Redditor sugar-soad wanted to know how everyone would choose between a lover and a fur baby, so they asked:
"People who were made to choose between your pet or your partner, how did your ex react when you chose your pet?"
One of my exes wanted me to return my dog to the pound.
Notice I said... EX?
The love
cat dog GIFGiphy"It really baffles me how some people don't understand how much a pet can mean to someone, I remember one of my dogs dying overnight before a school day at secondary school and my teacher mouthed off to the class about me taking a day off for a pet's death."
ff-at-15
The Kicker
"This was a long time ago but I just started dating this person and I was told they hated my dog, it was a bit of a shock but I was like no biggie just get to know my dog and you will fall in love with him."
"So the next time, we had a doggie date and HE TRIED TO KICK MY DOG. I literally grabbed my dog and turned around and walked away. And that was that!!!"
clarkyto
Screw This
"This is my favorite story from when I worked in a shelter. A guy came in to surrender his cat, with the reason that his girlfriend didn't like her. He starts filling out the paperwork, but partway through he just stops and says, 'Screw this. I'm just going to break up with her instead.' He picks up the cat and walks out the door, presumably to leave his GF. I hope he stuck to it and he and his cat got a happy ending."
hoomphree
Happy Ending
"Not directly relevant, but we once took in a dog, whose human was asked to make this choice. Beautiful weimaraner. The guy brought the dog out to our house (on a hill in the woods with acres to roam - dogs absolutely love it out here - and we spent some time walking around letting the dog get used to the place and meet our other furry residents."
"We could tell it was really hard on both of them when he left."
"The next day he kicked the woman out, and came back for the dog. Happy ending all around, I'd say."
Wildcatb
Momentos
Dog What GIF by Best Friends Animal SocietyGiphy"Not my story but my friend. His GF forced him to choose between her or dog but that dog was remaining memento from his deceased mother and of course he instantly dumped his GF. His GF went from facefull with expectations to beet red full of shame and anger and smashed his house windows when she left his house."
Manfroo1
Never asked for someone to make choice between a person and a pet.
Living Longer
Cats Reaction GIF by TikTok MENAGiphy"I remember him saying my diabetic cat needed to go so he could get a dog. We weren't even living together. I looked him dead in the eyes and said. 'My cat will outlive this relationship' considering she was really sick at the time he said it was unlikely and stormed off. We broke up 6 years ago and my cat is still going strong."
buffalosansbuffalo
The Elderly
"I have an elderly rat (going on four years, which is quite the feat for a rat). Iâve raised him since he was a baby with his brother, who passed away two winters ago. When we moved in with my in-laws over the summer, they didnât want me to bring my rat. I straight up told my partner that Iâll live somewhere else for awhile (weâd been living together for almost three years at that point) because my rat is my responsibility."
"Heâs very old, and that I was going to see him through to the end. They were a little upset and accused me of choosing the rat over them, but I explained that heâs an animal that relies on us. It worked out, I convinced my in-laws to let me bring him, and weâre all still kickin. Heâs on his last days and Iâm glad Iâm here with him. Heâll be buried with his brother when itâs time."
queerqunari
Meow First
"She acted like she'd never even considered I'd choose the cat over her. I don't think that thought had ever entered her mind. Then she went into a big spiel about how I'm a loser, I'm missing out, there's only one of her, etc etc. Yeah, I knew all that when I put my foot down over her idiotic jealousy of the cat liking me more than her."
"The cat is now 16 and still with me, happy in her senior years. There's been other women since her, ones that treated me a lot better than she did. It was a total win for both the cat and myself."
Fancy_Cassowary
âDirty fleabagâ
"Not me but my sister choose our cat over her boyfriend of 4 months. He was furious when she dumped him and called her an idiot for picking a 'dirty fleabag' over him. Cat was not a dirty fleabag, he just hated pets and wanted to try to control my sister. I was relieved when she dumped him. I never got good vibes from him."
