History Main / AbsentAnimalCompanion

A type of PlotHole. Subtrope of WhatHappenedToTheMouse. Compare ChuckCunninghamSyndrome, which is when an established ''character'' suddenly disappears without being mentioned again. If a reason for the pet's disappearance is ever given, it's usually classifiable under UnsuccessfulPetAdoption or PutOnABus. In ''extremely'' rare cases, the pet may be KilledOffForReal, either in [[DeathIsDramatic dramatic]] or [[DroppedABridgeOnHim mundane]] fashion.

** In Season 3, Rosa adopts Arlo as a ReplacementGoldfish for Charles's dead dog Jason. Charles is understandably upset by Rosa's heartlessness, so Rosa adopts Arlo instead. Despite her declaration of love for him at the end of the episode, he's never seen or mentioned again, even at the end of Season 4 when Rosa is sending off all of her belongings so that she can [[ItMakesSenseInContext flee to Argentina.]]

* Santa's Little Helper himself was an unintentional example in Season 1. Due to a TroubledProduction, the show's intended pilot was held back and aired as the season finale, with ChristmasEpisode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," in which Santa's Little Helper is adopted as the family dog, airing as the premiere instead. Since the episode was originally supposed to air near the end of the season, Santa's Little Helper only made one more appearance that season and was otherwise completely absent. This was deliberately {{Averted}} from that point forward as the staff was fond of Santa's Little Helper and made up for it with plenty of appearances in Season 2 (in which he had his own episode, "Bart's Dog Gets an F") and beyond.

** Plopper, better known as "[[MemeticMutation Spider-Pig]]," from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' is a particularly odd example. After serving as a key plot motivator for the entire first half of the film, he [[ShooOutTheClowns vanishes from the story]] around the midpoint in such a way as to make many viewers assume he died. (In fact, a deleted scene shows him alive and participating in the town cleanup at the end.) He made occasional cameos in the show proper from there, but his actual fate wasn't explained until nearly ten years later, when the episode "Pork and Burns" revealed that he's ''still'' living with the Simpsons, and it's never come up because Marge has been quietly handling ''all'' of the pig care behind the scenes.

** Vicky had a dog named Doidle who would make some occassional appearances. But after the Season 5 episode "Presto Change-O", he disappears without any explanation. Apart from Doidle, Vicky had other pets that were only seen in "Dog's Day Afternoon" which were Happy the goldfish, Chipper the cat, Ginny the parrot, and Spunky the hamster.

** "The Saga of Dimity Ann" focuses on the family's cat, who is presented as having been a member of the household for a long while. She is otherwise not encountered or referred to during the rest of the series.

* In ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', Robert's pet bulldog Chamsky has a whole episode devoted to him explaining how he arrived and how he cost Ray nearly two thousand dollars. After this big build-up Chamsky the bulldog appears in maybe two more episodes and then nothing more is seen or heard.

** Santa's Little Helper's mother, She-Biscuit, is adopted by the Simpsons at the end of "The Way of the Dog", the finale of the 31st season. She isn't in the following season, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': In Dr. Orpheus' [[Recap/TheVentureBrosS1E5EenyMeenyMineyMagic intro episode]], he has a pet cat. After this leads to Rusty [[MistakenForTransformed wondering if it's Orpheus' wife transformed into an animal]], it's never seen again.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': In Dr. Orpheus' [[Recap/TheVentureBrosS1E5EenyMeenyMineyMagic intro episode]], he has a pet cat. After this leads to Rusty wondering if it's Orpheus' wife transformed into an animal, it's never seen again.

* The final episode "Basil the Rat" of ''Series/FawltyTowers'': not Manuel's pet rat who was unknown to Basil and Sybil until this episode, but the [[DogNamedDog unnamed]] black cat, which appears to live in the kitchen, and wanders in and out, as if it has always been there.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Chief O'Brien shows Reg Barclay his pet tarantula Christina in the episode "Realm of Fear", who he got after ditching his fear of spiders. The spider is never seen in other episodes.