Minti - Recent Comments on Question "What pet is best?"

Re: What pet is best?

MummaBear — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:00:16 -0700

Wow I never thought of animal foster care! What a fantastic thing to do to help a pet, allow your child to understand what it's like to have a pet, while not having the long-term commitment until you feel your child/children are ready for it!

Re: What pet is best?

August88 — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:37:24 -0700

I am fostering a dog from the RSPCA at the moment and the kids are really enjoying him. This is the way that I am trialing having a pet and I feel like I am helping an animal in need. This dog has a loving owner already but because of some red tape she needs someone in this state to look after him for her til September. All expenses are paid for me if I like and if anything happens to him his vet bills are covered too. They have a site if you google it. Sorry can't do links yet.

Re: What pet is best?

blackwidowkate — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:25:47 -0700

Hi
There are toys on the markets nowadays called "fureals"
They are a interactive pet and you can get a idea by the way your child looks after this pet as to whether they are responsible enough to have a real pet.
Remember pets are a lot of work and commitment not just a novelty item, they are a expensive aquisition with food and vet visits and training and keeping them healthy and safe.
A lot of children want pets but dont want the responsibility that comes with it.
Are you prepared to look after your childs pet for the next 10 years when they get bored with them.
The fureal cat is just like a real one. It meows purrs and even hisses if they hurt it. It follows them around with its eyes and watches what they are doing.
Jalan loves her and so does a friend of mines child.
As Jalan gets older we are going to have special "food" and "water" that she will have to feed it every day and clean up after it so that we can see how soon she gets bored with the responsibility.
The teenagers have a cat and a dog and even trying to get them to feed the animals and make sure they have clean water every day is a struggle. Let alone pay any attention to them.
The cute stage has worn off and now all they want to do is get rid of them so they don't have to do it.
Just my thoughts on children and pets
Interactive is really the way to go.....they are so real nowadays
Luv Deb

Re: What pet is best?

angieh — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:29:50 -0700

Really good advice about what to think of when choosing a pet for your family can be found here.

I think it really depends on each family - their living space, the amount of time they can realistically spend with the pet, any allergies the family members have, etc.

Eg if you don't have much space and realistically can't spend that much time with a pet, and people have allergies - I'd probably get fish! They're easy to clean as well.

But if you have a larger space, can spend more time with them and don't have allergies, I would probably get a friendly dog.

Re: What pet is best?

FremantleDocker — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:14:35 -0700

I've had a cat, and survived for 17 years and now we have a budgie, and all kids have been good to the cat and bird

Re: What pet is best?

tassiebiarch — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:04:25 -0700

I HAVE TO SAY THAT I HAVE THE BEST DOG FOR CHILDREN. WE HAVE A GROODLE WHICH IS A GOLDEN RETREIVER/POODLE NO ALLERGIES DOSNT SHED HAIR AND HAS THE BEST NATURE SHE AHS NEVER SNAPPED GROWLED NOTHING AND MY 2 YEAR OLD ISNT ROUGH BUT LIES ON HER AND CUDDLES HER AND THE DOG LOVES IT I CANT WAIT TO GET ANOTHER THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BUT WORTH IT

WE HAVE HAD CHEAP/FREE DOGS OVER THE YEARS AND THEY HAVE BEEN TROUBLE WE PAID A BIT FOR OURS AND SHE IS SOOOOOOOOO WORTH IT

ANYTHING CROSS WITH A POODLE NOW DAYS ARE THE WAY TO GO

Re: What pet is best?

winja — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 05:34:03 -0700

it really depends on what type of animals u like where u live how much time u ahve and how old your children are to tell what pet would be best for u. im a massive animal lover and have loads over the years if you are going for a bird id suggest that a budgie is best as they enjoy interacting and dont require alot of care a finch is cute but they have very short life spans. fish id say the humble goldfish is a winner because tropical need fairly expensive setups and fighters are quite finicky about their environment they dont do well at all in cold and need a certain amount of feed daily which shouldnt be exceeded. bunnies rats and guinea pigs are great first pets. rats get them as babies and they will love u for life they recognise their owners and love attention unlike mice. dogs certain breeds arent good for kids but if u pick one up from the rspca they are temperament tested and they can tell u which dog is best for your family. cats are cute but arent great to have around babies. good luck

