Pets

This room is for sharing photos of your pets, farm animals, share your stories and general chat about your special furry, feathered, scaly, fuzzy, slimey, lickey loved ones.  

Do you know if many people who had ‘indoor pets’ in the 30’s?  When I was a kid we had cats in the house but the dog lived outside.  On my grandparents farm all the cats were barn cats, none in the house.  I can’t remember any of our acquaintances having inside pets.  This would have been in the 50’s and 60’s.  By the 70’s my dad had a dog that lived in the house.

Grandma Donna wrote, Hi Nancy H, great question. It would be difficult to know how many had indoor pets so we can only study the information and facts that we find. There are many paintings and drawings of cats and dogs in the home from long ago.  A dog or cat curled up next to an owner or by a fireplace.  

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President in 1933 to 1945, he had many pets and his most beloved pet a dog name Fala, a Scottish Terrier, was seen inside and outside with the President. Fala was shown in a documentary of the president and often at his side. 

In the 1930s newspapers there are advertisements for pet toys, bird cages, dog blankets, dog sweaters, dog beds, dog and cat toys.  There were pet stores and veterinarian offices in cities and in rural areas veterinarians that drove out to farms.  Advertisement for delux dog bed $2.95 cents that looked like a small day bed, it was very beautiful, Oval willow dog beds, .79 cents for small .89 cents for medium and $1.25 for large.  Dog food, my pal beef .07 & 1/2 cents per can and Roval 3 cans for .25 cents. 

It stated in a 1930s article that Veterinarians had to take a four year course in a Veterinarian School and then pass a rigid examinations before being allowed to practice. 

This is not really an answer, but we can somewhat picture the time somewhat like today because there are inside and outside pets.  In rural areas I could see where the dogs and cats being outside more often, especially the larger dogs and for security. There were many working dogs and cats were needed to control rodents.  That is about all I have on this and anyone is welcome to answer further if they know. Thank you for your question.

James Herriot the author of The Yorkshire Vet books early books are set around this time frame. They are a wonderful peek into animal care, available care types, medication, farming methods etc in rural England. It's been a while but in my memory, he often cared for small animals which seemed to be a new form of vet practice in that particular small, rural community. Farm animals were considered far more important, and there was often not a lot of wealth amongst the community to splash out on small animal care. There were certainly animals that lived inside throughout his books. His first book 'If Only they Could Talk' is set in the early 1930s. His books are partially autobiographical. They are a delightful read and I can highly recommend them. 

I know that three of my four grandparents grew up with indoor pets (both dogs and cats) in the 1930's, so I don't think it was all that unusual.