sometimes i wish i had a clone of myself (or clase to that) who shared the same interestes and passions as i do.
i wish i had someone my age as interested in animals and the environment as me. sometimes i just want to talk animals.
i love talking about my pets, about my bird and lizards and snakes. i love discussing everything to do with animals.
wether it be talking about the diet of lizards, the temperment of my snakes, the affectionate personalities of birds...
i sometimes feel im keeping all these emotions and information in. i would rather spend my money giving my pets
the best lives they could possibly have, rather than spending it on, say, a new pair of shoes or a new bag.
most of my friends think this is absurd? but to me its like second nature. or something.
i love learning new things about the way animals live, strange facts about their bodies. it fascinates me
but sometimes i feel like people are caring less and less about our beautiful environment and more and more about materialistic possesions
people talk about beauty being gone from the world.. but its right infront of our eyes. in our backyards and forest, skies, seas.
all animals are beautiful, even bees that i hate with a passion, they are magnicifent creature. i dont know why i feel so strongly about this.
but all animals have feelings, just like humans, maybe not such advanced thought processes, but we all feel the same feelings.
happiness, sadness, lonliness. love. we are animals ourselves. so why do people insist on harpooning the whales. culling sharks. killing poisonous snakes.
without these creatures our world would fall apart, our ecosystems and food chains. thats all i can say right now. my minds clogged up with too many thoughts.

wow I am amazed
this is weird for me because what you wrote is EXACTLY how I feel except I think the friend thing is worse with me because im a guy
like I only have one friend who is actually interested in my animals and with my other friends even though they are cool and fun to be with would rather go play some childish game
at times I feel like I am an adult trapped in a teenagers body like in the movie with linsey lohan
and because of that people underestimate me greatly

I understand how you feel. Most of my friends don't come close to understanding, and one has told me several times I'm a fanatic. She considers herself knowledgeable about cats and dogs, as she had both when she was a young girl, but from conversations we've had all her knowledge is from what her parents taught her 50 years ago, and her parents didn't allow pets to stay in the house. She now has two cats, and they look healthy and happy. I know that they don't get vet care though, except for neutering. I paid for the neutering for the older one as a Christmas gift, and she complained they wouldn't do that without vaccinations, and how expensive they were. She told me she is prioritizing neutering the younger one, as he is male, and she doesn't want him spraying in the house. I don't know if she will though, as she recently retired, and their income is lower.

I have another friend though that cares for animals as much as I do. She has recently become disabled, and doesn't get around very well now. I knew she had quite a few cats. The first 3 she took when she learned they were abandoned outside (two of these were declawed). She took them home, where 2 are thriving. One male died as a result of a urinary tract blockage last year; he had the surgery, but didn't make it. This weekend, she explained why she took on 4 more when she already had 3.

She was tutoring someone's child for school, and the woman handed her four half-grown cats, asking her to "drop them off" on her way home. She took them home, knowing if she didn't take them, someone else would follow through and abandon them. They had not been socialized, but now all but one are comfortable not only with the family, but will even greet visitors. One male is picked on by the other cats, and is still frightened of many things. She's found that he will stay in the living room with her if she keeps a kitty crate next to her. The door has been taken off, and he watches everything going on in the room. If one of the other cats acts aggressively, she is his protector, so he feels safe. He is slowly improving - he is starting to come out of the crate more, and even let me pet him once.

It is a wonderful thing to watch someone tame a feral cat, if you can watch - someone who has the patience, and the knowledge. It takes a long time, but it can be done.

That is exactly how I feel as well, but I don't have any friends. All the girls my age(22) are guys this and guys that and shoes and purses and $80 for a pair of jeans! it drives me insane. I wish I could just find one friend that wasn't like that and shared the same passions as I do. I guess I will probably find some people who share the same interests in Sept 2010 when I go off to vet tech college.

its good to know im not alone in regards to these feelings.. sometimes i can't even decribe the disgust i feel when you hear about animal cruelty stories,
and people actually do this for "fun"?!
its digusting and i think what they do to these poor animals should be done to them.
i hope when im older and start to go off and do courses (hopefully) in zoology or/and herpetology at university that i find some people
who are as genuinly intertested in the well being of our animals as i am.
because at the moment, like katie said, all my friends who are turning 17, 18, are more interested in who has the best brand bag, who has the best car and shoes, who can go and get there 400 dollars hair extensions to look the best.
it really is a shame what us humans have done to our own world.........

You are not alone. I drive my friends crazy talking about Pico. Iv'e lost a couple too because of it. If they don't love animals like I do I don't want them as friends anyway.

you have lost friends because of it whaatt

Another person here who is the same.... I am 20yrs, i would rather spend my money on my animals and saving for a house. ALL my other friends (except 1) go out every weekend wasting all their money and they get annoyed at me coz I rarely do go out.
I get bored talking to them coz it isnt about animals! It is horrible!