Re: What pet is best?

jimannakateen — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 05:14:00 -0700

We have 2 dogs bindi and harley, bindi id a foxy x jack russel and she would be 4yo and harley is a pitty cross he would be 9yo. We have a cat Kira and she would be 6yo. We also have 6 pythons ranging fron 1yo to 5yo and the would prob;ey live a really long time. Have 2 rainbow lorikeets about 2yo. 2 x turtles 2yo and a older one not sure of the age. 2x lizrds 2yo and 10yo. scorpion dont know the age,6 x geckos ??? and finally the gold fish. I would probley suggest for a young child a nice dog, fish, cat something you like as well and something easy to care for so when your children or child gets older they can say thats my ......... and i take care of him or her. Its all personal choice. godd luck choose the right pet it will jump out at ya lol.

hugs tee

Re: What pet is best?

merlin0903 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:12:40 -0700

well i have always only really had cats until lately when hubby wanted to get a dog so we did and we now have a very beautiful husky and she is great with charlie and really play full and loving too i really must update the photos of her cause she is now 19 weeks and is huge we also have a cat he is one of the most friendly cats i have ever had and the best thing about our cat is that charlie can drag him around the house by his tail and he just goes for the ride behind charlie

as for how long they live for well the longest cat i have had is 15years and 10years they both died of snake bites and the others have either been hit by cars or just run off (these happened when i was growing up in the country)

lana (husky) and merlin (cat)

Re: What pet is best?

Libby24 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:00:27 -0700

Chris already knows this LOL (since he is my hubby)

But our pets for you guys..

It's only been the last 4 years we have had Fish or a pet in any way. At one point we had 8 fish tanks going at once with heaps of different Chiclids. I have found these are one of the best for kids cause they show the children about a society with the fish fighting for a dominate position. It also has shown the kids about birth, life and death. We have had a marine set up with all the coral and fish and a tropical one with tetra's and atm we have a 3 foot tank with Goldfish (3) a 4 foot tank with 5 Discus and tetra's and a 5 foot tank with chiclids. (as Chris works with Fish we always have new ones come in)

The last 6 years i have asked for a cat and i got one this year YAY. Chris found her at work, she was the runt of the litter, and fell in love with her as she walked the cage every time he walked in the animal enclosure, he went in and gave her a pat and she instantly did something to him as he rang me and said "hunny we are getting a cat she is beautiful" and she is. ( her nick name is sooki lala as she waits till you come home and walks up your arm and sits on your neck and you walk about the house with her on there. She is such a great cat and lets the kids pick her up. She is so placid. she sleeps with the kids and my cousin at night (we have our door shut).

Then we have Olivia. she is also a lovely cat but for more of the mature person as she has never had kids around as a kitten. she comes and sits with us when the kids are asleep, but when they are up she hides. lol.

Re: What pet is best?

Brian49 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:54:13 -0700

We have 1 cat had it about 18 months, my 2 younger cildren had a rabbit after 4 months it got sick and died. My favorite are tropical fish they are cheap and when you watch them swimming in the tank it is rather relaxing and soothin. When you buy the right fish they breed so you don't have to buy many. I started with 3 pair now i have about 40+ fish.

Re: What pet is best?

Libby24 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:45:17 -0700

Chris bought me a fish set up when we moved here 4 years ago. it has helped me so much with my depression and taught the kids about life with birth and life and death.

Re: What pet is best?

