Do the Duggers keep pets?

[pennsatuckey]

Because here it says that they ban both pets and TV (2011). But they later adopted, or rather took in, a cat and some kittens the following year. Apparently, the Duggars "don't have a good track record with pets" and many of them "disappear" or "don't make it".

 

Does anyone know about the status on these poor cats?

 

Free the Dugcats.

[freejoyannatoo]

Having just watched the kittens episode, my impression was that Michelle was ok with keeping them for a few weeks to make sure they survived, and to let the kids learn how to look after them for a while - but was keen to get shot of them before the novelty wore off. Also it made a good theme for the show of course :roll: So I would imagine they have all been found new homes by now. I expect their TV fame means it's easy enough to get people to take them.

She was interestingly vague on being asked if they have pets. My impression is her real answer is "not if I have anything to do with it", but animals are brought into the house from time to time. They do seem to have an adult black-and-white cat. It was shown with its fur standing on end, running away. I can't say I blame it.

[for_the_Kitties]

Because here it says that they ban both pets and TV (2011). But they later adopted, or rather took in, a cat and some kittens the following year. Apparently, the Duggars "don't have a good track record with pets" and many of them "disappear" or "don't make it".

Does anyone know about the status on these poor cats?

Free the Dugcats.

I am pretty sure they went to a shelter or were adopted out. Last we saw of the pitcher kittens and the playhouse kittens, they were featured in 1 or 2 episodes, where J'menopause was feeding them and wiping their butts and the kids were scaring and chasing the kittens around the house through their play areas.

There are a few thoughts on what happened to them:

1. The cats reached an adoptable age and were given to friend's of the duggars.

2. The kittens did not survive the tortuous nature of 6 young children roughly handling them and they went over the rainbow bridge.

3. The cats were made to live outside once the attention went down and no one cared about them after filming. The kittens then proceeded to be wild stray cats (most likely NOT neutered or spayed...) or they got taken in by other families or got into accidents with cars or other predators.

4. The Duggars got tired of them after filming and brought them to a shelter.

5. The kittens escaped DuggarHell and ran as far as they could.

We know what happened to josh & anna's "kitty" (they let it live inside till about 6 months, then turned it into an outside cat (fail) where it most likely ran away or was hit by a car. (It shared the same fate as the previous cat they had prior to Mac). My guess is that Josh couldn't be bothered with a litter box since Anna could not clean it while pregnant and convinced Anna that the cat would be fine outside, which it obviously wasn't.

Whatever truly happened to the kittens, it is most likely not a happy story.

In terms of Dogs, the Duggars have claimed that dogs from some neighbors will hang out on their property. I find this strange as their are sometimes water bowls on the front porch that you can see in the background of some shots and other people referring to the dogs as the Duggars'. There has been a black lab that has been seen multiple times in filming when the kids are outside playing.

In a picture by Marcie Dauer (friend of Duggars) she claims the black lab in this picture is the Duggar's dog.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php? fbid=273788209428302&set=a.273786169428506.1073741842.100003913743378&type=3&theater

I still doubt the Duggars have any real pets since they are away from their house for so long and their track record is awful. (We all remember the dog sitting episode filled with canine cheese vomit...)

If there are any Dugagr pets, they are outside pets that fend for themselves.

[doggie]

why would the duggers need pets they have their own animal shelter. :nenner:

[BeaSnarky]

J'menopause...

OMG, I just spit water all over my pc.

[Toothfairy]

they cant even watch their own kids.

[Sundaymorning]

they cant even watch their own kids.

This.

Before J'Chelle and Boob take over even more responsibility, they should, maybe, actually parent their own underage children themselves for once.

I hope those kittens and the other pets actually got nice homes with people who look well after them. And it makes me sick to think about how those cats and dogs in good families are probably getting more care, attention, time and affection from their owners than the Duggar kids ever got from their own parents. :angry-banghead:

[Cats B4 Quivers]

I have an awful feeling that the kittens and dogs are left to their own devices once the kids/parental units are no longer amused. I had a neighbour who had over a number of years 3 different puppies, a bunch of kittens and a very nervous cat and none stayed longer than a few months. As I recall, the puppies were short term Christmas gifts for the kids and the kittens were found by the kids. The cat belonged to the son's girlfriend who then left the poor cat when the couple broke up. I saw the cat outside their apartment and told the mother what a lovely cat she has. She frowned and said she was tired of it and was giving it away soon.

Using pets as a life lesson is a really lousy thing to do with the pet. We have a cat who was traded from household to household until she came to us. She's ours forever. She's not a SOTDRT lesson of the week.

[Lillybee]

There was a poster either here or elsewhere who said that they adopted a cat from a shelter in Arkansas and was told that the Duggars turned it in to the shelter.