It is similar for me, I am 14, but my best friends live on a horse farm, and get my love for animals. They love dogs and horses, theyr'e scared of birds , but they get it. Nobody else my age seems too- and they don't get why I love training horses.

i know how you feel i am about to turn 17 and am saving up for my 8th pet! of my own. i have spent 250 dollars on a snake, 250 on my quaker(eek), 110 on some baby beardies
not to mention their tanks, food, cage accessiories, and im also saving up for another 200 dollar python!
whoever said teenagers cant save doesnt have a clue

i feel the same way

i am 20 years old and while i dont really have any friends no one seems to understand

i work at a petstore and sometimes i get so frustrated when people wont buy the things their pets need
or when they expect petstore employees to solve their pets medical problems

one time some people came in and said their one "lizard"(their word not mine didnt say what kind ) was losing alot of weight i said they should take it to a vet and get it checked for parasites

they said "well we dont really haave the money right now, you know how the economy is"

and i was like "not really a fecal and medication costs $15 at my vet and if you care about your pet and want them to be healthy i am sure you can manage with out a few things this week and pay for the vet"

or when you tell people what they need for an animal and they say "we'll get that when i get my next paycheck" but they want to get the animal that day and you know that when that next paycheck comes something else will come up or they will think it isnt "that important"

it frustrates me when people dont listen and think they know best when they know nothing sometimes i want to cry when an animal goes home and deep down in my heart i just know it isnt going to make it

this one lady actually told one of the manager she didnt like talking to me b/c i made her feel"stupid" which this lady is a bit of a nut if i do say so myself lol

and co workers and family members are always teesing me about all my animals and look at me like i am crazy when i get another one or if i spend more than 20 bucks on one

i have about 30 animal(although a few of the dogs and one of the cats are not mine i still live with my parents and younger brother) anyway i spend all of my money on them except for what i need for gas/food and the odd pair of pants or shirt but i would say about 80% (at least) of the money is spent on them
either actually paying for the animal or spending money on food/toys/decorations/lighting etc

i think that is why i get so frustrated

if i worked at the store aand were just one of those people that pretty much provide the bare minimum and do no research about the animals i purchase i wouldnt care if other people did the same

but i spend sooooo much making sure my babies are safe and i spend most of my free time on the various forums i belong to and research and resaerch before i get a new animal

it upsets me when people come in and expect to get an animal and spend about $30 on food/caging and supplies even if the animal cost $200

and i always get " its just one little anole, why does it need all this expensive lighting and SUCH A HUGE CAGE (when i say at least a 10g)

i dont care how "cheep" an animal is if it costs $500 to house and feed and care for them properly then it should be done or the person shouldt get the animal end of story

sorry i had a little rant but i swear those people are glad i dont own my own petstore b/c i can tell you i would be telling them exactly what i think of them lol

You are not alone.

You are definitely not alone. I couldn't agree with how you feel any more. And yes, my friends think it's weird at times, but I can't even imagine what life would be like without animals. I imagine it's how most people feel about their children.

I think there's a lot of us that feel this way, but society tells us it's not normal to openly talk about it. A passion for animals and their treatment should never be something a person is judged on. I wish there were more people who thought that way.

It's nice to know that there are other people out there that feel the same way as I do..
I am 39 years old and I had whether take and spend money on a animal whether it is mine or not in order for the animal to live the life they need, than go blow it on something stupid that I might only use twice..
One of my sisters told me that if I call her to talk about my animals she is going to hang up on me, my husband said one day we will own enough land to where i can have any kind of animal I want and I can take in as many homeless ones as I want...
I was in this pet store today, and there was this woman in there arguing with her 5 year old child about it bringing a pet snake home.. Well here again this woman went ahead and got the snake for this child and I know I was in there almost an hour, only because I like to look around alot. LOL- well next thing I know this woman is walking back in the store with the box that the pet snake was in and it was a small snake, and she is screaming at the manager that they sold her a sick snake... well the manager took the snake which was dead, and was looking at this woman demanded that she get her money back.. Well when the manager asked her how the snake was burned the little girl poped up and told them that the snake was cold and she put it in the microwave to warm it up..
Now to me that is stupidity on the parents part.. This child had no business with an animal like that and the parent should have been paying closer attention to the child..
My youngest son is not allowed to touch my birds!! He likes to hug them too much..
But, I had whether talk pets more than any one I know...and I drive them crazy about it..

It is quite maddening how often something like this occurs because parents do not monitor a child's interactions with a pet or even what pet is appropriate for the child. We see the same situation at the humane society and with some of the reasons an animal ends up in the vets office. Even worse, many of these kids grow up and use the same parenting skills to raise their own kids.

I totaly agree with you Merlin.... I just took my Elvis out of a situation that was sure to cause more harm than good...BTW I reported the ppl that I got Elvis from this morning.....
My youngest who is 7 is not allowed to touch and animal in a petstore unless I am there to make sure sure he is touching properly and only if I think it is appropiate..
My son is wanting a hairless rat... well NOT GOING TO HAPPEN... our dog Scooter was to be his, his aunt gave him to us in hopes it would help us cope with looseing our last dog shadow, well My son wont take care of him so he bacame mine.. and Scooter is awsome.
But I will talk about pets no matter what they are to any one who will give me all day to do so. LOL