Focused interest- pets.

Since age 5 I’ve had my own pets to care for. Between 5 and 14 I had hamsters after every death is greive and then adopt another. I knew everything about the care for the animals and the pet itself (birthday, mannerisms and personality). At 14 I moved onto a larger more intelligent rodent- rats. It was much more intense an interest as I dedicated 100% free time to my rats, again knowing all about them. Now it’s my cat and cats generally after loving big cats as a child. 

Do you think an autistic persons pet can be their focused/intense interest? 

I have other focused interests such as music genres. But my main interest is animals, primarily focusing on my pets. 

  • Yes definitely and it is mentioned in my diagnosis report that I had a lot of pets as a child and an intense interest in dogs and dog training for all of my adult life. 

  • Very much so, for most of my life most of my attention revolved around my dogs, who are far more important to me than most of the people in my life if I'm honest. Equally, I find it very difficult to get on with many other people involved e.g. a lot of bullying goes on livery stables, in the world of dog/cat/poultry etc showing and other livestock-related activities.

    One part of my problem with this is that some animals can become people's focussed interest to such a extreme degree they they start to put winning rosette's before their animal's welfare (e.g.by continually inbreeding with a big show-winner, or just ignoring genetic diseases because the consequences are too distressing to think about). Some people have a tendency to  hoard animals, which can mean they end up with more individuals than they give individual attention to, or even afford veterinary care for.

    Equally, it can be easy to become obsessed by seeing and reporting 'cruelty' in situations where it doesn't exist (e.g. a very shy neighbour/friend who had her very special 'lifetime' horse put down recently because she got so stressed out after the RSPCA kept harassing her to say that some people were ringing them all the time to ask them to check if the horse was seriously ill because it was lying down in the field a lot, which wasn't really that unusual in an old girl of 30+). 

    On balance, animals can be a very positive thing for people like myself with ASD, but one needs to be very careful to guide one's 'intense interests' towards areas that benefit the animals' welfare (e.g. in my case, genetics and pedigree research, tracking the patterns genetic disease, and trying to educate others about dangers of inbreeding and hereditary diseases). Also to be kind to other people with or without ASD who keep a number of animals, and not be tempted to find fault with the way they do things.

    Its probably only a tiny minority of people who end up going to extremes, but I feel it's important to recognise the warning signs of becoming just a little too focussed on our animals before it becomes too stressful for either them or ourselves.

  • Cool. My son had a rat when he was younger. I like the look of them but for some reason, their tails freak me out. I like looking at people more in the fascinating way that we’re all different shapes and sizes, I like watching how we move and walk about. I don’t try to work them out anymore, trying that got me nowhere! Lol! But yeah, animals are great to watch too. I can’t wait to build a bond and develop communication with them. 

  • People are good to watch because you can see their mannerisms and use this for your social skills. However it's awesome to watch animals because you can learn a lot about them by their body language (which is a LOT easier to read than humans) and communicate with them through this. 

    When I had rats I would squeeze my lips together very tight which created a high pitch sound which was in such a high frequency they would respond. It was the only way I could stop them from chewing on things. They could reply to their names, but were very stubborn as to when they would. 

  • Me too. I was totally lost once my son got to 18, it’s taken me a long time to come to terms with not having that caring role with him. I’ve been doing a ton of research on poodles and how to train them etc, it’s been great fun for me to do all this research. I’ve already got the names picked out for my up and coming pets/babies. I’m going to be the best mummy I can be to them. It’s taken me 50 years to realise how important caring for something or someone is to me. I’ve got plants and I love caring for them and I love caring for all my things. Some of my clothes are well over 30 years old. I think it’s in our loving, kind and gentle natures and pets are such a great way for us to express that nature in us and we get back from them far more than we could ever give. You sound lovely and like you, now I understand I’m autistic, I’m starting to integrate that in my life. So with the pets, they will give me companionship etc but also they meet my need to research etc and as you said, observe. I’m a big people watcher and I love watching animals as well. 

  • Thank you. Caring for something has always been important for me and why not let it be a creature you can research, and observe!

  • I agree. My cat is fantastic. He’s had been a stray for 3 years and lived at        the animal shelter for 2 years; so he is very large and dominates the family dog! 

  • Definitely. I’m planning on getting myself a puppy and a kitten (when I feel able to care for them) as my companions and my special interest, I’m going to teach my dog to tricks and things and enjoy my time with them. I think you have a lovely special interest and I think animals are great companions for us, especially as we don’t gel so well with most people. I think you’ve got it sussed.

  • Yes, why not.  In fact, it's probably an extremely important and rewarding interest.  It's another life form which is dependent on you, and upon which you can bestow unconditional love and care.  You get that back, too.

    My cat is now the most important other life in my life, now that my mother is no longer alive.  I dote on her.  She doesn't cheat on me, lie about me, run out on me.  So much more rewarding than many human relationships I've had.