Entertaining, informative and otherwise members of R%26amp;S, if you have pets what are they? Furthermore, what are your spiritual thoughts and feelings about your own pets and does that fall in line with the doctrine of your religion if any exist. Or, if you're not adhering to any religion, how do your thoughts and feelings (spiritually) about your pets compare your spiritual thoughts and feelings of humans?|||I have a fish. He never shows affection although I feed him every single day. I clean the tank when ever needed and still: ZERO EMOTION. I don't think, he knows anything about Spirituality. I gave up !|||I have 1 cat, 3 fish, 1 shrimp, 1 feather duster, 2 crabs, and 10 snails.
My wife has another cat, 1 shrimp, and 5 fish.
(she and I are very clear about who owns property in our house)
Of all these animals, none have a soul, nor do I.
It is abundantly obvious that the cats are the smartest of the entire lot (especially against the snails, which are fairly stupid and need help to avoiding killing themselves somewhat regularly, or the shrimps, both of which are easily confused). However, it is not clear to me that they have the same internalized thought process of a person. The fact is, if you found a person no smarter than a clever cat, you'd find that the person is rather slow to learn and easy to trick.
Don't get me wrong--the cats have come up with some ingenious ideas when the right motivation presents itself. I've even trained the older cat to listen to slight alterations in the tone of my voice instead of the words I use to figure out what command I'm giving to him (which means that it looks like he's responding to conversation directed to him, making him appear capable of contextualizing complex verbal information). However, I see no reason to think that they have the same ability to "think about thinking" and to conceptualize from particulars. The same cat I mentioned, for example, has learned the hard way to be scared of individual candles in our household, but is still fearless in regards to open flames from candles that he isn't familiar with.
I think the animals all have feelings, in terms of making lightning-fast judgments about how an action affects their lives. However, I don't think the feelings are as complex as ours. We consider so many other factors outside of our own immediate requirements as being important to our overall wellbeing (such as certain relationships that we cultivate, or long-term goals). This requires that we have a certain level of complexity in how we respond emotionally.
Although, to be honest, I'm not all that sure that the invertebrate pets have feelins. Consider my feather duster, which is nothing but a worm with a fancy head and a leathery-tube. If it really has any feelings, it certainly can't express them.|||We have a 12 year old dog, an 11 year old cat and a 2 year old cat. As a Christian, I firmly believe that God created these beautiful creatures to show humans what pure, unconditional love means. We love these 3 God given gifts to the depths of our hearts. Once their precious lives here on Earth are complete, I believe that they will return to the Father that created them to await the reunion with the family that loved them their entire lives and that they gave their hearts to.|||I have a dog whom I have much affection for, my family practically raised as he was barely a week old when we got him. He has grown with us and adores my family. There is no doubt animals can feel many emotions we also have.
I'm atheist so I don't have a religion or spirituality. I view my dog as my companion, my friend who sees me as the world as dogs see their owners. Yet, I know that just like me my dog is only flesh and bones. We will both die and that would be the end of our lives. We also both do not seem to care about such matter, we simply enjoy life. |||I have a dog that I love very much. And I feel that, in God's eyes, his life and Spirit are just as worthwhile as mine.
Some will argue that humans are some how "more important" to God - but how can they know that for sure?
Not to mention that animals lived on this planet for millions of years without doing anything detrimental to the ecosystem - at least not on a global level. For all of our "brains" we have sure made a mess of the place.
|||I have a Jack Demsey, a tabby cat, and three different species of hermit crab. The four hermits are still pretty nervous, my JD lets my play with him(as much as one could play with a fish), and my cat is a good buddy. I love them all for different reasons.|||Currently my only pet is a fern named Steve.
Actually, Steve is plastic.
Spiritually, I feel a strong connection to Steve. Our souls mesh on an emotional level.|||My cat kills mice and bugs.
I'm cool with that. Spiritually, the less mice and bugs, the better. Once, my cat brought in a bat. That wasn't a very spiritual experience.|||0. We used to have a bunny and parakeets, but my little sister is a pet serial killer. lol. Although I did have a respect for animals, I would not put them in the same boat as humans. |||We already established that the 1st answerer is crazy, there is no need for her to open her pie hole anymore. |||OMG! LOL LOL LOL LOL
2 points from the ridiculous question|||I have a cat. There is no spiritual component.|||i have a dog and i love her like she was a human and we treat her like a human!|||Monkey Pope owns a bird named "pecker".|||My cats are my guides to the afterlife|||I am a practicing Buddhist.
My cat, Bubba, died suddenly and unexpectedly of a strangulated duodenum. He was a love but very shy. He had a monogrammed bed from L.L. Bean that I kept under my bed. The cat bed was situation on the floor under the head of my bed. After he died, I left his bed there for a long time. I could bear to put it away.
A year later, I got a dog in rescue. She had been born (according to the shelter's veterinarian) right around the time my cat had died. I found this really interesting. The dog was beaten, abused and abandoned in a national forest. When I got her she was nine months old.
Before I brought her home, I pulled out the cat's bed, laundered the cover and put it away. I should mention that the bed sits up really high and requires a step stool to get in it.
When I brought my new dog into my home for the first time, I closed off the doors to my office, my bedroom, the bathroom and the family room and let her explore the living and dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I introduced her to my office. She was very timid and scared, creeping around like someone was going to hurt her.
That night, when we went to bed, I opened the door to my bedroom. She stood in the doorway for a moment. She then went to the side of the bed, crouched down and slid under the bed up to the place where the cat bed used to be. She curled up there and slept there that night.
Since then she's moved into the bed. She's become a wonderful, energetic, happy, sparkling dog who has shaken off her brutal past. She's amazing and one of the great loves of my life.
I am convinced she carries the soul of Bubba and keeps us all connected. I also believe that while no animal should suffer as she did, she endured it in order to ultimately find her way to me.
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