Pets

So I'm thinking about getting a pet. I had a cat growing up and I loved it. However, I think I also took it for granted, especially as I got older. In adulthood, I never thought about having a pet. Once I was married, my ex-husband did not want any animals, which I didn't mind. But now my kids are wanting to get a pet and I was wondering which one to get. I figured I'd throw my thoughts onto this screen, just for fun, and hopefully writing them down will help me decide.

Cats: My first instinct is to get a cat because that's what I had growing up. I love the independence of cats, how they have their own lives consisting of eating and sleeping, but they still find time to walk around the house and be cute. Cats are very clean. Cats don't attack people (unless you have one of those crazy ones!). Cats use a litterbox There are a few problems with cats though. They can be annoying when you can't find them as they sleep in a hiding place. They can scratch up the furniture. But other than that, there is not a whole lot of bad things about cats that I can think of.

Dogs: My girls want a dog. They actually just want an animal, any animal, but they seem to want a dog most of all. The problem is that there are so many kinds of dogs! With cats, there are just black cats, white cats, orange cats, and fancy design cats (the swirly kind). I had a black cat growing up named Dorothy. Back to dogs. Dogs have so many species. When you say "I want a dog," people ask "what kind?" I honestly don't know. There are those golden retrievers which seem like good dogs. There are the chihuahuas which seem annoying. There are dobermans which seem scary. So many kinds. For a dog, I think I need to do research. But actually having a dog is another thing too. For one they don't use a litterbox, so you have to train them to go outside (I don't know how to train animals, but its not too hard). They bark very loudly and get excited easy. Some dogs bite. Lots of people are nervous around dogs. So there are a lot of negatives. However, dogs seem to be very fun if you like them. They like to play and be around people. This is very intriguing.

Fish: Fish are fish. They sit in a bowl looking interesting. I see them as decorations rather than pets. But they are easy to take care of. I can teach my kids responsibility by having them feed fish as a chore (of course taking care of any pet can be their chore, fish just seem like something they can handle). I'd probably have to get small fish because I think that large fish require large aquariums which can be expensive. I think it would be neat to have a shark, but not very practical.

Birds: You have to keep birds in cages, making them like fish. But unlike fish, birds have more of a personality. Birds chirp or squawk (depending on which kind you have!) at things. They recognize you. You can take them out of their cages and hold them. So birds seem like pets that are adorable and easy at the same time. Parrots would be fun to have, as long as you teach it nice things to say (I was at someone's house one time, and their teenage kids had taught their parrot to say "hey stupid"- funny coming from a bird but not very appropriate). The small birds seem like they'd be pretty to have in the house, as they chirp and aren't very imposing. Hard to say, but it seems easier to pick out a bird than a dog!

Mice/rats/gerbils/hamsters: I put these in the same category because, to me, they are the same thing- rodents. Now, I've seen cute mice, the little white ones. I wouldn't mind having those, as long as they stayed in the cage. Rats, as I understand, are bigger. These seem easier to keep track of but are not as cute. Gerbils are tiny hamsters. Hamsters are like mice, only less "evil" as I'll put it, because mice tend to be exterminated while hamsters tend to die on accident. Hamsters are seen as friendlier. I actually am considering either a hamster or gerbil for my kids, since it can stay in their room and will not cause too much stress to anyone. Plus, they are easy to feed. The only setback is cleaning the cage (what do you do with it while you are cleaning the cage?)

Snake: I am not a big fan of snakes. Satan takes the form of snakes. I say this jokingly, but I can see why Satan does! Snakes are slimy, slithery, poisonous (some of them), and overall creepy. That's the one pet I do not want. Lots of people like snakes and that's good for them. I for one am not a big fan of snakes.

Those are the pets in my head at the moment. If I think of any other pets, I'll edit them in. If you have any advice, e-mail me!