Wanna talk about pets and children for a second? I know that I’m all about giving advice…well, you know me, lots of opinions! But, occasionally, I need to turn to you – – – other moms – – – for some advice.
We want to get a pet. Well, MY DAUGHTER wants to get a pet. And well, we have agreed to THINK ABOUT IT. But we have now been thinking about it for many, many months and we still haven’t been able to come up with a pet that we think would be best. Dog? Cat? Rabbit? Fish? Frog? Turtle? Bird? Hamster? Gerbil?
We thought dog, originally, because we both grew up with dogs…and it just seemed the obvious choice. But is it? Dogs are lots of work, and our children are still pretty small. So, probably, if we went with a dog, it would have to be a small breed, one that doesn’t require lots of walking. And our black furniture would definitely prefer a non-shedder.
Then we thought cat, because they are much less work. But then I start to worry about allergies and inviting other people into our home. And the litter box? Is that a lot of work? And do cats give you the same kind of love as dogs?
And then we thought the small, caged, rodenty animal. They seem inexpensive and fun for kids. But, does the novelty wear off quickly? Also, they have a certain smell sometimes, don’t they?
Fish are easy enough, aren’t they? You know, once you pay for ALL THE ENDLESS supplies and you can’t really cuddle a fish, can you? Also, they seem to die the quickest, right? I am not all that interested in having the dreaded fish funeral any time soon.
Birds are so beautiful and are relatively easy, and they do tend to live a long time, right? But, they are sooo noisy!
So, please, I want to hear from you!!!! I want to hear you good pet experiences AND your bad ones!
What pet should we get?
We just went for a pet Ferret. 3 of the 4 of us wanted a dog, but a puppy required more walking and work than I was prepared to do right now. Our ferret is an unusual pet, but he works for us. He sleeps a lot, but also requires “play” time a couple of times a day. He needs a large cage with at least 2 levels- so you have to have enough space for that. They can be litter trained, and I clean the cage every day so that there isn’t any smell. Ferrets are quiet, they play with you but they don’t demand a lot. They do live for a long time, between 7-10 years on average so you need to be prepared for the length of commitment. Good luck finding a pet that works for you.
I am really not a pet person so I would go low maintenance to start. Go with a fish! If that is too low maintenance than maybe a hamster or gerbil but start small and see how they do. That way you know whether you are ready for more of a commitment like a cat or the big time like a dog.
My suggestion would be to get a cat. I know the allergies are a concern, but usually short hair cats don’t seem to bother people as much as long hair cats and it’s less fur around the house. Yes sometimes the litter box smells but as long as you scoop out the old every other day then you should be fine. I have 2 cats so I have to scoop every day and change the litter completely every week. My cats are very loveable, cuddle, play fetch, run to greet us when we come home etc. Maybe they think there dogs! Who knows?
We used to have a dog and we loved him very much. He was a small breed but still needed to be walked every day, barked a lot (as most smaller breeds do) and it limited our vacations since we needed to find alternative care for him or take him with us. Sometimes that part is tough. When he passed away my daughter begged us to get another dog. After explaining to her all the things that needed to be done to take care of a dog (picking up the poop in the back yard, walking, training, cleaning the mess that puppies love to leave, etc) she agreed that a cat was easier.
We also had rodents which were supposed to be HER pet but when it came time to change the bedding she was outta there!
Again I have to say the cats worked out to be the best option in our case. I think if I was a stay at home mom then maybe we would have ended up with another dog but the cats fit our lifestyle. Good luck with whatever pet you choose.