Aurora_Jones
BYE
White Dog GIFGiphy"My ex asked me if she thought my dog liked me or her more and I said me. She got genuinely mad and told me I am supposed to just lie to her, didn't last long."
wumbology34
Pets will always win.
Have you ever had to make a similar choice? Let us know in the comments below.
My one dog, Juliet, is the worst. She will actually scratch at my leg and then when I turn to say "WHAT?" she will dramatically, a la Scarlett O'Hara, twist and throw herself to the floor. I can actually feel the vapors. Like really girl? Who else knows what I'm talking about?
Head First
Happy John Oliver GIF by Last Week Tonight with John OliverGiphyMy dog head butts me in the leg. She walks over, and head butts my leg. Then she holds her head against my leg and won't move until I scratch behind her ears long enough to please her majesty.
Cornered
My cat learned pretty quickly that if he messes with the papers on the counter, he gets attention. It's negative attention, but he gets it and apparently loves it because he'll sit down and get comfortable and just start flipping his paw through it like it's his paperwork. If I ignore that he escalates to biting off corners. He knows that'll get me every time.
Poop Gifts
Our dog bring us toys when she needs to go potty. And when you let her outside to the deck you have to tell her to go down to the grass, or she'll forget why she's outside and sit at the door. Smart.
Fighting Fur
Mine attacks my other cat. He knows if he does that I have to get up to break it up. I don't know how to break this cycle. If I ignore it, he gets frustrated and takes it out even worse on the other cat. People are like "Just ignore him", but I don't really want a full blown cat fight happening, fur all over my apartment, and my other cat being beaten up because my first cat is a jerk (who is currently curled up, sleeping contentedly against my leg).
Gnawing
guinea pig eating GIFGiphyGuinea pig grips the cage door with her teeth, shaking it so loud it sounds like an old washing machine on spin cycle.
See, these fools know what they're doing. My other dog, Rocco, he will stare at me. I mean like serial killer, no blinking, stare me down dead. Then every few minutes lick one lip. Just one. He's a bit much. Just like that guinea pig. Moving on...
Creepy Cat
Cat Ear GIF by swerkGiphyMy cat has found that licking my lips wakes me up pretty quickly.
Mine too! I don't mind the kisses though. I just give him the attention he wants. My fiancĂŠ says, he gets on my pillow during the night and stares at me. And he'll do that all through the night. He must get enough of me sleeping and can't wait a moment longer. Once I'm awake he will come near me and raise a paw to let me know he wants attention. Such a little gentleman.
The Mat
My new cat started scratching at my standing mat in my home office (NO!!!) so the second she scratched at the wood bridge I put in the kitchen to link the top of the cabinets for her, I gave her treats. I continue to reward her for scratching there, even if it's just attention. She will escalate to scratching at other things up there but none of it matters so I just give her attention for that. She has not touched the mat since so I guess it worked.
RESET
Oh No Facepalm GIFGiphyMy cat thinks she can "reset" the affection/attention levels by leaving and reentering the room.
If I leave my cat alone for a while, she'll eventually leave... only to come right back a few minutes later, pretending like it's the first time that day that she's seen me.
Funny thing is it works.
Popcorning?
Oh, I have 2 guinea pigs and they get my attention by flipping over their igloos, then popcorning on them.
I had to look up what popcorning was. Oh my god that's adorable!!
Tip: when you look up something, share it here.
Popcorning is the name for those crazy leaps your guinea pig does in the air, and there's a reason for it. If your little piggy is bucking, squealing, and just generally acting crazy, then you're probably looking at a popcorning guinea pig.
McUluld
"The Attention Spot"
White Dog GIFGiphyThe way our living area is set up, we have a short couch in front of our computers with a dog bed at armrest-height next to my partner. It's really only a big enough space for one dog.
We have a collie mix and a gshep mix. When the collie has decided the gshep has been in "The Attention Spot" for too long, he will run to the front door, bark a "Mailman is Here" alarm, and the gshep will run to the assigned Barking Position at the guest bedroom window.
