DW knows all: pet edition

[oyceter]

So. I have had pet rats for the past 7 years, and although I love them to pieces, I think their short lifespans (2-3 years) are really wearing on me emotionally. (Poor Ed-rat. I think he is getting lonely too... he is getting kind of neurotic when I play with him.)

I think I am currently looking for a pet that isn't too high maintenance or expensive. I'm not interested in getting a dog, and I'm slightly allergic to cats. I'd prefer something that can't mess furniture up. I also tend to like the older guy rats because they're lazy and squishy and cuddly, as opposed to the more energetic girl rats. I'd also like something that lives for at least 5 years.

So far, I have been thinking of either ferrets or guinea pigs, but I have no idea outside of random things I've read on the Internet. I would also not be opposed to getting a litter-trained non-kitten cat or so, but have no idea how much work cats are. I'd also prefer adopting from a rescue agency over getting a pet from a breeder or pet store.

Also, I went to a local rat adoption fair and nearly succumbed. There was a pair of one-year-old boy rats, all fat and squishy, and one of them was a black berkshire like Fitz-rat, and one of them was a black rex like Ren. SO CUTE! Especially the black rex! He was even kind of balding like Ren! I so wanted to take them home! I always get so sad seeing the adult rats in adoption fairs, because their chances of being adopted are so low, thanks to the lifespan thing. I was trying to tell myself that if I got the two boys, maybe I wouldn't get as attached to them when they died in a year or so? Ha.

Comments

[daedala]

This link will help you decide between guinea pigs and cats, because it has pictures of both. Interacting together.

(BTW, the super-mellow, guinea-pig-grooming cat is the one my neurotic kitty is convinced is going to EAT HER. The fluoxetine seems to be helping, though.)

Guinea pigs don't have food that runs away in their evolutionary history, so they don't really play much. Cats play a lot, and are enough like us that they react similarly to Prozac. :)

[julian]

Oh, man. My guinea pigs (obviously) didn't proceed with the playing, when my cat tried to initiate it, and it /offended/ my cat heartily. (She got over it. And groomed them. Which they put up with patiently.)

[cyprinella]

So right after I clicked your first link, my husband came down and read the title over my shoulder. "Chiana and the Guinea Pigs? Is that a Yuletide story?" LOL.

[oyceter]

SO CUTE!!!