Have you raised your pet from birth?

I once raised a dog from birth when I was a child. Well, six weeks actually. I picked him out when he was only days old, but had to give him six weeks to nurse with his mother before taking him home. Yes, letting him go was a difficult, very difficult thing. I've had two dogs in my adult life. We rescued both of them from shelters after they had been found wondering the roads. We don't know how old they actually were. The bond with this two dogs was even deeper and binding, maybe because I was an adult, I don't know for sure. I lost one of them only recently (about 7 months ago, after having her 13 years) and the pain I felt from the loss is simply indescribable.

Well, I picked up Solo's mom the day before he was born - tho honestly, I was surprised she was in labor because she didn't look pregnant - I guess that's what only having one kitten does for a gal's figure! She had to have a c-section, Solo was such a large kitten and she was so small. So, he spent the first 3 days at the vet, I brought him home on the 3rd day. He'll be 5 on June 22. He's not the friendliest or cuddliest cat, but he does love me. Oliver we got at 7 days, and since that time, he's never spent a night away from the house. He's our baby, since we had to do the whole bottle thing with him. And he is a cuddly boy.

The cat we have now was from the litter of a female cat we used to have. We don't really have a closer bond with him than our other pets.

I was there AT her birth Kat. I held her when she was new born and helped her through the crawling then walking stage until suddenly she was independent and into everything. Eventually she was toilet trained, and slept through the night. Then it got serious. The companionship was great. But boy did she go through the money. She still does. Oh PET!!! I was talking about children. Silly boy. LOL

My Bischon Shihtzu is a pup from a litter my mom's dogs had. I spend alot of time over there. She's 3 years old. When she was born the mom had problems and ended up septic. We actually syringe fed the pups for the first three weeks of their life. I spend at least 3-4 evenings a week over at my parents and i had said she was going to be my puppy if they all survived. I took her home (5 min from my parents) when she was 8 weeks old and shes been my baby ever since. I honestly think she thinks that my parents my sisters and myself are ALL hers...even though she lives with me. She regularly visits my parents when i do...and her favouritest person is my dad.

Well, my daughter has raised her dog from 1 year old. She treats him as her baby. I would say that you have a tighter bond if you raise the pet as your kid more then if you raise it as a pet. I have seen house dogs or the family cat. But, then I have seen my dog scooter who is at my side always and goes to the store with me. You know the pets from the baby pets. The one's behind the steering wheel as the person drives. Or, the one's with the bumper sticker about them. Just look around you can spot the one's who have a deeper bond. **Peace and Love get's you through everything in Life**

Back when I was growing up, we used to raise Cats. Many times we also used to give a lot of them away once they were old enough, but Cats are quite wonderful to have as pets for sure, and they can grow on you for sure. In a lot of ways I miss having a pet, but since I am not home that often, we do not have any. But raising a pet since they are young will give you and they a deeper bond for sure.

actually my son had to deliver our cat junior his mother was having a hard time. Now we have finnegan and we got him at three months Odie and Rugby and we just got them they were six weeks old when we got them. So we have 4 cats.

I've raised a couple of hamsters from birth back when I was a teenager. They were the only two out of the second litter that survived. The first litter didn't make it. However, after these two were old enough I gave them to my neighbor and her sister. The last cat that I had I didn't raise from birth, but he was 5 and a half weeks old when I got him. I have to say that he was like my first child. When he was a kitten we'd sleep together with him curled under my neck. Once he got too big, he'd sleep behind my head, though he'd still lay across me and cuddle when we were awake. I took him everywhere for the first few years too. Not only was that cat leash trained, but he enjoyed car rides too. Once I had kids (human kids, that is LOL), he was like their big brother. He was always so gentle to them. I couldn't have asked for a better cat than that. He was truly the best! I do think that getting to raise them from birth, or from very young on, helps establish a special bond. However, it can happen with older pets too. For example, my sister got a dog from the pound when he was already full grown (about 5 years old). My mom said it was love at first sight for them! LOL I don't doubt that it was. They certainly had a special bond. Happy mylotting!

We got our cat at 6 weeks and she had been reared by humans and hand fed as her along with her brother and sister had been tied in a plastic bag and abandones, left to die! Shocking isn't it , especially as this happened just a mile away from the animal shelter where they could have been left. We haven' had the Grandbunnies long but they were about 8 weeks when we got them and we would be lost without them already - we might manage to save some of our wallpaper in the living room! lol Hugs xxx

Few years ago, I used to take care of dogs. And some of them also gave a birth. So yes of course I did raise the pet since they just born. But it was my past. I have no pet in the house anymore since I married.

Most of ours dogs we have grown from birth but not the cats. For the most part we got our cats when they were just kittens or when a male cat decided that since there were no cats in our home he would adapt us... As we speak there is this young male cat who has done just that following in the footstep of of one or two other male cats. I do not know how long we can keep him though. My 7yr old nephew and his uncle were the ones to tame him but now we realize that my nephew is allergic to cats. Both cat and boy have grown quite fond of each other but we have to ensure he does not play with the cat as much as he used to. It's a bit sad as they both just found each other and this is the first pet he has which he could call his own.

Moochie was given to me by my former classmate's sister. She told me that she was having a hard time taking care of too many dogs so i didn't waste my time in asking her to give me Moochie. When i had Moochie, i was surprised because he's already potty trained and he seems comfortable and at home. Moochie is 4 years old now and everybody at home loves him most especially my mom. It could have been great if i took care of Moochie from birth.

my dog , i raise him from the every first day when he is born,he is still with me now, more than 10 years, a bit old but i will take care of him until he's die

Hi KB Your cat would have been 6 or 8 weeks old by the time you got it. It was raised by his mother. I had two litters of cats last year... and it was interesting to watch. They were still feeding on their mother's milk after 4 months... just as a snack between meals. lol And the mothers did not care if it was their kitten or the ones from the other mother. All of them are semi feral... but have taken a real liking to me and would be inside the house if I did let them. I think it is the animal who forms the bond with you. They know by instinct if you like animals or not. And as you are their food provider... you automatically become the most important thing in their life. It is very much debatable if you own the cat... or the cat owns you. Look at it this way... Would you go to work everyday to support a man who sleep the whole day... just because he loves you? lol Coming back to my cat family... While cats are fairly vicious in their games... those 10 cats of mine are a very close family. They all sleep together in a box on top of each other. And while sometimes one might get annoy with another... it is a great surprise to me that after over twelve months... there has not been any fighting amongst them. I really had a cat education from this. You should go and post that same question in the pet section of the other forum.

I have a dog......she is a Pomeranian......well she was not with us right from when she was small......our neighbor was leaving this country and hence did not want to take the dog along......so we decided to her her with us as my sister loved dogs very much........... She was i guess only 2 years old when we got her in......now she is 6 years old and we just love her......initially we had to face problems as she was not able to understand us and she missed her earlier owner a lot which is quite obvious......now she is fit and fine and i love taking here on my bike she just loves the ride......