Pets, what do you think?

[momof3]

I have an almost 4y/o daughter. She wants to have a hamster. But since we have become vegan I don't know exactly how I feel about pets. I do have a dog(who will be used as a hearing ear dog) But I am not sure.

Any opinons, or advice is appreciated.

:confused:

[sophie]

I think a having a pet is fine, personally, as it teaches children all about how to treat animals well, so goes along with the reasons why we don't eat them! I think if the hamster has a large enclosure with plenty of room then it will be happy, after all hamsters are bred as domestic animals and wouldn't last long in the wild. We have 2 goldfish, and I have always thought a rabbit or a guinea pig would be a good pet for our children, building a large area outside where it could run around. I don't like the idea of having a bird in a cage, or anything that is restricted in a small cage.

[Maggie]

Pets are great, but I'd worry about an animal so small with such a small child. It's not fair to a hamster to be caged all day and when you let him out...children run without looking where they are going, etc., and this is way too dangerous for the hamster, to say nothing of what it does to the child's psyche if the hamster is accidentally crushed. The only pets I'd recommend for a 4 year old would be a gentle *adult* cat (no kittens for the same reason as no hamsters) or adult dog.
Peace,
Maggie

[VeggieGirl]

Hi, Maggie.

If you're thinking small, have you considered a sweet lop eared bunny rabbit already in need of a home from the humane society?

They are sweet, relatively easy to care for, naturally vegan ;-), adorable, soft & cuddly, with beautiful big eyes. And I would think they would appeal to most young children. Other advantages are being able to obtain one easily in need of rescue, a bit greater size & sturdiness than tiny fragile hamsters allowing for greater safety with children, and better capacity on your part to provide a good life for it (by fencing it in on grass in the back yard occasionally for a supervised run, etc.).

I would recommend adopting a rabbit, dog, or cat (make sure first none of you are allergic) in need of a home from a breed rescue or a well-run shelter. Ask them for help in matching the right animal to your family, and involve your child in the selection process.

Yet another plus with a rabbit is the opportunity for compassionate education -- your children and any friends they have over will be able to see first hand why they never would want to eat such sweet, gentle creatures (even if they & their parents are meat eaters) and even think about why they may not want to eat any animals period. :-)

VeggieGirl

[VeggieGirl]

Ooops! Correction:

That was meant to be addressed to momof3, not Maggie!

:-)

[Stormy]

I know this thread is an old one but I feel a need to rekindle it a bit. I think it's good to let children be around animals but I don't believe in the pet trade as it encourages yet more animals to be sold to irresponsible people.

However, you can always adopt animals from rescue centres, which to me is a much better way to do it, as most shelters will vet the person wanting to adopt. You still have to pay but the money goes toward helping other animals, and not linning the pocket of some greedy abusive pet shop owner who continues to over populate the country with yet more unwanted presents.

All my animals have been rescue, some personnally rescued by me, and I will continue to support animal shelters while we live in a world where animal abuse is still all to common :0(

Love and light
Xxxx Stormy xxxX

[Christa]

All of our animals have come from rescue organizations except for one of our cats whose mom-cat was a feral kitty; I figure that it was better for him to be brought into a home & neutered to improve his life & reduce the feral cat population in any case.

In regard to small caged animals, our humane society often has a number of them as well & you certainly should be able to find one at an animal shelter. Guinea pigs are generally recommended over other small animals for young children b/c they don't tend to bite and aren't quite as delicate as rabbits.

We got our older dd a guinea pig from the shelter when she was about 3. The only issue that we had was that guineas are sensitive to noise & young kids can make them nervous by being too loud. Dd is seven now & still has two guinea pigs (different ones as they only live a few years) & she does very well with them now - feeds them, brushes them gently and tells everyone to be nice and calm around them so they don't get scared.

[Jergisen]

my almost 5 yr old wants a baby turtle. we have a friend who used to have one so that's how she knows about them being pets.
I want to get her a pet since it's all she talks about.
Turtle? Fish?

[MrsKey]

Turtles are harder to keep that it seems at first glance.

Like any companion animal you should carefully research the animals you're considering to make sure you're up for the challenge of keeping and caring for them properly.

Unfortunately many people think that reptiles and small animals, the so-called "pocket pets" are easier because they're smaller. In many instances little could be further from the truth. Housing and feeding turtles is very complex. They have very specific needs for water, land, uv light, humidity and temperature. Not to mention dietary needs.

Turtles can also live for a very long time. Box turtles in captivity box turtles lifespans can be as high as 40 to 50 years. Red eared sliders (aquatic turtles commonly found in pet shotps) can also live several decades.

And eventually those cute little turtles can get to be up to a foot long (or larger depending on the species).

They're not easy to care for, they're not good to handle, and like all reptiles they carry salmonella bacteria and pose a risk of infection - especially to young children who are less likely to wash their hands and who have weaker immune systems.

My other issue with turtles is that many of ther turtles you'll find in pet stores and road side stands are wild caught baby turtles (box turtles and red eared sliders). This severely impacts their numbers in the wild and is putting a large strain on wild populations.

Hope this helps at least a little.

[Jergisen]

Thanks MrsKey that was very informative.

I REALLY don't want to support the pet stores!
But would getting fish really be that bad?
Don't shelters just usually have dogs and cats only?
I really don't know what to do.
No birds, that's all I know...

