It struck me the other day as I was travelling down south and missing my two girls so much (the two legged variety) why we love our pets (the four legged variety) so much.
If you have had kids, you'll know there's a golden age where they love you just for being you. Life is so innocent and it doesn't matter what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow, today is just the best for hanging out with mom and dad. Nothing else matters. Yes, there will be some naughtiness but it's all for fun, even if a bit exasperating for mom and dad (OK, sometimes a lot), but nothing comes from malice.
But then children grow up, and while you love them just as much when they are older, they become more complicated emotionally and your relationship is different (so I've heard - mine are 1 and 3 years old so we're still in the sweet pumpkin stage. I can attest though I was a pain in the you know what after a certain age too).
Seems to me that the golden age of children is how our pets are to us, in particular dogs. So happy to see you at the end of the day, even if she's chewed up everything under the coffee table while you were out; sleeping on the bed even though you told him to get back in his own bed a million times; looking like she's done something particularly naughty when she has; curling up with you to watch soaps when you're sick. It's all so loveable and forgivable.
Cats have their own way too although sometimes they seem altogether more grown up every now and then. My two still want to sit on my lap any time they can and they always join you for a snooze any time of day or night.
If our pets really are like our children, it's hardly surprising we treat them like that. Why do you think so many people love their pets like children?