Then the collie will casually claim The Attention Spot while the gshep frantically barks at nothing.
Clever little menace.
Little Noises
I stopped working in 2019 for health reasons, and my cat has gotten used to me being home every day. When she wakes up, she squeaks/yowls at me until I follow her to the couch, where I have to sit down and put a blanket on my lap so she can curl up and get her morning pets. She's got me trained pretty well.
I'm glad I'm not alone. But regardless of their suspicious actions, we'll never stop loving them and trying to vie for their attentions. Maybe not my cat. She likes to jump, from and to everywhere, and it freaks me out. I prefer she stay upstairs. LOL...
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Aurora isn't the only cute animal out there. So many pets outdo themselves every day with how adorable they are. Here are a few stories from the pet owners of Reddit.
U/clickstorm7 asked: What's the cutest thing your pet has done?
Always gotta start with the pups. Doggos are almost always huge hams, and âalways make for great stories.
Boop!
My brother's dog was laying in the stairs yesterday. My parent's stairs have a gap in the railing bars. Big enough to stick my face through.
So as I was walking by I stuck my face in to talk to the dog.
He ever so gingerly bopped me in the nose with his nose. Too cute.
Theyâre such funny sleepers.
Sleepy Family GIFGiphyMy dog has a funny bedtime ritual; he has to circle my laundry rack three times before we go to bed at night, and then he grabs his stuffy, lays on the bed with it and makes little weird soft screamy noises at it, then holds it in his mouth and kneads the bed like a cat making biscuits, huffing softly until he falls asleep. I have no idea why this is required but it is.
Edit: I also had a foster dog for a while. My other dog got a multipack of 15 antler chews, and foster dog took them upstairs to my bed one by one and stuffed them under the covers, and the sound of getting into bed was like a medieval ossuary.
Creeper pupper.
My schnauzer 100% reacts to and can emulate laughing. My wolfhounds can't. They can play, they can indicate play, they can show submission, but my schnauzer 100% understands laughter. She knows how to encourage it, how to react to it, and that it's a positive thing.
âIâm a cat person, so Iâm really excited to share these cat stories.
A good big brother.
I have three cats and the oldest one is a very grumpy old man sometimes. He doesn't like change. I was genuinely worried how he was going to adjust to us bringing home newborn twins. But from day one those have been his babies.
They're 8 months old now. This cat has tried to push them in their swings when they were crying, he snuggles up next to them when they're fussy, and he'll even encourage them to use him as a bottle prop so their hands are free to grab at him despite their not yet having any idea of the concept of "gentle".
I love old man cats.
cat lady pet GIFGiphyHe purrs. Like all the time.
He's an old man now so he doesn't move around much. Since I started working from home, he just sits on my bed and purrs while he watches me at my desk.
He'll gets extra excited and start wheezing when I get close or pick him up because he's purring so loud.
But the cutest? Before he takes a nap he'll curl into a fluffy purring ball, then let out a single sigh before closing his eyes and going to sleep.
EDIT: He's purring in his sleep right now. It's going in and out because he's snoring. The cuteness. I can't.
Sweet baby.
My cat (then a very tiny kitten--he was a rescue from the yard and we never found mom) laid on my face after my wisdom tooth surgery and batted my husband away every time he tried to get close. They've worked out their differences now that he's not a baby anymore and my husband is his "day" person and I'm his "night" person.
Whatâs a nice hat.
My cat likes to sleep directly on my pillow right above my head. Like a cat toupee. I guess we keep each other warm that way, but I like waking up and seeing his little nose. He's super affectionate and I'm lucky to have him.
âAlthough cuteness does exist in all animals. Theyâre all perfect in every way.
Snakes can boop too!!!
snake GIFGiphyMy son has an 8-month-old corn snake. When we pick her up, she likes to stretch out and bump her nose against human noses. My daughter calls that a "snakey nose boop."
Awwwww.
I have a green cheek conure (type of small parrot for those who don't know). He can speak quite a bit. "I love you." "What's that?" "Peekaboo!" "It's okay." "No." "Time to go to bed." and "Wanna take a bath" among other phrases.
