If you're too poor to properly take care of a pet then I think for the sake of the pet it would be better not to get one. But some pets are pretty cheap. Mice are cheap and lovely buggers
this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2025
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Chapotraphouse
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Rodents require vet care like any other animal, and because of their relatively short lifespans, the vet expenses per year of life may be greater than that for cats or dogs.
I say "may", because there are many modern, expensive treatments available for cats and dogs (like chemotherapy) which are not available for rodents, so the expense comparison is variable and complicated.
Where I live mice aren't really taken to vet and especially put under a knife or something like that. They're so small with weak hearts, combined with their short lifespan that it's not worth it for the mice to do that. Especially something like surgery is just horrible for the mouse for very little care. And most common way to go is to get a cancer lump and there's not much to do about that than take them to be put down.
So the expenses there aren't big. You get most meds you'd need from apothecary or from people raising the mice (don't buy mice from pet stores) and they also put them down when they get cancer or otherwise sick in a way that requires it.
They're low cost buggers but their short lifespan does break my heart often.
Maybe it's different for mice or in your country, but I've lived in several rural and urban areas in the US and was able to find an exotic vet for my rats (or a general vet willing to treat exotics) within an hour's drive of each location, albeit after significant searching. I've also had a mass surgically removed from one of my older rats and he went on to have another year of quality life.
Edit: Euthanasia is important too. Mice and rats are prone to respiratory failure, which is a slow and agonizing way to go. I watched one of my rats die from pneumonia inside my oxygen chamber just two hours ago, and it was horrifying. I deeply regret not making the 90-minute drive to the emergency vet for a euthanasia last night, as I have done many times before. It usually costs me about $150-200 these days.
Rats are different to mice in that respect. They're bigger and live longer so it makes sense to treat them. Mice are so tiny, pretty delicate and live for a fairly short time so from the perspective of giving the animal best possible life it doesn't (in our opinion) make that much sense.
Not many vets are familiar with mice, there are those that are but it's just often not thought of as good for the animal to necessary start intensive treatments or especially do surgery. Usually the issue is cancer anyway and surgery for that just puts the small bugger in stress and pain for very little gain.
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Anyone can take care of a tarantula
Ehhhhh I'm not exactly vegan myself, but I do agree that if you can't provide for a pet's material needs, you probably shouldn't have one? This includes space and time for walkies if it's a dog — a lot of people have dogs who shouldn't.
I think the post's intention is ambiguous, it does just say "if you're poor, you should not own pets". It's not clear if they just think all non-rich people shouldn't have pets, or if they're actually referring to an owner's ability to provide for material needs.
Yeah we should likely be reading the slop as 'non-rich people should focus on saving their money to be rich instead of caring for an animal with their money which they do have'. It's the conservative argument usually made.
rage bait from no-names belongs in slop or gossip or whatever the fuck it's called
Just gunna' dump this here because it's a good reminder to people about the facts of animal ownership.
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2025/08/22/Do-Pets-Make-Lives-Better/
But even though the belief that pets bring many benefits to their owners is widespread, research shows that having a pet is not a panacea for bolstering human psychological well-being.
Despite this, pets are often portrayed in the news and on social media as effective solutions to reduce stress and loneliness, reflecting a popular belief in their health benefits.
This can lead people to adopt pets without fully considering the responsibilities and demands involved, which can have negative consequences for both themselves and their pets.
Very interesting, thank you.
