Maintaining a pet

diyourself

My children wanted a cat, and I now host 5 of them (the actual brother cats misteriouly came a few days later after the first).
I understand that keeping pets is not much of a spiritual activity... :)
I wanted to know opinions of my fellow respected pariprashnena users and readers about that.
(Note: the animals are not allowed in the house, I happen to live in a country side house with plenty of outside space).
Some doubts arise about having to buy food cat, etc.... Thank you.

abhiram

get one dog and they will all run away.

one dog is cheaper than 5 cats.
:)

dasi

well, you can feed them with this:
http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=vegancats&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=80791652&Count2=997932076&CategoryID=1&Target=products.asp

I think animals are good for children so they can learn to be responsible and caring with others. Besides animals can be better association than karmi children hehehe.

I do love dogs and I have heard so many times that it's dangerous to like dogs because you can become one in the next life...but while being in a vedic wedding I heard that the wife has to be good with animals. so you see, it's vedic to be good with animals :)

Pandu das

We had a serious mouse problem when we moved into our 100+ year old house, so we got a cat. The day we were going to take her to get spayed, she went into heat for the first time and ran out and got pregnant, so we now have five cats. We feed them vegan catfood, which is fairly expensive ($90 for a 40lb. bag?), but there's no way I would buy meat catfood. There is also a cheaper nutritional supplement that can be added to cooked food, but with five kids we don't have time to cook for cats. They supplement their diet with mice and voles that they catch (cats require some meat). They also get some prasadam. We have a wide variety of animals at our house, and all of them contribute something, some more than others. They also require maintenance on our parts, sometimes misbehave and sometimes make a mess. Before we had cats, we had mice running all over, and even a family of rats that lived in the ceiling. (We once awoke to the noise of a rat dragging a coconut shell down the stairs.) I also released a couple of black rat snakes into the attic to get the mice out of the walls.

abhiram

Pandu das:
We had a serious mouse problem when we moved into our 100+ year old house, so we got a cat. The day we were going to take her to get spayed, she went into heat for the first time and ran out and got pregnant, so we now have five cats. We feed them vegan catfood, which is fairly expensive ($90 for a 40lb. bag?), but there's no way I would buy meat catfood. There is also a cheaper nutritional supplement that can be added to cooked food, but with five kids we don't have time to cook for cats. They supplement their diet with mice and voles that they catch (cats require some meat). They also get some prasadam. We have a wide variety of animals at our house, and all of them contribute something, some more than others. They also require maintenance on our parts, sometimes misbehave and sometimes make a mess. Before we had cats, we had mice running all over, and even a family of rats that lived in the ceiling. (We once awoke to the noise of a rat dragging a coconut shell down the stairs.) I also released a couple of black rat snakes into the attic to get the mice out of the walls.

wow!!! and i thought that i had my adventures with rebel mice. yours are amazing.

deena

One day a female cat started living under our local temple. (it's an old house that is slightly raised.) After some time it had a few kittens. Of course, compassionate devotees started feeding the single mother and her family. The mother was golden and everyone started calling her Gaurangi. Devotees found homes for the kittens but the mother stayed at the temple and was fed prasad everyday. Someone even bought her a food and water bowl.

That reminds me, Janananda, now Goswami, has complied a book of stories about devotees and their pets, and other animals in Krsna consciousness. It even has a story and photos about a snail who somehow liked prasad and would come and eat out of a bowl.

Two weeks ago I ran over a bird which for some reason was walking on the road late at night in the rain. I got out of the car and saw he was severely injured and unable to fly or walk. My wife and I took him home, put our Deities garland on him, maha-water on his head, bought him in front of our Deities and dropped some crumbs of prasad in his mouth. An hour later the spirit soul left it's body.

Remember how Yudhisthir Maharaja rejected a position in heaven in favour of providing a dog with shelter....

blackcat99

I have 2 indoor only cats. I know it's not good spiritually for me to be so attached to them. However, I tried to be "catless" in the past and I was just totally miserable. So I give them "Ganges water" once in awhile to drink. They listen to Krsna tapes and Srila Prabhupada chanting tapes. I have been critized by devotees for having cats. I was told to just dump them in a field and let them "fend for themselves." I don't think so. My cats are great company!!!

Kula-pavana

When you have pets it is much easier to see that they are persons, just like us, struggling in this world just like us. So what if you become a little attached to them? you can also be attached to yourself only and that is not good either. Compassion for other living entities is valuable too.

if cats live outside they can get most of their food themselves. you can feed them milk and leftover prasadam. If they are hungry they will eat just about anything.

Baker

Pandu das:
We had a serious mouse problem when we moved into our 100+ year old house, so we got a cat. ...

Lucky you if the cats are still doing the job! ;)

Cats, especially well-domesticated ones, may stop seeing mice as prey, though, and instead see them as further inhabitants of the house - and refrain from hunting them.

This has happened with all our cats, and I've heard about this from other cat owners. Our cats ended up hunting mice and other small animals outdoors, but let those indoors be.
Some cat owners say their cats get along well with their pet canarians, rodents and fish, that they may play with them, but don't seriously injur them or kill them, while they are a menace for outdoor animals.

ccd

never had a pet, but even a smell of the neighbor's cat helped with a mice problem, even that cat was quite domesticated and 'well fed'. I guess it depends on many circumstances, but even the scent/smell matters (for me too)

ccd

I got some reference on how to maintain pets (specifically a dog) in the house:

tumi to' thakur, tomara kukur,
boliya janaho more

You are the master of the house; kindly consider me Your own dog.

ccd

BTW according to autobiography of the same Bhaktivinode Thakur, he has traveled with a pet, dog named Tiger, when moving the house and getting his job.

Baker

What was Tiger fed?

ccd

Baker:
What was Tiger fed?

He does not say it in the biography, relatives were not Vaisnavas anyway. What would be a possible problem? They sell in UK a 'happy dog' vegetarian food for pets. It works even for cats if you add special oils that compensate for some missing ingredients.

Baker

So Tiger was fed by the relatives? Unless they had 'happy dog' vegetarian food for pets in 19th century India ...

* * * * *

My experience has been that having a pet can train one in the service attitude. Getting up several times a night for years, waking from sleep at the slightest move or sound the cat makes, choosing the right kind and color of blankets and bowls ... and all this without the slightest complaint and most gladly.
I think some people have pets, especially cats, because with them, it feels so good to be a servant. Anything for that approving blink or purr.

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