Pets Are Not Animals

I have stolen the title from Craig McFarlane's site. I think he makes an interesting but very refined point. He also refers to an article from one of those Homes and Gardens type magazines. This one is called, 'Fresh Home Magazine".

They had a page which was on the subject of "Decorating Mantras to Live By". That is a big statement for one of these magazines. The author lists five points to live by. One of them is: Every room needs something living, flowers, goldfish, a pet. Fair point. A good point. But, it is the way the point is made that indicates that pets are not animals.

You can see what Craig is getting at. It is something I have mentioned before myself. It is unfashionable mind you; very unfashionable with a large section of society but it is true and therefore worth mentioning again.

When you write about decorating your home and refer to 'a pet' - any pet ('a' pet), as part of the decorating process you are on dangerous ground. This is because you are treating the 'pet' as a item of decoration and not as a living, breathing animal with all that that imparts. It is this mentality that can lead to incorrect expectations regarding caring for a cat and that unfortunately is part of the mentality that can lead to deciding to declaw one's cat because claws tend to spoil the decor.

Sorry to keep going on about declawing but it seems I have to because it still goes on when it should have stopped.

Craig emphasizes the point that pets are not treated as animals because goldfish and 'pets' are separated by the author. It is like separating curtains from sofa coverings.

The reference to 'a pet' is worrying too. Any pet (and 'pet' is a bad word) will do. Just add it into the mix and make your home better. No; this is not the way to adopt a cat.

Adopting a domestic cat is far more profound because a cat is a living animal with feelings. And animals are like us. Jean Cocteau got it right when he said:

"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul."

In this cat quote Cocteau is referring to cats as part of making the home better, more pleasant and it goes much deeper than decoration. A cat's presence goes to the soul of the home. A domestic cat does add a dimension to the home that inanimate objects cannot.

That is why the cat should not be treated as an inanimate object. Finally, the other points 1,2, 4 and 5 are good points. He or she just has the wrong mentality on pets or (s)he did not express herself as well as she might have.