How are you feeling about your pets?

becominggold · October 2014

I am having serious mom guilt about my fur babies

We have two chocolate labs (7 & 9) that we love and adore....they are like people to us. During pregnancy I found their affection very comforting...esp. during insomnia and all that crap. Now that LO is here though, I find their need for attention and affection very irritating. I am constantly telling them to move away or go lay down:( I think this is where being "touched out" and the stress of being needed all the time is coming out for me. They are getting an extra walk each day w me and LO, and I am purposely trying to initiate affection w them, but I know I am rejecting them a lot and I feel very guilty over this. They have been very sweet to LO.

chase16 · October 2014

I still love my kitties, but cats are less needy than dogs. Actually at first I felt guilty because my boy cat stopped snuggling with me when I first brought her home, but now he's back to normal.

lynds002 · October 2014

I feel the same way. My miniature dachshund always used to sleep on the other side of the couch, and I would want her to come cuddle with me. Now, I guess because she is getting less attention, she is constantly in my way. She is in my seat, where I need to put something down, under my feet. At night, sometimes she sleeps directly on top of me! I'm simultaneously really annoyed and guilty that she is feeling lonely.

allygirl520 · October 2014

Yep, my dog used to be my baby, but now I find myself irritated with him all the time. This makes me feel guilty because he hasn't changed, we have. I keep reminding myself that he is still a great dog and I need to pay more attention to him if I can.

Laur110 · October 2014

I have mommy guilt for sure. Our dog has been the baby of the house for almost 3 years and I haven't been able to give him as much attention or exercise as I used to. When I get a chance I try to give him extra affection. I also bought a bunch of new toys for him which has kept him busy.

courtniko · October 2014

So much guilt

My poor cat just does not get as much attention as he used to and DH is still so adamant about keeping the cat out of our bedroom at night (DD sleeps in our room). The cat used to sleep with me every night

and I miss him. He is 12. The cat is also scared of DD, so when I am holding her (which is often) he keeps his distance.
And then when I actually get 5 minutes to eat something the cat is meowing at me kus he wants some of whatever I am eating (he has always done this and we only give him straight meat after we finish and put it on his bowl) so then I get annoyed at him, which leads to more guilt.

SoSayWeAll · October 2014

The cat mostly cuddled with DH before, but I feel a little guilty now. He's such a jerk about scratching and knocking over everything that I sometimes wish we had never gotten a cat and then I immediately regret thinking that.

happylady07 · October 2014

This is our second, so our Boston's are kind of old hat to the situation. They still get to lay around on DH when he gets home from work, and I walk them every morning, they play with DS1 too. They are fine.

2redtulips · October 2014

It was really important to me to make sure my dog still received a lot of attention from me after the baby arrived, and I think I have done a decent job of that. She still gets daily walks (I usually take both she and DS) and I still give her lots of snuggles. When the baby is napping, I try to make time to let her sit with me on the couch as well.

Sometimes, though, she needs something at the same time as DS, and of course DS wins. So, she's been hearing "wait" a lot more than usual. However, she seems to like hanging out in the nursery while I feed or change DS. She's accepting him as part of her pack.

DH was especially short with her the first few weeks. Pretty much all he said to her was "go lay down" until I called him on it. He's been much better since then.

herecomesthesun · October 2014

Guilt that I get angry when he yowls or shakes his tags around at the exact moment LO falls asleep. He's not doing it on purpose but the timing is always so poor. I also feel bad that attention is lacking and he seeks it from visitors. It will get better with time and he has adjusted, I need to change my mindset.

workmm01 · October 2014

I feel guilty. I've been yelling at them a lot and telling them to get on their bed or putting them in the yard.

rainbowwillow · October 2014

Guilty here too, my fur kid was my baby for 10 years. I felt so bad yesterday when I yelled at him for barking that woke up the baby. He sulked in the corner behind the recliner for half an hour. I've been making sure to give him some extra loving since then.

wandsandwine · October 2014

I have terrible guilt. Our cat Sully has alway been my baby. He never left my side during pregnancy now I just keep pushing him away. He's his normal self it just annoys me way more. The other day he knocked my favorite necklace onto the floor and now my locket that was on the chain is missing and ever since I've been very bitter toward him. It was the first gift DH ever gave me and I've worn it almost everyday for the last 9 years

rstarrlemaitre · October 2014

Another guilty

My cat is super chatty and loves to play, and right now I can really only pay attention to him when it's his meal time. He curls up next to us as we nurse, and I try to reach over and pet him as much as I can.

