On not having a pet

I never thought I’d grow up and live in a house without pets. My dog when I was growing up was a black labrador/corgi cross - think labrador face, shortish legs and stout. Her name was Hannah. I used to lie in bed of a morning and hear her thunder up the stairs, along the corridor, the door would fly open and she would leap onto the bed.

At Easter time she would sniff out our Easter Eggs and scoff them.

She was a waggy friendly dog, slightly overweight and a terror on bin day.

We also had a cats. My first cat was a black and white fluffy cat called Tinkerbell. We also had Samson - a very large ginger cat with a flatulence problem. And finally Mr B, also known as Fred. Who was grey and white and turned up in our garage with his leg caught in his collar. A visit to the vet and he was ours.

I had a mouse too, which got eaten by a kookaburra, but that was a sad little tale which I won’t go into here.

So why am I not a pet owner now? I’m a grown up. I can do what I like. I’m obviously in the minority, not having a pet.

Well I guess I’m out of practice. Groover has never been a pet owner. His father was a pilot and so they were always away - not an ideal scenario for pet owners. Also he’s allergic to cats.  And so is my orchid hunter(Hugamuga).

And the longer I live without pets the harder it is for me to like them. I’m not that keen on being sat on by affectionate cats now, and even feel slightly sneezy around them - can you catch allergies or is it low tolerance? And dogs? Well they do smell a bit and I cringe when they lick me. When our rabbit ran away, another sad tale, I was half relieved.

Does that make me a bad person? Am I depriving my children?

They never ask for a pet, well not since Butterfly ran away.

“We don’t need one because we go on holidays too often”, Says my daughter. What a practical girl. “But I wouldn’t mind fostering a pet on the holidays when we’re at home…”

Hmmm I don’t think so.

Can I imagine us ever having a pet?

If I did it would be a small yappy dog - like my brother-in-law’s Puffy. That I didn’t have to take for walks twice a day. And I’d have to work from home. I don’t think it’s fair on the dog to be out every day.

It could be a while before that happens.  Like, post-divorce.