Got any pets in your home that esentially are supposed to belong to the children or one of the children?

Question

Just wondering who takes care of the pet/s....you or the child/children?

Did it start out the child and quickly change to the parent?

If so, why are you allowing it? I know a lot of people who get pets for their children and the children are supposed to look after the pet, but the parent ends up doing it. They complain about this all the time...I tell them to make their child/ren take care of the pet as they are made to in our house. Why is it so many people can not take their role as parent and stand up to thier children as the adult and authority figure?

Answer 1

My 10-year-old has a hamster and more than a year later, I have to say he's been pretty darn reliable when it comes to taking care of her. He has had to rely on my husband to clean the cage, but he feeds and waters her regularly, and handles her so she stay socialized.... if he didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to give her to someone else... this is a great way for him to take responsibility for his decisions (he paid for her too).

Answer 2

Well hopefully both parents & children look after the pets?

Thats what most folk do !

Answer 3

I think pets should belong to the *family*.  It's the parent who actually went and got the pet to begin with.  If you didn't ever want to have anything to do with it, you should have just said no, being the "authority figure" you say parents should be.  It's ok to get a pet to help teach the child some responsibility, but taking FULL responsibility for a pet is a huge undertaking for a kid.

Answer 4

you should never buy a pet and expect a child to take care of it. it should be assumed that a adult in the house will be responsible and if the child likes they can HELP with the pet. most children will enjoy having the animal and want to do things for it but it should not be expected that this is their responsibility- they are kids after all. as parents we should not stand up to our children and show them who's boss. we should be there for support, love, guidance for healthy development.

Answer 5

I have 3 pets,  a gold fish, a cat and a dog... Yes they were bought because my son wanted them. I would never have got the pets if I wasnt willing to look after them. My son was only 2 when we got the cat so I never expected him to feed her.   He was 4 when we got the fish and 5 when we got the dog.

Buying a pet soley for your child to look after is just stupid because unless they are adults they will always make excuses not to.

Answer 6

My youngest daughter, the 24 year old, well 4  years ago for her birthday a male friend bought her a Yorkie who is named "Fendi", her birthday is in April, by July of that year she had moved and was unable to keep "Fendi", so needless to say, "Fend" has resided with me, sure she is still his Mommy but he lives here.  I also believe pets should belong to the family, not just one individual but the whole family should be responsible for some part of the up keep and care of a pet.   I don't believe when it comes to family, there are roles, per say, but "responsibilities", which go with everything in life.    God Bless.

Answer 7

Pix and Samantha and their cousins Charlie and Frodo where all suposed to be takeing care of the fish and our dog Twizzler

Answer 8

There are several pets  in our home that specifically belong to one of children or another,  they take care of their own pets and always have...

I help out with a few tasks such as pouring new water into the aquarium and pulling the filter out to be cleaned as the tank is too tall for my 11 yr old to reach to accomplish those tasks without a mess...   Even when I pull the filter she is the one who cleans it and when new water is added she totes it to the aquarium I stand there and pour...

If my children are going to be away (camp, visiting grandma,  etc.) it is their responsibility to ask someone in the house to care for their pet in their absents...   To enforce this rule I charge a "Boarding and care fee" of $1.00 (more for the older kids with jobs) per animal per day for any pet I have to care for without being asked to do so...    When the child arrives home they find the appropriate bill on their pillow and they have exactly 1 week to pay the fee or make appropriate "addition chores" (mucking out the horse stalls, morning milking detail, etc) agreements to cover the bill....

Answer 9

We own 4 cats and a dog. All belong to the children. They feed, water, and exercise the pets. I clean up the poo and change litter boxes. I do so because I dont feel its appropriate for a 6 yr old to be changing a litter box. But we set the chores for the pets and have stuck with them.

Answer 10

We have 2 cats. Well they are strays officially but my daughter claims them. We are technically supposed to have pets in our house as we rent. Anyway I make my daughter care for them. This includes buying their food. I buy one bag a month and she buys the other.When we find the bigger bags on sale  I make her pay for the first $5 of the cost and then chip in. If she complains I tell her it is her choice but the cats will run away if she stops feeding them. I have to remind her mainly on really hot days to water them often but she does pretty good. She puts food out twice a day for them. She also is required to play with them and love them once a day.

She is 9 yrs old.

Answer 11

It really depends on the type of pet and the age of the child.

Most kids under the age of 8 or so really can't take full responsibility for caring for any type of pet.  Maybe a goldfish or a gerbil, but they'd still need a bit of help scrubbing the fish's bowl or cleaning the gerbil's cage.

Almost ALL kids beg, plead, scream, and clamor for a pet.  And they promise, promise, PROMISE to take care of it!  And they DO take care of it ... for 2 days ... and then the "new" wears off and it's not so much fun to clean the litterbox or walk the new puppy when their favorite TV show is on or they'd rather talk on the phone.

I actually think it's unrealistic to expect a child to assume total responsibility for the care of a pet.  My daughter has a roomful of creepy-crawlies (lizards, tarantulas, millipedes, scorpions ... probably a snake that I don't know about) and I don't want anything to do with those!  But she's 18 and can care for them.

The other pets are family pets ... 3 dogs, a cat, and a fish ... the kids help with feeding, walking, cleaning up after, but I know that the final responsibility for their care (especially the dogs) is mine.