Small pet for a 9 year old girl?

gingin_2

I'm happy if the best recommendation is a goldfish

DD is a good girl, responsible and wants a small pet. Without her knowledge I am tentatively considering it - I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas.

Most importantly we have 2 house cats, so it would have to fit in with them. We have a house with enough rooms that the cats can't get into, or can be shut away if the animal wants to come out to play. On the plus side, we have a good vet and cat sitter who could also look after other animals.

I'm undecided at the moment but feel she's been responsible enough with the cats to allow us to get something else.

Any recommendations?

gettingready

Ermm, you laready have cats... cats are lovely, cuddly eyc... Goldfish - ermm, what a 9 yo can do with a goldfish? Just look at it.. How much fun is that? Sorry, do not mean to upset anyone who keeps fish of any kind of course.

Also, to preporly care for a goldfish you need quite a lot of proper set up, some people just chock then in a glass bowl and that is not right so.. can prove more expensive than people think.

If I was a 9 yo girl I would want something fury - ideally a dog or a cat but you already have cats so perhaps a guinea pig or hamster or a rat? If you are sure you can keep cats away of course..

krlyr

How about approaching local rescues that rehome small animals and see what they match you to. They may have some animals that suit you by personality rather than species - e.g. particularly docile examples of a species you might otherwise rule out. Even if you choose a species, I would definately recommend a rescue over a petshop - petshops often source their pets from rodent farms, the small animal version of a puppymill, where pets are overbred, undersocialised, and of indiscriminate health and temperaments, and then shoved in cages on show, under glaring lights, with minimal handling. OK, lots of rescue animals will have originated from petshops but will have had time put into taming them and attention paid to any medical conditions. I used to work in petshops and it certainly opened my eyes - we'd have whole batches of hamsters come in riddled with worms, often many of the animals arrived in a box of mixed genders and you'd get the odd female that was obviously more mature physically and had conceived (if we were lucky, we'd notice and be able to provide it with the suitable environment to raise babies in - if not, it was buy one, get 10 free for the customer! Thankfully most of the places I worked in implemented a quarantine scheme for new 'stock' and we spotted pregnancies during that time but I do know of the odd one or two that 'got away'!). I wouldn't want to support the trade having seen how it operates, and all my small furries have come from rescues (or the occasional responsible breeder - unfortunately these can be a little harder to track down than a good dog or cat breeder but they are out there! Small animal shows are a good place to start), and while I personally have quite a soft spot for the 'naughty' ones, many have been brilliantly friendly thanks to the hard work of the rescues.

Some things to consider
- cage size (and whether you can fit it somewhere!). Many of the cages on the market aren't adequate for the species they're aimed at. My general rule is to go one species up - so my dwarf hamsters lived in a large hamster cage, my Syrian hamsters lived in rat cages, my rats lived in ferret cages, and my ferrets..well, they were rather spoilt in a whole summerhouse! It can be worth researching housing online before you go to a petshop because you might find some creative solutions too - for example, my house rabbits lived in jumbo dog crates.

- social structure. Most of the rodent species are social animals and best housed in at least a pair. You get the odd exception - Syrian hamsters, male mice (though it can work, but it's a bit iffy), you get the odd species that are OK in established pairs/groups but are very hard to introduce to new pets (so you couldn't go and get one from one petshop and add another from another petshop very easily - like gerbils), and some that are better in opposite-sex pairs but obviously require neutering first (so will need separate housing until old enough for the op)

- lifespan. A hamster may live 2-3 years but a rabbit could live 10-15! Finding a balance between long-enough-to-not-cause-heartbreak and short-enough-to-not-have-to-worry-where-it'll-go-when-she-goes-to-uni can be a tough consideration.

- cost. Small does not equal cheap! Small animals are often considered "exotic" pets (in vet terms, "small animal" often refers to dogs and cats - who are small in comparison to horses, livestock, etc) so you might find it costs you £25 just to see a vet about a mild wheeze or a sore toe. They're no less deserving of medical treatment, but it can be harder to insure small furries (not impossible though) so these costs need to be budgeted for, I had a separate savings account that contained about £300 for small pet bills (I did have a few different small animals at the time). Was very grateful of it when my chinchilla broke his leg and needed emergency treatment for shock and surgery to amputate the leg as it couldn't be saved - my £300 was gone in one go and I had to start over saving ASAP!

- interaction/what you want out of the pet. Hamsters sleep a lot, but then again, they make for fairly robust pets for kids to handle (they can't be bounced like a ball, obviously, but a bit less fragile than a mouse). Not many species are as cuddly as a soft toy, but some may be a bit more likely to curl up on a lap - e.g. guinea pigs, a docile rabbit might accept it (but a fiesty one may not like any kind of handling at all), male rats tend to be quite lazy and cuddly (but females tend to be a lot more active), dwarf hamsters zoom around which makes for great entertainment but not for cuddling, gerbils make fantastic "gerbil TV" especially if you get a very deep cage you can fill with substrate to tunnel in.

I think a rescue could be a good way even just to narrow your choices down a bit and allow you to go and do further research. I think a small pet needs just as much care and commitment as a dog or cat so just as much homework.

gingin_2

Thank you.

Goldfish was slightly tongue in cheek, the easiest option really.