[Miggy]

They mention the black & white cat "Milky Way" in one of their books. (Too lazy to go and look it up.)

[Darwinesque]

I got the impression that there have been a few cats and dogs in the past that have lived on the property - outside, but not in the house. I have wondered why Michelle hasn't been open about that.

[for_the_Kitties]

I got the impression that there have been a few cats and dogs in the past that have lived on the property - outside, but not in the house. I have wondered why Michelle hasn't been open about that.

They don't want PETA on their doorstep...

[BeaSnarky]

I truly hope they don't have pets...from the shows, they are always saying the neighbor dogs (or stray dogs) love to come hang out with the kids, but they don't have any.

Honestly, I think they'd be horrible pet parents - traveling all the time; general mayhem with the littles constantly running around, and some poor kid stuck wtih pet duty...Those poor animals deserve better. MUCH better.

[pennsatuckey]

I was watching a webisode :ew: on their blog, where Michelle was talking about dog sitting for a friend and she said that the kids "over-love on [the dog]". From watching the clip, I guess that means that the little kids act like dinguses and put the dog in the cabinet (I think it was Jenny I saw doing it).

Then they did mention owning a dog named Bubba, who I assume isn't allowed in the house.

Free Bubba!

[ViolaSebastian]

Didn't they once mention a dog they had named Jasmine on one of their episodes? I remember it distinctly because I thought "Well, that's a decent "J" name you can now never name a kid..."

[Coconut Flan]

I thought the ban on pets and TV was for the first year of marriage and was suggestion by dear Dr. Wheat.

[OodOnTheLoo]

Going without TV makes some sense but pets, why? :shifty-kitty:

[Coconut Flan]

Wheat's theory is the couple should concentrate on themselves for the first year. They should avoid distractions. I don't think a lot of the fundies pay attention to his advice since they try to get pregnant so quickly. He'd advise against that also.

[doggie]

Hard to blanket train a cat or dig.

[BeaSnarky]

I remember when they were dog sitting and they overfed that poor dog cheese. It was a small dog (because believe me, my 70 pound husky mix can eat herself some cheese - Thanks Mr. Snarky) and it barfed it all up. I have to agree with an above poster - if they truly did own animals, the SPCA would be all over them.

[Dutch Cookie]

Didn't they once mention a dog they had named Jasmine on one of their episodes? I remember it distinctly because I thought "Well, that's a decent "J" name you can now never name a kid..."

I remember this as well, it was a German Shepard. I've seen a picture of the dog with Joy.

[DGayle]

I have an awful feeling that the kittens and dogs are left to their own devices once the kids/parental units are no longer amused.

This is what I suspect happened to most of them. There are fees and effort required to take an animal to a shelter. If no one feels like driving, I can see them just turning an animal out of doors and kicking it away to become coyote food.

[melon]

I remember an episode on 19 kids and counting,and Mackynzie was begging Anna for a kitty cat.

Anna told her that they were a lot of "work".

I also have noticed how their pets seem to disappear.

As an animal lover,this saddens me.

[PennySycamore]

This is what I suspect happened to most of them. There are fees and effort required to take an animal to a shelter. If no one feels like driving, I can see them just turning an animal out of doors and kicking it away to become coyote food.

That reminds me of our ex-neighbor whose cat "disappeared" right before the family went on vacation a few years ago. They asked some of us to keep a eye out for the cat and I saw Tiger a few days later a couple of houses down hiding out in the shrubbery. I told the neighbors where I'd seen Tiger and the mom admitted to me that Tiger had peed on the carpet several times recently. Now I know that if a cat starts to have accidents out of the litter box, then the cat needs to be taken to the vet for a check-up as inappropriate elimination can be the first sign of an ill kitty. Instead of going to fetch Tiger back home immediately, they went of to some Halloween parade that the town was throwing. They'd turned the cat out. I put a couple of bowls out at their house and few and watered the cat. I even put a box out for him on our carport for the cold nights. I sat down on the driveway one day and petted this poor cat. He was skin and bones. I determined that I'd take him in after Thanksgiving, but he got scared off by my grand dog who was looking out the dining room window and I never saw him again. Tiger's owner was a Baptist preacher and, as far as I can tell, a grifter to give Gil Bates a run for his money. I'm glad those people are gone from the neighborhood.

If Tiger was being fed by his owners, his skinniness and peeing might have been due to diabetes. It's treatable.

[RosyDaisy]

In a recent video clip after Jill's wedding, I saw a dog and a cat. Both looked in good condition. I think a link to that video was posted here somewhere. I'm thinking the video was of a reporter interviewing Michelle, and Josie still had on her flower girl dress.