Allison7 · October 2014

DH and I have tried really hard to make sure both the dog and the cat got just as much attention as they did before DD. I think we have done pretty well. Of course, our dog became extremely ill right around the birth of DD and was diagnosed with diabetes 5 days later. Maybe it was the fear that we could lose him that helped to make sure they have all that attention. Now that his diabetes is well managed, I have to keep up his walks so he can get his strength back. As for the cat, we do lots of play time to keep her happy. She is not one to cuddle on the couch, but we make sure to give her plenty of pets when she wants them.

raquelynn714 · October 2014

Poor Cooper (our Min Pin) gets neglected for much of the day. We barricade him off to the kitchen / bathroom so DS can be on the floor without us stressing. Fortunately, we let him sleep w us again ever since DS started sleeping in his crib.

klauke_t13 · October 2014

Our ragdoll cat has been a little neglected, and I feel bad about it. We keep our bedroom door closed, and if we don't get up when she thinks we should, she will cry and scratch at the door.
Her newest trick is to go into little a's room and start crying so we hear her through the monitor. That'll get momma up in a hurry!

Peedy · October 2014

We hired a dog walker for 4 days a week. Totally gets rid of the guilt, because he gets plenty of love and affection... The affection just isn't from me

RedBean84 · October 2014

I feel super guilty too. Our dog is getting plenty if attention from DH, but not as much from me. She always sits right next to me when we're nursing. I don't mind, but I wish I had an extra hand to pet her. One morning I forgot to put her food out and I cried when I realized it because that would have never happened before the baby. DH has since taken over feeding duty. I make an effort to cuddle just her and give her attention each day, but it's just not the same as before.

workmm01 · October 2014

@RedBean84‌ related to the mommy brain thread I have forgotten to feed the dogs and this is now one of the alarms on my phone :-)
This thread made me feel so guilty I took the dogs for a walk and let them sleep with me last night.

jlynn62511 · October 2014

I feel the same way. I've tried to incorporate our 70 pound golden doodle into our routine but it is hard. When we feed or I pump, I ask him to get his bone and he lays next to us. When it's bath time, he has his own spot to lay on in the bathroom. Sometimes he will hang his head over the tub and watch but I make him lay down when I towel her off.
During tummy time on her playmat, he will lay next to her or I will throw his ball for him.
He is only 2 so still in the puppy stage. Today we took him to doggy daycamp to play all day! We do this about once a month, it's a treat for him and he releases a lot of energy!!

jaimee2003 · October 2014

I absolutely feel you on the "touched out" thing. My dog will often come stick his nose under my hand to try and get me to pet him, but he does this when I'm feeding LO and it drives me insane! I also have guilt about yelling at him to go lay down. I do my best to shower him with affection whenever H has the baby.

rstarrlemaitre · October 2014

awww, as I read this thread, and while DS naps in his swing, Krishna has positioned himself with the front half of his body across my lap. I know he's jealous seeing DS there nursing all the time, so looks like he's come to reclaim it as his territory. Only problem, now I can't get up to make coffee

slippintrippn84 · October 2014

I still want to get rid of DH's husky and keep my pit bull (flame away). The husky is more demanding than my pit and sheds like a mofo all year long. If I don't vacuum every 2-3 days the house stinks to high heaven and I worry that the dog hair tumble weeds will mutate into a living entity and terrorize me. Plus DH got her some Dinovite to see if it would help with her skin (she had started smelling bad...but I think that's b/c he won't FN brush out the fur nor take her on walks), which she won't eat sprinkled on her food, so to feed her we have introduced wet food, mix the Dinovite into the wet food, then top off with dry food - twice a day. My pit just gets the kibble. It's never an easy process with anything with that damn dog. I barely can feed myself a breakfast of cereal and milk and I spend more time putting her food together than I do my own. It's just wrong.
We probably need to hire a dog walker to get them out of the house and away from me so I can have a break from them, but then there's another process and added cost for his dog.
Now they are good with the baby and sniff and lick him. It's more me having to do everything and being pissed about it. The way things are going I see it only getting worse for me once I go back to work.

rainbowwillow · October 2014

I hear you about the dog fur. SO adopted a malamute before we met and damn that dog sheds! Since I'm the neater person and therefore clean the house, it's now also my job to brush her everyday.
The shedding never ends, no matter how much I brush, tufts of fur end up all over the floor hours after I vacuum. It is impossible to keep up. She is a very sweet, quiet, and otherwise good dog, but the associated work is too much of a demand on our time. We would never get rid of any of our pups, but once they cross the rainbow bridge, no more large dogs.

dvmmomma · October 2014

I have 2 large dogs, 2 cats and a bird (conure). My profession has made me a sucker

I finally got my dogs bathed today! That was long overdue. The bird had to move to the basement because he wouldn't stop squawking when LO was napping. And he's really high pitched and loud! I have a lot of guilt about that because he loves being with us and talking to us. I try to make sure I let him fly around upstairs whenever I can but it's hard. And the cats? Well if they want attention they come lie on me to let me know. So I guess they're doing ok.

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