This really pissed me off..

[Zyanya]

And where I live, there are vets who will work with you on making payments to take care of emergency pet care.

Thus pets are not the massive expense they are made out to be. Kids are vastly more expensive, even if their food and medical is taken care of already.

[Dreamstalker]

In the case cited earlier, the woman worked out a deal with the vet to make payments.

Most vets do have payment plans and will work with you (I know the big animal hospital near me does).

[Lace Neil Singer]

Link for information on feeding cats milk: http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...the_myths.html

My main beef is with the teenage mothers like the one featured on the news recently, who gets all her council tax paid for her and two thirds of her rent; plus she gets over a hundred quid more housing benefit than I do; just cuz she popped out a baby. She apparently spends £50 a week on smokes and beer, before she even buys anything for this baby. Whereas I, a single person with employment, even if it's just 28 hours, with no kids, gets hardly anything compared to people like her; cuz I work. Yes, I understand that a kid's hard to take care of, but honestly; she should have thought of that before she had one. And why isn't the baby's dad being chased up to pay for his mistake?

[Amethyst Hunter]

I'd be way more annoyed by the fact that they're giving their cats milk - bad stuff for kitties: it gives them diarrhea.

Like Blas said, I'd be pissed off if they were buying a ton of shit junk food and/or lottery tickets/booze/smokes on foodstamps. (Which I have seen done before when I had my last job) But milk for the cats, as inappropriate nutrition for the animals as it is, is not worth freaking out over, IMO.

Though I do hope those cats are sterilized. (PSA: Spay/neuter your pets! It's good for everybody!)

[DesignFox]

I don't know how I feel about people having pets who "can't afford" them.

As long as the animal is receiving proper care, I can't really begrudge people the companionship.

For me, there's a reason I lease a horse instead of trying to own one...but then, plenty of horse people I've known who "can't afford it" end up giving up their own comforts in order to feed their animals. My instructor once told me that if I waited to be able to afford a horse, I'd never own one...

So, I think with pets, as with kids, it's a matter of what you are willing to sacrifice to be able to keep them. There are some things I don't want to do without, so I do without the ownership of animals, and settle for visiting or sharing them.

[Norton]

I was in a rough situation a couple of years ago. I was sharing an apartment with a roommate, and working full time (and usually overtime). Between paying bills and buying gas, I had very little spending money. I also had a cat and rat to take care of. I had the cat since I was 8 years old. The rat was a more recent aquirement.

There were times when I literally had to scrounge for spare change to be able to afford enough gas to get to work.

Often, I would buy nothing but Ramen Noodles for food. If not for the kindness of my co-workers (some brought me home-cooked food, others had second jobs in fast food places), I would have eaten nothing but Ramen and sweets from my job day in and day out.

Despite my financial situation, my cat always had cat food and clean water and litter, and the rat always had rat food and clean water and bedding. Those pets were dependant on my care, and I fulfilled my responsibilties to them before taking care of myself. They were relatively expensive to take care of, considering just how little money I had, but it wasn't their fault that I was poor, and so I made sure they didn't feel the effects of it.

[protege]

So, I think with pets, as with kids, it's a matter of what you are willing to sacrifice to be able to keep them.

I hear ya on that one. I'm living from paycheck to paycheck right now. It's my own fault though. After paying to have the MG finished, my A/C unit blew up. I tried to tolerate not having it, but several days of 95+ (F) degree heat changed my mind. Not only was I on the verge of passing out, but so were the kitties. Not even the fans going full blast would help, nor was their a cooler place in the house. Even the basement was 90 degrees!

It wasn't going to be cheap, but oh well--I had to replace the A/C unit...not so much for my sake (I get migraines if it's too hot and stuffy), but for theirs. I wasn't about to lose my companions over the heat.

Even though I struggle at times, the kitties are always taken care of. I don't skimp on their food, litter, or care...even if it means I have to either cut back or delay getting hobby supplies (not *kits*, but paint, glue...that sort of thing)