[MrsKey]

I don't know much about fish - except that salt water fish can be time consuming.

I was mostly talking about turtles and other reptiles and amphibians which people often mistakenly assume are "easy" or "starter" pets.

If you're looking at fish I would make sure to do research on what all is involved. My husband has a friend who is really into saltwater fish and he's spent a lot of time and a ton of money on them.

[Christa]

My brother breeds African fish (freshwater). Most freshwater fish in stores are captive bred, so I don't know if it creates much of a moral problem to be keeping them as pets or not. Saltwater fish are another story since more of them are wild-caught and they are harder and more expensive to keep healthy in captivity.

I'd go with freshwater if you are thinking of getting fish. Our shelter often has rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats. Rats actually make pretty good pets if you don't have a rodent fear.

[Jergisen]

well i think we have decided on fish. she wants a goldfish. I guess I should get 2 or 3? I'll research it. google goldfish i guess!
:D

[Jergisen]

Now she wants a rabbit! Not fish! Especially a dog.
I think we'll just get her a goldfish ....or should we wait a couple years and get a cat?

UGGH! One day at a time....;)

[Jergisen]

Well, we never did get her a pet, and she wasn't too disappointed, she just said Maybe When I'm 6 I'll get a pet!

Is there anyone who has had a rabbit for a pet? Any advice on that? Thanks..

[debsydoo]

hey. MY son has a rabbit.she has been a very good pet.Rabbits need planty of roam time. she is out alot..and the only time she sleeps in her indoor hutch , is at night. the rest of the day she is in a play pen in our living room ,or on the couch with the kids, or running in the school room.She is pretty much litter trained and loves to be held.she can be tempramental if not getting enough attention and can bite to remind us she is there. For the most part she has been alot of fun. I would recommend a rabbit, if you have time to devote to her/his needs!!

[SandyBeachBums]

We love our pets. I don't feel bad about having them at all. I guess I'm a bit of a realist with my belief that there will always be pet animals. I grew up with pets and we didn't have any during the first couple of years and I couldn't take it anymore. Our BC Monty is one of the children. We got a cat, August, for my birthday this year and the boys caught a frog. We take good care of our pets. We don't breed them. August is indoors, Monty has a nice safe fenced yard to play in with lots of toys and is in the house whenever he wants and at nightime. Our frog has healthy little crickets who get good high calcium cricket snacks.

You know your child best. I think the most important thing to remember is that this will be your pet. Yes, my 8 year old can feed and care for our dog. But, if the dog doesn't get fed for a couple of days it's MY fault. Our dog was returned to the Humane Society twice because he tore up their houses. One of the owners was a family who bought him for their son. They said right in their report that they expected the son to take care of him. God knows how Monty was treated in that family.

I'll try to stop now. We just love animals though. My mom has a minature horse, Alpaca, two lambs and one giant Sheep that were all "saved" animals. Plus, she has at least a dozen chickens, two turtle doves (for real), a crazy mutt and two farm cats. So, I think that's where I get it from.

[vegma]

What is a good age for a pet? (child's age I mean!) My 6yo thinks he would like a kitten, but I'm more of a dog person (or so I think). I'm also conflicted about feeding a carnivore, and I'm not entirely sure a dog would be a happy vegan either.

[Christa]

vegma, my 7 and 5y/os help to take care of the pets although I wouldn't expect a 6 y/o to do it all, he could help and should be old enough to treat an animal properly. Six seems like a good age to me.

If you don't want a carnivore, I wouldn't get a cat. Maybe a natural herbivore like a guinea pig or other small mammal would be a good first step. They can be a bit messy and you have to clean the cage every week, but my dd's guineas make this cute little "week-week" sound whenever they hear me coming and Kelly (the younger one) stands on the side and nibbles on your nose if you put your face close to the cage. Plus, they are good for eating all of the scraps from making dinner. Tonight they ate the stems from the kale and the ends of the carrots left over from chopping veggies.

[Gibbonboy]

vegma, our 5yo is a "cat person", we've had 2 in his lifetime. We just brought the one we have now home from the shelter after New Years. DS feeds the cat twice a day, makes sure he has clean, fresh water, and brushes him every day (which he doesn't need, since he's a shorthair, but he loves the attention). I very rarely have to remind him to feed the cat. 5 is a bit young to clean the litter box, so that's one of my chores. I do monitor when he feeds/waters to make sure the cat isn't overfed, or misses meals. My mother is involved in a breed rescue group, so DS is exposed to dogs there. We don't have the space or time to give a dog a good life. I think it was exposure to pets (we don't get to the farm often) that really influenced my son's wanting to not eat animals. So I guess it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience for us.

[vegma]

Gibbonboy, I agree that a cat would be easier (in theory:p ), but I would have a problem feeding it meat. LOL, and I'm the vegan for health reasons. Its amazing how we can evolve over time, isn't it?

Christa, I think *I* just want a dog!

[DawnLA]

I know that I have read somewhere that bunnies are great pets, but not for children...I would check the ASPCA website to see what they say. Guinea Pigs are great for kids, as long as you make sure your children are gentle with them. I had a Guinea Pig when I was 5 to 12 (yes, she must have broken records living for 7 years!) They are lovely, sweet little creatures. Also if you go to petfinders.com, you might find a Cavy/Guinea Pig rescue group in your area. Good luck!