One night I woke up probably near 1 am because he had a nightmare (I assume?) and started screaming. I opened the cage, picked him up, and put him on my shoulder. I started scritching his head and whispering "it's okay."
After a moment of silence, he said in the most tender voice: "I love you."
If y'all need a bird tax, I have some videos of him in my post history.
Give the girl some gummy sharks!!!
Try to steal my candy. One day I was sitting down playing video games while munching on some gummy sharks. My iguana jumps on my lap and starts eating them. I let her have half of one, but none after that. She wasn't happy with that, and chased me around while I found a place to hide them where she couldn't get into.
One thing is for sure- humanity is blessed to have pets, and we definitely donât deserve them.â
A good older sibling.
kitty kitten GIFGiphyI brought home a blind kitten. When I let him out of quarantine, my older cat walked side by side with him around the perimeter of my home. I'm pretty sure Gabey was showing the kitten the layout of the house.
Ashley is a good kitty.
My kitty will demand a treat and then when I'm about to go down stairs; she will lay on the stairs, wagging her tail, making little meow noises and will only move if you say, "Ashley treat?"
She will also go and lay across our shoes when she knows we are leaving for a bit.
My favourite is when she attacks my fiancĂŠ wrapping her legs around him and pretends to scratch and bite him, but her claws never come out and she never actually bites. She is very protective of him and will "guard" him when someone is in the condo fixing something, usually growling. I laugh because he is 6'6 290lbs of muscle and a 10lb kitty is all "dont you touch my HOOMAN!!"
Cats always know.
My son must have been about 2 and was sick for a couple says, nothing serious but he had a fever. He fell asleep on the couch, and my (then) 13-year-old cat cuddled up right beside him and started purring. She stayed there until he woke up a few hours later. It's like she knew he didn't feel good and was trying to make it better.
What a sweet, trusting pup.
2 Chainz Dog GIF by MOST EXPENSIVESTGiphyMy dog trust falls. I've had her since she was a puppy and have held her a lot and never dropped her. Now she's 50 pounds and reaches up for me to pick her up and will fall backward onto me so I rub her belly.
Congrats, you now speak cat.
My cat was 17 and geriatric. She had a lot of experience being a cat and was spoiled. She got whatever she asked for. My bathroom door and my bedroom door share the same corner basically. I laid down some pest repellent and had to keep her out of the room for a while.
I was standing at the toilet taking a leak when she walks up to the bedroom door, looked at me until I looked at her, and nose booped the door asking me to open it. I tried to explain to her I couldn't let her in, but she didn't know English. She tried and tried, but I wouldn't open the door.
This cat.. I swear.. she walks into the bathroom and walks over to the laundry hamper sitting against the wall. She stands there and stares at the wall for a second, Then she looks at me to make sure I'm looking. And she nose boops the hamper where it meets the wall, then looks at me. I stand there puzzled and ask her "What are you doing? What do you want?" So she boops it again. Eventually I just pull the hamper out away from the wall to make a space. She squeezes through the space, comes out the other side, and walks directly back to the bedroom door without pause and nose boops the door again.
This cat just communicated to me. She established a signal with me as a means of communicating, then used it to communicate.
As for Aurora, the cutest thing I see her do is hang out with our two corn snakes. She'll sit on top of the cage and watch them all day long. I mean, she probably wants to eat them, but we ignore that.
Give your pets a hug today!!! They're the best.
"The 3"Â
As I type this I can see them stationed at three different points of the room. They are pretending to sleep. Every once and awhile they change positions, which is merely subterfuge to survey where the others are. This way once there is movement, they can leap into action at one another for no apparent reason. Or maybe the reason is to drive me insane? Who else can attest?