So I love having pets, I've had them my entire life. All kinds. But I never really felt less alone for having them? Like they're great and everything but I've never had that feeling of, "oh well I don't have any friends but at least I have an animal". Its just different box for me. I assumed I was the odd one out, and maybe that was because I don't care much for dogs, maybe because I'm ND, but its interesting to know it doesn't actually fill that gap for a lot of other people either.
im torn on this discussion personally. i adopted a young dog from someone who could no longer keep her. a year later my dog isnt eating or wanting to do anything so i took her to the vet. turns out she had bad stomach cancer. this put me in the position where i had to either have her put down because surgery would be thousands of dollars i don’t have or i keep her alive while she suffers and her health deteriorates and life becomes unbearable for her til the cancer kills her
i loved that dog but for her sake i do wonder if she would have been better off had someone with money came along and taken her
i do wonder if she would have been better off had someone with money came along and taken her
Well yeah, of course she would have been better off. But that also most likely wasn't going to happen. Rich assholes buy designer dogs for thousands of dollars from breeders, they don't sully their hands with poor dogs from poor people. Most of the time if you're poor and have a dog, that dog's only alternatives are an overcrowded and underfunded shelter or the literal streets. She certainly wouldn't have been any better off there.
Cancer is often a losing battle even with all the money in the world. Animals can't really tell you something is wrong and tend to hide illnesses, so detection is frequently late stage.
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Hot take: maybe everyone/every household should be able to afford a pet or two
Hotter take: nobody should have pets. We can never truly provide enough care to warrant their unquestioning trust and love.
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Its not so bad actually. There are times when I really miss my pets, but I do just fine going outside and watching wild animals from a distance. There are reasons that I don't have pets ; the money aspect is a big one, and so is the energy needed to do it. I would need help.
I think that having a family or community to fall back on for their care is important.
This. I really miss my cat and due to finances I'm forced to be alone. The saying "you will own nothing and be happy" rings true.
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If you're poor, I personally get to decide what you spend your money on
Being an animal must suck, because regardless of what a human being thinks about you, they all agree you're incapable of deciding for yourself and your fate is ultimately left up to Humans.
It'd probably be best for everyone if we could just leave this planet, but we're stuck here. Shame
Even if there was some other place to go. Wouldnt it just be going to fuck up some other planet?
ⓘ This user is suspected of being a cat. Please report any suspicious behavior.
nobody cares if we fuck up a bunch of rocks and dust on a world that had no life before we landed on it.
Yeah but you just know some people would bring along sentient creatures for food
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Same assholes later 'why aren't the poor having kids'.
My aunt recently adopted a dog and the amount of time it took, paperwork, finance and background checks etc was ridiculous, then they almost turned her away for being too old until she put down my cousin as a reference. This wasn't for a puppy nor anything fancy, just a plain old dog.
When I lived in a more populous area I really miss having access to affordable vet students I knew from college, like sneak around campus at 5am set your cat's broken leg for 40 dollars tier and being able to ask for advice on caring for my pets without a formal visit. I also miss being able to get vaccines otc and using my lab experience to diy, while out here they're big on non-human animals getting autism and everything's way more gated ironically. I'm glad there's still vet places you can order basic things online for wound care but geeze, it shouldn't be like this, you shouldn't have to 
up some reference vet textbooks and have animal handling experience to have some kind of limited access to affordable pet care.
I suppose there's a lot of truth to receiving better care when younger leads to better outcomes later, my cats are older now, 13 and 15, the later my old calico swiped from somewhere, the other was a kitten my mom found with some others that she figured were abandoned.
shelters aren't going to let you adopt if you're destitute anyway.
Cw: animal abuse.
I mean. My parents have never had a good track record with dogs. They only ever took them to the vets for vaccinations, and never had gotten a dog put down humanely. When it was time for them to go, they couldnt even pull the trigger themselves, and had to get a friend to do it and dig the hole.
Even now, one of their dogs is on his last legs, and, quite frankly, should be put down. Even though he's living life and seems happy, he's skin and bones because pancreatitis, lymes' disease (which me and my girlfriend paid for the doctors visit and guilted my parents to bring him to the vet) missing an eye due to getting owned by a deer, and a puppyhood leg weakness from jumping out of a car, as well as normal artheritis.
All this because they never had the money (or were unwilling to spend) the money on a pet. I can see the argument.
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