KathrynR1402 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:54:35 -0700

After moving house 3 times with three empty fish tanks, we FINALLY have tropical fish! I wish we'd had them when DD1 was born, as DD2 has always loved watching them and been calmed by them - just used to sit her in her bouncy chair infront of the fish tank and I got to eat meals with 2 hands again - bliss! One or two have died in the last 9 months, but DD1 just sees it as an excuse to drag us down the fish shop again! Apart from teaching them not to tap on the glass, and trying to stop DD1 from over feeding them, they seem like ideal pets - no pet hairs, not smelly, no walks, no muddy footprints!

Re: What pet is best?

emmie — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:51:42 -0700

We have had a few animals

We had 2 rats 1 lived 2 yrs the other lived for 3 yrs.

A hampster i let out after a week not knowing i mistaked it for a rat/mouse and was set free

Now we have a dog and we have had her 8 months so far .

Re: What pet is best?

Kellzacar — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:03:19 -0700

WE have a cat and he is now 14 yrs young and according to the vet he has another 14 yrs in him . . He has been great company for all three of my daughters. My youngest is only 14months and she loves him to death. Cats are great because they have far more tolerance than a dog and can get away when they have had enough.

We also have had a border collie and she was brilliant but not when the girls were under 2. I also know have a chihuahua and I don't recommend them for little kids as they are too hyper . .

Cheers Kellz

Re: What pet is best?

Ngairi — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 07:47:35 -0700

We have had dogs, chooks, ducks and guinea pigs for our kids. Nothing at the moment tho, we rent and the landlord wouldn't let us bring the chooks and ducks, so the kids play with the native birds. Leisa

Re: What pet is best?

rockclimbr4400 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 07:31:12 -0700

We have a puppy. She is a mut and is great around our baby. We got her when she was 3 months old and Madison was 6 months. If you get a dog I would get puppy and get one when your baby is younger. This way the dog gets used to the baby and the baby gets used to the dog. No real problems. I just have to keep the dog from getting our babies toys!

Re: What pet is best?

sunflowermom — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 05:16:25 -0700

We have 2 dogs. A pug and a Lab mix. They are both very good with the kids. We also have a cat but she minds her own and the kids dont mess with her unless she comes to them.

Re: What pet is best?

yummymummyof3 — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:56:48 -0700

We have two dogs, a lab and a poodle, we have had fish, a rat, a bird, all have been great, the rat was a favourite with my son but she died I think she was about 3 or 4 not sure..... Rabbits and guinea pigs are great thats what I had as a kid, mice as well if you can handle the smell!!!

Re: What pet is best?

madchanny — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:47:38 -0700

as a kid, i had many pets :)

a mixed breed pup we had for about 7yrs
a tabby we had for 10yrs
and a blue heeler we had for about 5 years (she had cancer)
we also had fish, frogs, rabbits, turtles, mice, and a horse lol!

Re: What pet is best?

MummaBear — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:38:53 -0700

We have a Jack Russel Terrier who was born in 1998. We've had him since he was 6 weeks old. He's still as hyperactive as any other Jack Russell Terrier, and just as loveable as he ever was before.
We also bought our first fighter fish, Bruce, in 2004. He lived for about a year then died from a tumor :(
We then bought Fillet, our red fighter. If you ask Hannah what happened to him she'll say "I picked him up and dropped him onto the floor, then put him back in the water. We flushed him." Not really funny I know, but she's learnt a lot from that experience. I did tell her to drop him as a reaction but didn't realise she was not holding him over the water. He hit the side of the tank, then the bench the tank was on, then the floor. She picked him up and put him back in the water where he swam sideways for a little while then floated upside-down. We had him for a couple of months.
We now have Comet, another blue fighter fish (Bruce was blue) in the tank with about 10 various types of Tetras. They don't have names since I can't tell them apart. We just call them Comet's Friends. We've had them since March I think. They're going well still. Hannah feeds them but I measure the food and she pours. The food is kept in the lockable cabinet out of her reach and she hasn't attempted to pick any of them up!
I think it's a good idea to give kids pets. It's Hannah's job to feed the fish and the dog and fill up the dog's water bowl every morning and top it up before bed at night. She's 4 so Frankie our dog has been in her life from the beginning and they've grown together.