pets

[sarcophagus]

Dh and I got a pretty good sum of money for christmas, but we were instructed that we were not allowed to use it to pay bills or buy groceries (we were given enough groceries to eat for a month for free!!!) so after much consideration we decided to add to our “family”. We got a ferret and it has already proved to be a great decision. Since the kitten I got 6 months ago was deemed mostly mine, dh decided that the ferret would be his. Since getting him, I’ve noticed such a fatherly love in my husband that I didn’t even know existed. He got down on all fours to inspect the house of any hidden dangers that “sly” may get into, he’s talking about making our storage closet a little room for him to play in etc…It has shown me that my husband would be a great dad when the time came. BUT…i was wondering, is it sinful to treat an animal this way, like a child. We know that it isn’t a substitute for a child and should we get pregnant, we know where our priorities lie, but is there such thing as being TOO much of a steward to the animals…

thanks

 

[catsrus]

Enjoy the ferret and the kitten and don’t sweat the small stuff.
DH and I have 4 cats and a dog that are members of the family. The kids are all grown and gone so these are now our kids. We lavish them with affection and they give us much joy. If there is such a thing as being “too much of a steward to animals”, I guess we are guilty.
One thing though, just because your DH loves and cares for the little ferret is not an indicator of his relationship with kids. My DH has never had children of his own - and it’s a good thing. He had no interest in the grandchildren at all until they were old enough to have an intelligent conversation with. He just ignored them. He does not like small children and babies even less.
But he’s a terrific “pet” dad!
For indicators, I would see how he acts around children, nieces and nephews perhaps?
Just my :twocents:

 

[sarcophagus]

ok…i guess you’re right…it just made me feel really good that he can be so affectionate to something other than me…lol.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[MarthaMartha]

sarcophagus:

ok…i guess you’re right…it just made me feel really good that he can be so affectionate to something other than me…lol.

Thanks for your help!!

We adopted our first cat as a kitten, and four years later I became pregnant with our son. To give you an idea of my dh’s priorities, a couple of weeks before I gave birth and was as big as a house, I woke up in the wee hours on the edge of the bed. I said to dh, “Could you move over a few inches, please?” He replied, “I can’t, the cat is over here.”

 

[Karen10]

I like this question. It’s something I’ve wondered about myself!

I was heartened to see Michelle Arnold answer in Ask An Apologist, that works of mercy towards animals is a stewardly thing to do.

What further relieved me was the fact that our own Pope Benedict XVI has a couple of cats–at least in Germany he has one named Chico and another cat comes around to play with Chico who might as well also be his cat. I was at the Vatican this month and a tour guide did confirm that he’s got 3 or 4 cats and that they are building a new place for them. (This contradicting an older story I saw featuring an interview with Ingrid Stampa–but maybe it’s just a matter of the story being older than the newer news). Where we stayed on Borgo Pio, which is where the then Cdl. Ratzinger used to live, he was also known for feeding stray cats daily.

I wouldn’t try to be more Catholic about this than the pope is. Many priests have pets. Cardinal Mahony has two cats and another cardinal has a dog. And that’s just what we know about.

The catechism tells us not to accord the same kind of dignity we afford humans, to animals (something like that). I’m not going to pick this apart like an apologist because I feel assured that I don’t have to, seeing as even our highest clergy have pets. So I interpret this to mean, if you are in a situation where you have to choose between your kid and your pet, for example, you choose the kid. Like if you only have $3000 and both need surgery and you have to choose. The kinds of potential dillemmas you could come across ought to pretty much be no-brainers. I wouldn’t worry about them.

To what extent do you have to worry about spending too much time and money on pets? Ehh, I think you just have to feel it out. If a pet isn’t going to appreciate something like a diamond collar, it doesn’t seem like the way to spend your money. Just keep your pet reasonably comfortable according to its needs, and healthy, to the extent that the needs of others in your family don’t have to suffer. You can’t really say you’re morally culpable for “wasting money” on a pet when there are starving people in this world. If that were so, then why aren’t we selling off everything we own to the poor? While that’s a very saintly thing to do, we are not obligated to it to quite that extent. Pets enrich our lives in ways that really aren’t frivolous at all. Own them to the glory of God, to marvel in His goodness.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

Try reading the life of St Francis of Assissi. The greatest animal lover.