Animal lovers, how would you handle your partner being just *neutral* about pets?

r/

If your partner doesn’t dislike pets, but isn’t passionate about them either, how would/do you handle that?

Comments

  1. Zora_Lynn_86 Avatar

    No. I would not even start dating that person.

  2. 2blanck Avatar

    My partner doesn’t need to be an exact reflection of my personality; if they are a kind person, even if they don’t share an overwhelming passion for them, that’s enough for me.

  3. coccopuffs606 Avatar

    If they can co exist with my cat, that’s fine; they don’t have to love each other. I wouldn’t seriously date someone who hates cats though or is allergic to them

  4. languidlasagna Avatar

    we dont need to share passions. we do however need to share an equal respect for my very best friend, my cat.

  5. meltingmarshmallow Avatar

    It’s like being a parent and trying to date someone who is neutral about children. It’s probably not gonna work out in the end

  6. PetrockX Avatar

    As long as they’re cool with me having pets in the home, IDC. They’ll come around eventually once they get to know the pets.

  7. LeafyCandy Avatar

    He hasn’t tried to block my desire for pets until recently (it’s been almost 22 years), which is frustrating. He says he doesn’t want to make the time commitment and wants to be able to come and go when he’s retired. I feel that. We had two cats (down to one, sadly), and moving with them was always a pain, as are vacations and getaways. So I get it. He cares about them and wants no harm to come to them, but if he had his way, we wouldn’t have them.

    It’s a give-and-take. I do all the care (and we don’t have a dog specifically because I learned the hard way that poop patrol is not something I can handle), and he’s fine with helping pay for their food and medical, etc. But I’ve always had pets. He had pets too and watched them pass tragically (not a great neighborhood, so people would steal them, let them out, etc.) and doesn’t want more. It’s just a compromise you make. So I probably won’t have pets for my golden years. That’s okay. I kind of agree with him at this stage in my life.

    I just asked my kids to give me at least one granddog, preferably a golden, and I’d sit for them. 😆

  8. forwardaboveallelse Avatar

    What’s there to ‘handle’? My partner has zero obligations to have the same interests as me. We’re two different people. 

  9. Meouppe Avatar

    If they don’t treat my pets like their children then I don’t want them.

  10. LdyCjn-997 Avatar

    My partner and I have been together for 10 years. When we met, I had 2 dogs. Those dogs have passed and I now have 4 dogs. My partner loves my dogs and they are used to him. If this was not the case, he wouldn’t be in my life at all.

  11. No-Diet-4797 Avatar

    Before I met my husband my answer would’ve just been that he doesn’t have to love animals as much as I do (I seriously want to collect them all!) but I wouldn’t stand for anyone being cruel to any animal. That’s a one way ticket out the door.
    As luck would have it hubby does love animals and is a dog person like me which is good since I’m allergic to cats. I still want outdoor cats one day when I’ve got a barn full of animals 😁. We had kind of a cat sanctuary on my family farm. I’ll be doing that again as soon as I have my house in the country.

  12. thegingerofficial Avatar

    I could simply just not be with someone who isn’t obsessed with animals the way I am.