Dear OP,
I have been a pet owner for much of my life. This said, I have a different point of view. As a retired person your life is pretty much your own now. As said earlier, adopt a pet is like being a parent. Your life will no longer be yours. Your "child" cannot take care of itself. You must schedule your life to fit the needs of your "child". Human children take on certain things on their own (exercise, getting food, etc) which "fur babies" can't do on their own. In fact, in many ways pet owners aren't like parents at all. They are more like care givers for challenged or elderly individuals. You may love your pet, but, unlike a human child, you will never see them grow up and become self-sufficient, productive adults. They go from baby, to young child, to old and elderly.
Now, you are retired. Free! Your time is yours. Do you really want to be 24/7/365 caretaker and watchman, making the rounds, punching the clocks, and paying for the "privilege", financially and emotionally?
As said, I was a pet owner and I lived and loved my pets and would do whatever was needed for them. But now they are gone and I am free. Breakfast happens when I want it. I don't need to leave early to take someone for "walkies". Doctor visits are for me, not the cat/dog(s). And I don't have to carry poop bags for someone else.
OP, think. Do you really want or need that pet? Really?
Good luck! And don't let the pet addicted make you feel guilty if you "just say No" to pet ownership.
|