- Birds
- Could I Be Allergic to My Best Friend?
- PetSmart Brannon Crossing Grand Opening
- Be Kind to Animals Week®
- Cats
- What to Do if Your Pet is Poisoned
- June is "Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month!"
- Adopt A Shelter Cat Month at the Lexington Humane Society
- Dogs
- What to Do if Your Pet is Poisoned
- Paws for President: Where Pets Get a Vote!
- Introducing Dog First Aid and Cat First Aid
- Fish
- Freshwater Fish Aquarium Basics
- Be Kind to Animals Week®
- PetSmart Brannon Crossing Grand Opening
- Horses
- Could I Be Allergic to My Best Friend?
- Equine Abuse Investigation Seminar
- Which is Worse: Fleas or the Chemicals We Use to Rid Our Pets of Fleas?
- Local News
- Kentucky Large Animal Emergency Response Team Recieves Grant
- Kentucky Horse Park to Assist Kentucky's Hungry Horses
- Paws for President: Where Pets Get a Vote!
Hamsters: The Perfect Starter Pet
04/03/2008 - By Andy Markison What is the perfect pet for a child?
As a parent, you want to be able to give your kids everything
that they want in life.
Unfortunately, giving your child everything he or she wants is
not always in your child's best interest and caving in at your
child's every whim is almost certainly a bad idea. You don't want
to deprive your child though, so what do you do when your little
boy or girl comes up to you with those adorable little brown eyes
and asks you for a puppy or a kitty (or a ferret, parrot, snake,
alligator, etc.)? With a household pet comes many
responsibilities, and you as a parent are likely the one to
decide who takes those responsibilities initially. Will you
refuse your child telling them about the inherent duties of
having a pet? Do you point out that having a puppy requires you
to pick up after the dog, take it for walks, feed it twice a day
and so on? This will probably be your initial reaction sure, and
the child's initial reaction will be to assure you that he/she
will take care of those duties, they'll feed it, walk it, play
with it, give it all the attention it needs and love it like no
puppy or kitty has ever been loved before. Well, you, being a
loving parent rather than a heartless gargoyle, can't keep up
that wall of resolution indefinitely, so, whether it is the next
day, the next week or the next month, eventually you are going to
cave and adopt that pet for your child (though hopefully not the
alligator). Then you begin to notice a couple weeks have gone by
and the amount of care given the pet by your child seems to be
waning while you suddenly seem to be doing all those things your
diabolically cute offspring promised you to do. You can't nag the
child forever though, or perhaps you can, but in the meantime
you'll have a scrawny little pet two days away from starvation
and a backyard lined wall to wall with pet doodie.
So now YOU are the primary caregiver and you silently curse the
adorable brown eyes of your devil spawned young. So the answer is
to not adopt a pet right? Not necessarily. There can be a
compromise for you and your child. And the compromise isn't to
share a dog with two other families so that you have it on
Tuesdays and Thursdays and the third Sunday of every month. No,
you can get your child a real life actual pet. And what pet can
you get your little bundle of joy? Consider getting him or her a
hamster (either one syrian or two dwarf hamsters). Why hamsters?
Hamsters are a fantastic pet for kids depending on the type you
adopt (Chinese Hamsters tend to be jumpy and are thus not a good
idea for small children). Hamsters are small and furry and never
lose that degree of cuteness that a child covets, secondly, they
are so easy to take care of they are practically automated
(notice that I said practically). Hamsters don't smell that
strongly either, they may smell stronger than a cat (unless your
cat frequently pees on your bed or on the living room carpet) but
they aren't nearly as stinky as a dog can be. What's more, they
are almost like a toy in that they can be played with and cuddled
and handled and then when the child is done with the pet they can
be put back in their cage where they can play and entertain
themselves (the hamsters not your children). Of course a hamster
is not free of responsibilities, the cage needs to be cleaned
weekly or it will begin to smell, of course hamsters need to be
fed, and they should get adequate attention if you expect them to
be friendly and tame to your family and friends. But the amount
of energy (and money) you and your child MUST expend to take care
of a hamster is far smaller than that of a larger animal such as
a dog, and they don't shed like cats, they are quiet (though
their exercise wheels may not be), and they are just a joy to
handle and have around. So when your little boy or girl comes up
to you and begs you for that cute little puppy in the pet shop
tell them maybe later, but for now, let's start a little smaller.