Nope..I never consider my pets 'clutter' and frankly, they are a treasured extension of our familiy. I will NEVER give them away and the only thing that will separate us is death.
I do respect those who aren't pet people and we are all different in that regard.
First off, I 2nd the recommendation of "Best Friends." I've been to the Utah sanctuary in person, even donated a carload of stuff, leftover from when my dog was alive -- I think, no, I know that she would approve. Anyway, Best Friends carefully screens and follows-up on the animals that they place in "forever homes"; those they can't place stay there as long as needed, even for the rest of the animal's natural life. There may even be a BF affiliate near you: http://network.bestfriends.org/GoLocal/Default.aspx
Secondly, my third cat (shhhh, according to my landlord I only have two) I got from a person I was supposedly doing a favor for by taking. The cat is 5 years younger, bigger, and more aggressive than my other two so at first I sort of regretted having taken him in. But in the five years since I have had him, he's settled down quite a bit and all three manage to co-exist without bloodshed, which I consider a success.
And when I thought about it, the persons whom I got this 3rd cat from are thankfully long gone from my life, but the three cats and my purse (and myself) are the only things in my home that I could not easily replace or live without, so win/win for me. :)
My only problem now is how to be a minimalist with three cats...is it possible? Not to hijack your thread, but I'd appreciate any follow-up leads/links anyone.
Animals are precious.
my green-eyed monster, who mocks the meat she feeds on, (with apologies to Othello) is a queen in this house and will be until the sad day she dies. She will never be clutter. Her shedding, and litter box, on the other hand, is not so loved. But she? adored and petted unapologetically.
My cats are decor, not clutter. :-) But then, they were both very much wanted. I like dogs, but if I had to take one in, in our current living situation, I would feel imposed-upon no matter how much I cared for the person who needed help. Is there any update from Loren?
You can minimize the animal clutter by getting rid of old collars, expired tags, toys they don't play with.
If you have the space, those plastic storage drawers are great for sorting supplies.
Grooming in one, toys in another, etc. The food dish can be washed and put away, but the water has to stay out. A simple yet stylish water dish on a tray can look good.
The litter box - I struggled with this when I had cats. I too had 3 at one time. There furniture that you can buy to hid the box, but that doesn't solve the problem of where to put it.
We had a pet at one time then decided to get rid of it for a variety of reasons. We actually found a friend who wanted it in a few months when she moved, so we just held onto it until then and then gave her most of the stuff that went along with the pet, the stuff she didn't want we either threw away or put on a Craigslist. I realize that this most definitely doesn't work for everybody, I guess we just got lucky.
we've got six cats. and room for more.
we joke about being cat hoarders all the time.
we love our cats...they aren't clutter, they are family!
I have seven pets (a dog, two cats, four snakes) and plans to add another dog and a few more scalies once we're moved. They're my friends and family, not clutter!
I think animals can sense what you are feeling about them and this probably escalates the bad behavior while you are away...you shouldn't feel wrong in finding this dog a new home...you will both be better off and rid of the tension between you :)
We have three cats and adopted all of them before we had confirmation of how allergic DH is (note to the group: when someone you love is undergoing allergy testing, the correct response to a noticeable reaction is NOT "Oh, wow, dude, this lump is the size of a quarter!" He's forgiven me for it. *grin*); while he's two years into an immunotherapy program, we've decided that we won't adopt any more cats after these three die, but will donate the amount we pay in annual vet bills to a local group affiliated with Best Friends.
It's been a hard decision to come to: we love the furry little lumps, and he's getting these injections -- sometimes twice a week! -- because he refuses to give them up. But compromising his health (he's also asthmatic) isn't an effective way to help assure that every companion animal has a loving home. :-(
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