Hopeless
Wiener Dog Listening GIF by OriginalsGiphyThe dachshund will NOT stop invading the beagle's personal space (crate) to suck on her ears. The beagle has HAD it and wants it to stop. Two things tho:
- Beagles have a really hard time being stern and intimidating
- Dachshunds are NOT easily intimidated
So this morning we had 40 minutes of beagle "growling" (not very convincing sounding) and dachshund "sass" (barking back) ending up AS USUAL with an annoyed beagle with soggy ears.
It's hopeless.
EDIT: Here they are
Creepy Cat
In college, we lived in the second floor and would leave the sliding glass door open with the screen door shut on nice days. We'd often come home to find my dog, stuck on the balcony. We figured out that my roommate's cat was opening the screen door to let the dog out and then closing the door.
The Growl
My roommate has 2 large male dogs and I have a small female dog. My roommates male dogs like to rough house and play around sometimes. Whenever they get too loud my little dog will raise her head and growl ever-so-slightly. Just enough for them to hear her. As soon as she does, they stop for a minute and start playing quieter. Freaking surreal to see.
It's all soft...
Tired Sleeping Dogs GIF by TikTokGiphyMy two dogs like the same bed so they will fight over it until the end result is they just both sleep on it (while the other bed just goes unused-I don't see the difference between the two they are both super soft?!).
youngest child syndrome...
3 cats (2 on purpose, then we had a happy accident for the third) Miku, Chloe, and Oliver. Oliver wants to play CONSTANTLY, and both the girls hate that. They'll cuddle with him in order to share a lap, but they get so mad at him when he tries to play. They don't hurt him though, just swatting with no claws and growls. Whenever they try to do that though he runs to my mom and cries until she picks him up. He's definitely got youngest child syndrome.
"Looney Tunes"
So I'm not the only one with looney pets. Good to know. Maybe I should bring them around animals more? It could be they aren't as social as possible. They aren't mean, just conniving and energetic. The next few stories may shed some light.
Dog Tricks
Dog 1 is trying to trick dog 2 into following her into the garden so that dog 1 can then storm back indoors to take dog 2's bone she is enjoying. Dog 3 is sitting in the on the couch quietly waiting for this to happen, to be the actual winner of this scheme.
The Fury
We got a puppy two weeks ago. Our elderly cat is furious when we do dog training sessions because cat deserves the treats instead. We end up doing joint training sessions and the cat is actually much more consistent than puppy.
In my house, if a package crinkles, it must be treats. And if there are treats, they must be for kitty and puppy, but kitty first. KITTY. FIRST.
leading the stampede
cows GIFGiphyOn my Uncle's farm a cat got into its head that attacking a cow was a good idea. Jumped on it, bit it around the neck. Of course when one cow runs, they all run... Cat caused a mini-stampede that took out several fences. And somehow walked away unscathed.
Open Windows
Two cats. I opened the window for the first time this year since the weather is finally nice. They have been pushing each other away for the best spot to smell the air.
Same! One open window in the house, in my office next to my desk. My two girls usually share really well but the window has been causing squabbles.
Edit: Photo evidence - https://imgur.com/gallery/roSasax.
The Look
Mad Grumpy Cat GIF by MOODMANGiphyThe dog doesn't like when the cat gives him dirty looks. The cat knows this, will deliberately stare him down, and then expertly leap out of the way when he goes to chase her.
Triple DĂŠtente...
Three cats until several months ago, now four. All from different litters. All fixed.
When it was just the three girls they had a shifting power dynamic that my wife and I called the Triple DĂŠtente. When the male was added, things got weird. He terrorizes one, creepily stalks another, and is terrified of the third. This has created a bizarre new dynamic with a top cat (the female that terrifies the male) for the first time in years.
Shame...
Love this question haha I have 2 cats one that is a bit dramatic and there is always this stray cat that comes to stare at her from the distance, the never gets close but my cat yells like she is being attacked. When I go out and check it out the stray cat is on the other side of the sidewalk and my cat is at my door all curled up. All this happens and my other cat just stares through the window with dislike for my yelling cat.
I'm ashamed of my cat because her yelling is like super loud and all my neighbors know it's her causing drama.
