cats is very picky about how clean the litter box needs to be. The other has no problems with a filthy box. About twice a month I will forget to clean it every other day like I'm supposed to and I wake up to a poop on one of our rugs. They're really cheap rugs and she never does it on the carpet so I just feel bad for her every time. I'm sorry your box is too repulsive for you Terra! You're a Good Cat.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2013 02:18
|
|
|
I can get Cael to run in super tight circles after the laser pointer. She used to get so dizzy she'd plop over on the spot, her head wobbling all around. I would laugh my rear end off at her and she would quickly get on her feet and stagger off down the hall like a drunk. Now it seems she's caught on because she'll still run in circles, but after about 2 or 3 laps she stops and looks at me all "Do I look stupid? cut that poo poo out"
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2013 21:12
|
|
|
I have always encouraged our cats to meow with gusto while I feed them. Sometimes I give them leftovers from lunch if I had extra tuna from a sandwich or something and so they meow ALL THE TIME if I'm in the kitchen. Recently we've had my brother-in-law sleeping on the couch. The living room is right next to the kitchen and he sleeps late. He is always awoken by our kitty chorus when I'm making breakfast. I do not feel bad. It's his fault for sleeping past 10, really. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 16:51
|
|
|
My cats used to have some sort of fascination with our closet in our old apartment. It was a huge closet with clutter in it. The kind of stuff that just accumulates if you live in one place for a while. There's not much they could get into, but I was always worried about them clawing up clothes or deciding it was a good place to pee. Plus, with the clutter, they could easily hide there and be very difficult to find. So we tried not to let them in there. I think this made it even more appealing to try and rush past our feet as soon as they heard that knob turn. Needless to say they got accidentally closed in there on multiple occasions. Sometimes they would sleep quietly on something not giving any shits that they were trapped. I would find them quite a while later (sometimes an hour) and other times they would meow and moan pitifully after just a moment or two.  "Have you seen Terra? "Did you check the closet?" "I haven't been in the closet in hours..." Go check the closet.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2013 16:46
|
|
|
Last night I spend most of the night partying at a friend's house. I sobered up and came home around 4AM and the cats were so happy to see me. They wanted to run around and play but I just passed out on the bed. They jumped all over trying to get my attention but I just ignored them. I'm sorry kitties, I do love you. I'll play with you double today.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 1, 2014 16:40
|
|
|
My Fiance's brother has been staying with us for a while since he's down on his luck. He smokes menthol cigarettes and Terra LOVES THEM. He left one out on the table for a moment while he went to the bathroom and when he came back it was missing. We found it the next morning gnawed on (but not punctured) and covered in kitty slobber. I told him not to do it again, but we all thought it was pretty funny. I just hope she doesn't get sick from it. Poor little kitty addicts.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2014 16:34
|
|
|
When I was young, my parents had a hedgehog named Bodkin. I barely remember him except when my parents taught me to be very gentle and pet him head to tail GENTLY. For whatever reason they decided their home wasn't best for him. Not sure if it was because I was very young or they didn't know how to properly care for him. But they gave him to an acquaintance of dad who raised and kept other hedgehogs. Sometimes I wonder about the little guy. In the same vein, my friend has a hedgehog named Henry. Poor Henry lives in semi-neglect. They feed him and give him water, but they never handle or interact with him at all aside from when they clean his cage. They did at first but my friend got tired of being pooped on all the time so he stopped. Now Henry is mean and will hiss and curl up if anyone so much as brushes his cage. So he lives in isolation for the most part. Every time I visit my friend's house I see Henry there in a plastic storage bin with the lid askew for air. And I feel bad for him but I don't know what to do so I say nothing. I'm sorry Henry, I'd take you and love you if I didn't already meet the pet limit in my apartment.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 14, 2014 16:00
|
|
|
My cat started sneezing a lot but had no other symptoms. "It'll pass. No biggie. " Then my other kitty caught the sniffles. "Dammit I'm an idiot." She moped around her eyes runny her nose stuffy for about 3 days. "My poor baby!" Now she's good as new and I've cleaned and vacuumed the whole house so they don't get re-sick. They're perfectly fine but I feel terrible for letting my little kitty feel lovely.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2014 20:15
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 10:01 |
|
|
I have a really bad habit of leaving the litter boxes unscooped until I see Terra, the pickier one, scratching and sniffing around for somewhere clean to pee/poop. Then I jump up and scoop it in a hurry and put her in there and say "Look how clean! Please use it! Don't pee on my tote bag again please!!!" I am so relieved when she uses the box I swear I'm going to scoop it sooner next time. Wash, rinse, repeat.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 18, 2014 16:33
|
|