SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The recent popularity of "designer" dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.
About half of the households in Britain alone include some kind of pet; roughly 10m of those are dogs while cats make up another 10m. Pets cost time and money, and nowadays bring little in the way of material benefits. But during the 2008 financial crisis, spending on pets remained almost unaffected, which suggests that for most owners pets are not a luxury but an integral and deeply loved part of the family.
Some people are into pets, however, while others simply aren't interested. Why is this the case? It is highly probable that our desire for the company of animals actually goes back tens of thousands of years and has played an important part in our evolution. If so, then genetics might help explain why a love of animals is something some people just don't get.
[...] The pet-keeping habit often runs in families: this was once ascribed to children coming to imitate their parents' lifestyles when they leave home, but recent research has suggested that it also has a genetic basis. Some people, whatever their upbringing, seem predisposed to seek out the company of animals, others less so.
Is the desire to keep pets really hard-wired in our DNA?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday October 01 2017, @09:52PM (1 child)
I know, I know, anecdotes aren't data, much less one single anecdote. But at my first of two jobs, there are two cats, and the older female and I bonded in early 2015 after both coming close to death--her from an abusive former owner, me from a pulmonary embolism the radiologists didn't catch until almost too late. Each of us calmed the other one down massively; she had what I can only describe as cat PTSD, and I've got the human kind.
Now she's stricken with a massive tumor in her back right leg, and will probably not live a year longer. She's not in pain yet, but we're making sure we have feline analgesics to hand and I will administer them as needed. And when it's time, we'll euthanize her as painlessly as possible, surrounded by all the people she loves. It's the very least I can do for her. That cat pulled me off the edge of absolute despair.
She's clean, well-trained, calm, gentle, and affectionate. I will miss her immensely when she's gone.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 02 2017, @12:50AM
Cats make excellent companions. They interact with you, but they're not so needy they become a burden. They work well in rural locations, and in urban ones.
There were long lonely stretches when having a cat kept me sane, because there was at least someone happy to see me when I got home. It doesn't sound like much, but it can make all the difference.
Washington DC delenda est.