Choosing a Pet

How do I go about choosing a new pet for the family? What is the best pet for our family? Well, you are starting off well by collecting information. This is crucial because a pet is for life so, if in doubt, do not have one.

There is such a large choice of pets to choose from and all of them can be fun, but have different advantages and disadvantages. You can choose from a dog, cat, hamster, guinea pig, fish, rabbit, bird and the list goes on and on.

You need to involve everyone in the decision and it needs to be a whole family decision. Due to its importance, I suggest you discuss and write down your objectives. Add to it on a large sheet of paper, with a row for the pet and some columns to rank each pet. The considerations may include, time (yours), cost ( pets are expensive), space requirements, ability to fuss, interest, shared activity, any phobias, other points.

Pets take time and some need more than others. High maintenance animals are those that require regular exercise such as dogs and horses. Dogs originated from wolves and maintain many of those characteristics. They are used to regularly covering large areas every day to search for food so most breeds require a minimum one to two hours a day walking. This needs to be part of a routine and done rain or shine. Others may require a lot of grooming or changing water etc. You may want a certain animal, but do you have the time for him? Be honest with yourself and your potential pet.

Then there is the cost so consider all the costs. There is the potential cost of the pet to start with which, for a pedigree animal, can be expensive. I would strongly advise you to consider taking a rescue pet who are increasing in numbers at the moment because people are unfortunately discarding them to the pet charities - is this an opportunity for you to help out? The other set-up costs include cages, leads, grooming aids, blankets / beds. Then there are the regular pet costs such as food which, for a large dog, can be substantial. I strongly advise you to have your pet neutered. Many pet specialists and studies have indicated that you will have fewer behavioural problems with a neutered pet. Then there are the regular veterinary costs such as vaccinations and some are difficult to plan for. For this reason, I strongly advise you to take out pet insurance so you can cope with any problems that may occur. There are also ongoing costs for flea treatment etc. These costs mount up.

Do you have the space for the pet? Some animals can be interesting, but you may not be able to play with them so what is the most important thing for you? No pet has everything. Can you handle the pet? Rats are exceptionally interesting, but some people do not like the scaly tail of a rat or the idea of one.

You may want to revisit the paper. You may not have the time for walking the dog during the week due to work pressures, but this may pay for a regular dog walker.

So, once you have identified a type of animal, there are lots of different breeds to choose from. Taking hamsters there are five basic types with very different characteristics. There is also the choice of numbers. Some animals are better off alone and others as a pair because they need the company. Then there is the choice of sex and some pets have very different behaviour between the male and female. Male rats are less active than females and urinate more.

After all of these considerations, I would advise you to take the pet for a test drive. Do you know anyone with a similar pet that you can borrow for a few days or even pet sit them for a couple of weeks during the holidays? Talk to the owner about the costs, the work that is required but do not forget the pleasure that the pet gives. An alternative is to do some pet charity work.

Pet breeders are very knowledgeable so visit and discuss with them.

I hope this helps. I have started adding some more specific guides for choosing pets.

Hamster

Rats