We have the indoor space and can afford vets bils and decent cages, it's more what is most rewarding for a 9 year old. I am thinking small as in hamster, gerbil, mouse, possibly guinea pig, or we saw some degus the other day which she was awwing over. What is best to handle without getting nipped, what can you get the most interaction from? It doesn't have to be one, I am happy to have 2 if that's better for them.

Wellyboots6

I would vote for a rat, if you want something she can interact with and handle regularly.

They are very intelligent and 'interact' a lot more than most other rodents. I have no evidence for this other than getting munched on by various hamsters and gerbils, but I would say they nip less too.

I have had various hamsters and had one or two characters, but most of them bar one were not great at being handled. One was very sociable and she could be trained to do various tricks.

I also had a pet rat, and I would say that she was the most interactive of all the small and furries. She could recognise the Hollyoaks theme tune and would start singing to be let out the cage so she could come and sit on my shoulder to watch it! She would come when called, and would sit on my housemates head and nibble his stubble when he needed to shave!

With them being so intelligent and social they do need a lot of interaction however.

And don't put the cage near curtains or they get shredded....

LEJC

one of the most important things to consider is.....what has your daughter asked for....

If shes not interested in a pet long term then theres little point buying something just because you think shes at the right age to look after it.

Animals need constants,as you know already with the cats and to be honest if you buy her something easy to look after on the recomendation of others rather than asking her if she wants a pet and what she wants,then I think after a few months it will become probably your responsibilty to feed and clean out etc



Why not initally get her more involved in looking after the family cats and take it from there.

how do you feel about looking after a rat,a guinea pig or whatever anyone else cares to suggest...nice as i'm sure they are...


Edit...re reading my post and it now sounds quite harsh...I love pets and over the years as a child and adult we had many...hamsters,fish,tortoises,rabbits..in the plural as my parents bought a pregnant one by mistake!..cats and most recently even frogs...but even I have to admit that as a child I probably didnt do my fair share of looking after and lots of the responsibilty fell to my mum...i'd even go as far to admit i'd quite love a few chickens now...but i'm not sure I could face the cleaning out,and now I havent got my mum to fall back on!...so for the time being i'll stick with the cat

An ant farm could be a short term option or a wormery...my son loved both of those at that age

Notsosharp

I would recommend a pair of rats but they will need regular handling to make them sociable. I have owned up to 15 rats and never been bitten by any of them...with the exception of the one I have now but he has been very badly socialised. I'm content just to watch him in his cage and if I talk to him he will sit and listen to me and is more than happy to take food off me lol!

Rats are friendly, intelligent and very sweet, the first rat I ever had would explore everywhere and when she was bored/tired she would bury herself in my top and fall asleep. Another rat I had would "laugh" if you tickled his tummy and was a big, lazy lump of a rat.

There are reputable rat breeders out there, if you ask in the pet shop they usually know of them. The pet shop I went into did (when I considered getting a friend for mine). Also, the RSPCA quite often has rats in for rescue.

Don't get a goldfish unless you have the space for a massive tank if you want to look after them properly! I'd disagree about them being boring, I had a couple that would feed from my hands but they are very hard work and the slightest thing wrong with their water can send them downhill pretty quickly and once they're on that route they are incredibly difficult to put right as I have found out to my cost!

divadee

Another vote for rats. Fantastic pets. Daughter had 2 and they would just nestle in her hair and go to sleep whilst she watched tv.

As others have said they do need lots and lots of interaction though.

gettingready

Personally - I would go for a ferret... Well tame one - can be a fantastic pet.

You even have British Freet Club and they really can make great pets, kind of original too.. for a 9 yo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXUr-wM40ZE

gettingready

Or perhaps African Pygmy Hedgehog - they are great pets too.. with proper care

Much smaller than normal hedgehogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Eja1KTEsxQ

http://www.hellohedgehog.com/

gingin_2

LEJC wrote: »

one of the most important things to consider is.....what has your daughter asked for....

If shes not interested in a pet long term then theres little point buying something just because you think shes at the right age to look after it.

Animals need constants,as you know already with the cats and to be honest if you buy her something easy to look after on the recomendation of others rather than asking her if she wants a pet and what she wants,then I think after a few months it will become probably your responsibilty to feed and clean out etc

Why not initally get her more involved in looking after the family cats and take it from there.

how do you feel about looking after a rat,a guinea pig or whatever anyone else cares to suggest...nice as i'm sure they are...


Edit...re reading my post and it now sounds quite harsh...I love pets and over the years as a child and adult we had many...hamsters,fish,tortoises,rabbits..in the plural as my parents bought a pregnant one by mistake!..cats and most recently even frogs...but even I have to admit that as a child I probably didnt do my fair share of looking after and lots of the responsibilty fell to my mum...

She wants a hamster, her friends have them, I just don't want to build her hopes up, that's why I am asking here because if we get one (or two) I want it to be as right as possible.

She already does loads with the cats, they adore her, she's a good girl, gentle and kind, I know she will treat a small animal well but I want to get the right one so that we can all be happy. I don't dislike small animals but I won't get much pleasure (or displeasure) from them, they're just not my thing but I'm happy to look after one and supervise if necessary.

Is it okay to keep a hamster/ caged small animal near cats? Obviously it won't be around them when it is out playing but can they be aware it exists?