Pet collectors

I am guilty of having many pets. We (the whole family that is) have horses, dogs, cats, ducks, a rabbit and a parakeet. I think we have our "collection" under control. All of them are up to date on shots, worming and health care. None are underweight – in fact one dog is overweight. Everyone of them gets attention everyday from one of us.

Now we have all heard of the stories of the crazy cat lady or the man with too many dogs or even someone keeping a large exotic pet in their apartment. I would not put myself in the same category. But unfortunately I do know someone that fits. She is a horse collector. She has close to 20 horses on her property. She takes very good care of them but has no emergency fund should something happen to her. If she were to become sick or hospitalized for a brief period of time she has friends to feed the horses but very few will trim hooves or give shots. She does most of her own farrier work  and vet care for superficial injuries. Most of her horses are pasture ornaments since she also doesn't have the time to ride or train them because she is always fixing fences that the horses break, trimming hoofs, stacking hay and other ranch chores. She does enjoy her pets but I can also see a disaster waiting to  happen.

She claims that they provide her with much needed therapy. My pets also help me with fighting everyday stress but I don't get stress worrying about paying for their care or paying for an emergency visit to the vet.

A word to the wise – don't have more pets than you can personally give attention to on a daily basis.