pets

I was bought up with animals: dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, canaries, budgies, chicken, fish. To me, they’re all part of family life. The traditional dogs and cats in particular are friends and family members. They’re not so hot at intellectual conversation, but they’re great for emotional stuff.

My partner is scared of animals. Her childhood family home did not have pets. From stories she tells, her parents tried to introduce her to some animals when she was small, but the process backfired.

I sometimes wonder whether I could try & talk her into accepting a couple of cats. They’re relatively small animals. She had no nasty incident with cats when she was a child.

Unfortunately, cats come with free extras: cat hairs, cat hairs everywhere. I fear that, after a few months, their ubiquitous presence will so wind my partner up that the cats will be rejected. A solution might be cats that are combed daily.

Another problem with kitties is a consequence of our living in a city. The cats will be indoor cats, mostly. They will need litter trays. Those litter trays will need cleaning out. That will be my job, and I’m not very reliable at that kind of thing. These two issues leave me fairly confident that, after a few months, my partner would become very unhappy with cats.

I’d like dogs too. I see myself, were I in the UK, leading the traditional guy life with dogs: I walk them to the pub, they walk me home afterwards. That doesn’t work here in Luxembourg, though: the nearest pub is two countries away. Luxembourg only has bars.

Dogs require exercise. Owners get exercised. That would be good for me. I’d have no problem with the daily walk, even though I no longer live near publand. A walk around the town, or to a local park, or sometimes into the hills & woods beyond. Those would be good. Dogs are companions, the walk would be talk by activity, a behavioural conversation.

That would make finding the right dog essential, one with a compatible personality. There’d be no rush. That wouldn’t be a problem.

Unfortunately, a dog for me is impossible. My partner is scared of dogs. She doesn’t know how to behave with them, to control them, to be friends with them.

So no dogs either. Indeed, no pets. I can’t have pets. No one should be uncomfortable in her own home.