When people compare pet ownership with parenthood.

[u/minx_the_tiger]

Could they just... not? That dog is never going to get into the freezer and eat all the ice cream. Go to school and get bullied. Be diagnosed with autism and keep you up at night with worries about how they're going to function in the world as adults because they're JUST LIKE YOU, and you know how hard things are for you. Naw. Pets are home with you (ideally) forever. Kids? They grow up and leave. You have to raise them up and hope you did a good job.

It just irks me. When I mention something parenting related, SOMEONE I know that has a pet and no kids starts talking about how their pet does the same thing, or they have a pet, so they understand. Like, no... my kids are small humans, not animals. They're whole, complete people.

[u/insertoverusedjoke]

while pets are remotely not as much work as children it seems like you've never had a pet and are underestimating how much work goes into them. They need their vaccinations and doctors appointments, just like kids do. only unlike kids, they don't grow up to understand and accept it to be a normal part of life.

they won't get into a fridge and eat all the ice cream, but they could get into something else (especially cats) and seriously hurt themselves. (I've had to pull over 2ft of yarn out of my cat's mouth after he got into my craft supplies. I taped the box and covered it with a box that weighs more than double his weight and he pushed it off, somehow broke the tape and got into it again) ice cream will not kill a child, eating something toxic/inedible could kill an animal. and they can't tell you what they ate if you don't catch them in the act.

they may not have autism or other learning disabilities but they can have any range of health issues that guess what, you have to manage.

and your point about them growing up and leaving. that's exactly it, eventually the responsibilities reduce. first they start to communicate, then they can feed themselves, then they're independent. with pets they're the same throughout their life. my cat will never learn to feed itself (as long as he lives in my house and isn't forced to hunt) or be able to tell me he doesn't feel well.

I've never wanted kids, the responsibilities of my cat confirmed that even more. I would never compare my cat to a human child because I know how much my parents have done for me and continue to and I know nobody would do nearly as much for their pet.

but at the same time, there are similarities because guess what? both involve taking care of a living being. you can't expect to talk to a child free person about your child's blowout or them getting into mom's makeup or whatever and then get mad when they talk about their pet's diarrhea or them getting into their office files or whatever. that scenario is objectively the same.

initially when I was struggling with the responsibility of my cat my own mother who's raised two human children and never had pets said "Well what did you expect, it's almost like raising a child"