Hey Pooh
Winnie The Pooh GIF by DisneyGiphyI have two sibling cats, a boy and girl. The girl developed heart problems and wasn't eating as much, so the boy cat took advantage and was eating a lot of her share. Now she's a little too skinny and he's gotten fat.
Ok, so I need to separate their food - So I got an automatic feeder for the boy cat, and made a feeder box that only the girl cat could fit in, which made the boy cat mad. He eventually gained the confidence to Winnie-the-Pooh himself into her feeder box, which is frustrating if I ever need to be gone for the weekend, as he'll literally eat all her food before she touches it.
So far my solution is to put a little inflatable collar on him when I'm gone, so he has a barrier besides his fat to keep him from going in.
Also I had to barricade his automatic feeder because he kept beating it up to get loose kibbles. Now he stares longingly at that feeder all day.
No Touching Game
We adopted a puppy last year (german pointer/mutt female). Our 6 year old pup (corgi/border collie male) was fine at first, but gradually decided he was not having any of her shenanigans and will growl/bark at her when he doesn't want to play. Now she's turned it into a game and whenever she wants attention she lays in front of him on her back, belly exposed, wags her tail and wiggles her body - she never touches him during this. He ALWAYS responds with low tone growling and a random bark. It's the dog version of "I'm not touching you."
T & J!!!
I have a cat, a puppy, and a dog. Cat likes to lure the puppy under the bed and he can get under but gets stuck in the middle where it's the lowest. I have to rescue him (usually around 2 am and he wakes me up by scratching the floor trying to get out). Cat also likes to knock off things from the counter he knows puppy should not be chewing on. Puppy and cat like to wrestle with each other.
But dog doesn't like the ruckus and barks at them to stop. Cat doesn't like the barking so then he chases dog. Puppy follows cat and there's a train of 3 Tom and Jerry style through the house. At the end of the day tho they are always in a big cuddle pile so I think they'll be okay.
Alex cat looked at Natalie cat which she doesn't like so she screamed and poop shot across the floor. And now Natalie has taken Summer's favorite sleeping place so Summer threw up on the carpet.
Pretty much a normal day in other words.
On Patrol
My 15 year old cat just died a week ago. He had a heart condition and we knew he was close to the end of his journey. His sis yellow lab has been looking for him all around the house since then. She won't sleep cause she is patrolling the house looking for her bro.
Leading the Blind...
cat playing GIFGiphyWe adopted a heavily abused and partially blind dog who was full of anxiety.
We also have 4 cats but only 2 of them are brave enough to go visit her.
The drama is that when she hears all the cats running around playing she wants to join but being semi blind and a 50/50 chance it won't be a friendly cat she just gets sad and whines.
Familia...
We have 2 dogs, a very large all black German Shepherd, and a recently adopted miniature dachshund. At first they were getting along fine but now the German Shepherd literally follows the little dachshund around everywhere he goes! They're literally inseparable now and it's kind of adorable lol.
The only real drama that's come from this is that now both dogs fight for attention whenever the other seems to get some.
Here's a picture of them in case y'all wanted to see them
Edit: Omg I just got off of work and saw this post blew up! I'll let the good boys know that Reddit loves them when I get home lol.
Oh Jenny
Old drama, but when i moved into my last apartment my cats met my roommate's cat: Jenny. Jenny is an incredible creature, talkative and cuddly and weird but also passive aggressive as hell. She would get a lil jealous if my cats got more attention, but mostly she just got mad when she didn't get to go outside. When she got angsty she took it out on the other cats. In my first week she pushed my oldest off the balcony. Marzipan hit the iron fencing below and lost a tooth đ. Somehow Marz still loved Jenny.
"Covid"
During the pandemic it's been noted that many animal shelters are now empty. So many people took pets into their homes to spread the love and warmth. Our pets may be crazy from time to time, but they're worth it. That's why... if you adopted or bought a pet during Covid, please don't return them after. That's just cruel. They aren't toys. They're part of the home now. Treat them accordingly.
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