I made the mistake of letting my son get a cat. Have you made that mistake?

yeah same has happened to me, treated that dog like it was mine from the start

It's good to see you on here again. I was worried about you. Well, I think that goes without saying. Everytime we have gotten a pet for the family or for the kids I end up taking care of them. I got a cat for my son 8 years ago and it is like pulling teeth for him to feed him. That is ok though, it is not that much to put out the food and water for him. But everytime my husband says let's get a dog I tell him I do not want to have to potty train a puppy and that it would be his responsibility. So far we have not gotten a dog yet. I think though that we will get one though within the year. The kids keep asking for one and I think it would be nice to have a dog around. I just don't know how the cat will feel about that as he has been the only pet here for the past 8 years (all of his life). Have a great day and happy myLotting!!!

I'm facing the same issues with my 11yr. old daughter and her dwarf bunny. Poor Bugsy is always begging me to let her out of the cage or to play with her as well as giving her a carrot, apple, grass, whatever. Not to mention cleaning out her litterbox.

After reading the other responses, I was surprised to learn that your son is 19!! The first thing I would do is inform him that you are no longer going to yell at him to clean the litter box. Then move the box into his room. I assure you that it won't take long before the smell gets to him!!! I also would sit him down and have a chat with him about the fact that animals are like having a small child. You take on a responsibility to take care of either. Even though cats are more self sufficient, they still need shots, neutering and or spaying, feeding, and attention. Inform him that there is a product called "Litter Maid" It is a self cleaning litter box that scoops the "big chunks" that the cat leaves in the box. You use clumping litter so the urine forms a ball and is scooped out as well as the poop. It is dumped into a receptacle at the end of the box and once a week you can either throw out the box or you can do like I do and simply dump the used litter in the dumpster. It is either battery operated and also it comes with a electrical adapter so you can use it either way. Your son needs to learn that the small furry animals need to be respected and cared for. I have four cats and four dogs and I spend a couple hours a day cleaning up after them and feeding them. That doesn't include the amount of loving time I give to them. I have always taken care of the animals in my household. Even when my daughter was small and when my daughter and her family stayed with me. I assumed responsibility for feeding their cats too.... But at his age there is no excuse for his not taking care of the animal that he adopted.

that is typical. nothing new. women always do all the work for the kids and the husband. i am into animals anyway, so i dont mind taking care of my cat. cats are easy to take care of if they are indoors. all he needs to do is feed it, make sure it has clean water, and clean the litter box. and maybe get the a cat some scratch boards and scratch post as well as a cat tree. maybe even get a little mat to place the cat's food and water bowls on. my cat sleeps in his cat tree, in my bedroom, by a window all day. when he is hungry or needs to go to the bathroom, he comes down on his own and does his thing. and then either sits by me on the couch or goes back to his cat tree and spying out the window at everything outside.

Well, it's gone one step further for us in that each one of us now has a cat. My daughter has had her cat for 17 years and we have been working together to take care of her cat during a little illness. It has actually drawn us closer as a family. Yes, I know what it is like to take care of cats, but I have really grown to love ours and instead of thinking about who should clean the cat pan, I concentrate on how much I love this little animal and how much joy they bring to our house. I can't think of anything in my life that I truly enjoy that does not involve work. I don't think I would yell, I would just not be available for anything this boy needs until he cleans the cat pan and keeps his word. It seems that it doesn't take long before our kids need something. That's when you lower the boom and say, "Why should I help you, when you don't keep your word?" I then would calmly tell him to get his job done and then you will be glad to help him with whatever he needs! This is sort of an idea from the latest child rearing book for kids of any age by Kevin Lehman. The book name is "Have a New Kid By Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior and Character in 5 days." The local library should have a copy.

I have 2 cats and no kids so I have to look after them myself, it is expensive taking them to the vets to get shots and be spayed etc, I had a charity that helped me pay for the spaying. They are very loving animals so it's all worth it in the end when they sit on your lap and purr.

WHen the kids are little I did the same thing......but it turned out okay as the pets eventually became mine! The last dog I had was supposed to be my sons....turns out he was my dog in the end! A very good companion!

Maybe that what my mom's mistake when we adopt a puppy. LOL. I mean, I have the point of view from the children. It is cute when they are little, huggable, clean and healthy. Not when they are piss, sh*it and sick. It is cute when we can play with them but it is not cute when we have to take care of them. I know it is the lack of the responsibility, but kids really needs to understand what a responsibility is. I think I can understand you now like I understand my mother now. She didn't allow us to adopt a pet because she wasn't sure enough about our ability to take care of the pets and the cleanliness of the house. LOL I just hope you're patient enough to take care of your son and his pets.

MEOW... sorry woman, my fault

Well i think my dad made a mistake of this kind some years ago.But we never kept my dog uncleaned but many times i kept giving him bath regularly but since i have gone to hostel there is no one to look after my dog and i think it is a mistake of my dad because i dont like to trouble any animal i want them to be comfortable but now i dont time to give them bath or take them to vet.

you'll end up loving it as well. Kids have very short attention span and are distracted by new fads easily. you'll get used to it don't worry

Hello Onlydia, I know how you feel! I have my niece who keep pestering my sister to buy her rabbits. My sister was telling her it is not easy to keep rabbit at home and more ever they already have a Shi Tzu dog at home. My sister just know the little girl of her ( which is only 9 years old ) is not ready to take care pets on her own. The Shi Tzu dog is still under caring of the maid. But due to my niece keep pestering, end up she have got the rabbits bought from pet shop by her father. For the first few days, my niece is still exciting to play with the 2 rabbits. But after 1 week, she get bored and never bother about the rabbits anymore. Now the rabbits are die for don't know what reason. My sister felt so sorry to the rabbit and my niece was sad too. I think they have made the mistake to buy the rabbits whereby no one at home is willing to take good care for the animals.

I made the mistake of agreeing to a dog, ugh and what a rock head she is too. Maggie(our dog) is super lovey but man is she lacking intelligence. Then she went out and got a cat from her aunt, like we needed a cat. Oh well now I have two more mouths to feed.

apparently you didn't follow through with the rules...don't mean to offend you. you are the parent; he is the IRRESPONSIBLE child. gotta teach them responsibility EARLY in live. put the unemptied litter box in his room so he smells it. and, yes. you're saving money by having them fixed because the last thing we need in this world are more unwanted cats who don't have a choice of growing up and becoming great pets. this just makes me want to slap your face for not meaning what you say.