GTKY 2/16

doodlemom131

Animals! I've talked about my dog a few times in random posts.
What is your favourite animal? If you could be a wild animal, what would it be?
Do you have any pets, or fond memories from childhood?
Do you hope to make any other additions to your house? 
Do you just flat out hate pets in the house? No judgement, dog hair is the worst. 

emmylou78

I have 2 dogs and a cat. My dogs are shiv-tzus— one full blood and one mix. They are older... 12 years old. The cat is 2 and a hateful thing. My niece brought it home and we got stuck with it when she left. It hisses and scratches. Well have to figure out something for when the new baby comes. It’s a total jerk. No plans on adding any pets anytime soon. 

the_most_happy

We have a 120-pound great dane and two long-hair cats, so keeping on top of pet mess is already quite the task! Definitely no more pets anytime soon, though I love all of mine dearly.

I love sloths so much, they're definitely my favorite wild animal. 

pickle-chips

We had a gorgeous pup, Persephone. When I was 5 months pregnant with our first kid we found out she was very sick and sadly we had to say goodbye. She was 10. She was such a snuggly, lovable lump of a dog and I still miss her! MH would have got another dog yesterday, but I’m not ready yet. Once we are done with the newborn baby stage I might entertain the idea.

MH has also been campaigning for a cat, but I’m not a huge cat person. Plus I don’t like dealing with cat litter. 😅

the_most_happy

@pickle-chips beautiful dog, and so sorry you lost her!

For any of you STM+, did you do anything in particular to prepare your pets for the baby? I've heard of people letting them hang out in the nursery ahead of time, playing crying baby sounds to acclimate them etc., was wondering if that actually helps.

mrspants0809

We currently had 2 German Shepherds and 6 chickens. We live on 2.5 acres on a mountain so we are planning on getting 4 feral cats this spring, and then probably next spring we will be getting 4 goats. I’ve turned into a crazy farm animal lady since we moved up here but I love it. 

mrspants0809

@the_most_happy we didn’t do a whole lot with our last dogs (they both have passed on since having my DD and now we have 2 new ones). We would let them smell everything/be around it all as we were setting it all up so it wasn’t something new/scary.  When we brought her home we left her in the car seat and put that on the couch and let them smell her one on one while she was in there. After that we just kind of went on with life.  

This time we will do something similar- I’m planning on sending a baby blanket he’s been wrapped in at the hospital and letting them smell it and then letting them smell him in the carrier. 

mrspants0809

@pickle-chips have you looked at Maine Coons? I’ve heard that they are basically dogs in large cat form. If I can ever find one I am planning on trying to convince H to get it and I’m not a cat person. 😂 

doodlemom131

Definitely interested in what others have done with their pets to prepare.
We have a 3yo bernedoodle who is 70lbs. She's afraid of pretty much everything so right now we plan to have a car seat or stroller or whatever babe will be in on the floor and do regular desensitization training. She generally hangs out away from us most of the day so I don't expect any issues, until todler time. She's not loving car rides these days so adding a car seat is going to make that more complicated again.
Aside from that, so long as she's not afraid of the things around the babe, I'm pretty sure she will just be licking its face 24/7. 

@mrspants0809 I'm jealous of your future goats. They're probably one of my favourite animals!

mrspants0809

@doodlemom131 I am so very excited to get them. Our neighbors have 2 goats and we absolutely love them and they are a big reason for why we want to get 4. 

claireloSC

Your dogs are so beautiful @pickle-chips @doodlemom131!

We had a dog, Quinn but we had to put her down over the summer. We do have a cat. She's 10 and pretty annoying but a sweetie for the most part. She had to get some teeth pulled so she aggressively cuddles and then drools on you. She also meows for food quite a bit near her feeding times. She's gotten old and we've had to get her prescription food to deal with crystals (she was peeing everywhere) but she is doing better now. Only other issue is if we feed her more than her prescribed quantity she will vomit. So she is hungry a lot, which is why she cries, but she's a big cat and certainly not starving to death.

We didn't do anything to prepare for DD with the pets, they figured it out pretty quick and in hindsight I think I worried more than I needed to about it. I've had a couple dogs and cats throughout my life. My childhood dog, China, was there from 2nd grade to 10th grade and I loved her so much. I didn't like any dogs again until Quinn, 10 years later. Quinn was such a nice dog until the end of her life when she started to go senile and she started biting. I'm glad we won't be dealing with that with the new baby. We might get another dog at some point but for now are trying to stick with just the cat with all we have going on. Definitely won't miss all the dog hair or the baby crawling to overturn the dog's water dish! 

coastalmomma3

@mrspants0809, I have a 14 year old Maine Coon cat. He's definitely always been "catty"-- by that I mean very independent and rather standoffish. He's also definitely my anxious cat, but I think that is more of a personality thing. 

I love seeing the pictures of everyone's animals! In addition to our senior Maine Coon we have a long haired black and white cat, Cosmo, and a two year old, 90 pound Belgian Malanois mix, Arlo. 

We had no issue introducing our older two children  to the cats when they were born. The cats just kept their distance at first. But, I am a bit nervous about introducing #3 to our dog since he's still such a lumbering, dopey beast. Any advice is appreciated. 

alexa_94

We have a cat and her name is Hazel, she’s a year old and still full of cattitude. She loves me and I’m pretty sure only me. She tolerates the kids and they are gentle with her but sometimes she scratches or bites unprovoked. So I am a bit worried about new baby being around her. She does love to go to bed with my oldest and she’s always at her door early in the morning to wake her up to be fed. She sometimes naps with DD2 but for the most part doesn’t want to be near her. DH would like a Giant Schnauzer and we were planning on one but with new baby on the way and deciding to get a bigger vehicle his dog will have to wait. 

My favorite animal is a horse and I used to own a few growing up but I have not owned a horse since 2013. I’d love to own one when we aren’t moving around so much due to the military.
If you could be a wild animal, what would it be? Fox or a wolf. At our last duty station their was a fox that made post its range and I loved seeing it.

grogu

We have two spoiled cats. Roxy is 17ish and Ninna is 10? I think. 
Roxy is great with DD and Ninna is terrified of everything (he was ninja but DD couldn't say it and Ninna just stuck)

When DD was born we didn't see Ninna for the first 6 months. He just hid away and would run from room to room avoiding baby 😂😂

We brought a blanket of baby's home before bringing DD in for the cats to sniff but they didn't seem to care too much. Until she started screaming for hours every night 😅

grogu

@mrspants0809 I love goats! Super jealous you are getting some. 

Also jealous of all the pups. I would love to get one, but tiny house 🤷🏻‍♀️ cats are just easier. 
I'm trying to convince MH that I need a sphynx cat or Cornish rex but he isn't buying it. 

alexa_94

Totally meant to attach a picture of Hazel