To ask why you picked your pet

[CrazyHippo]

Another thread on here got me thinking. A nice light hearted thread about why you picked your particular pet rather than others?

I have a dutch bunny. A friend of a friend breeds rabbits to show (not sure on my views on this but besides the point). She had a litter of 5 dutch buns, 3 blue/white 2 black/white. All 3 blue and 1 black had perfect markings. My buddy has a bit wonky markings and only 3 paws are white so he could never be a show bunny. He would have still been loved and looked after but very left out..almost "second best".. my heart couldnt deal with that so i offered to take him when he could leave mum and hes been my best friend boss of the house ever since. Perfectly impefect

We have 2 indoor rabbits. We've wanted a pet for a while but a dog isn't suitable as we both work full time and I'm allergic to cats.

They're perfect for us, I'm so glad we did it! They're bonded so pretty much spend all day stuck to each other like glue. They love DS and allow him to sit with them petting and climbing on him. They bolt around the house at lightning speed and I get groomed each night before bed.

As we were first time bunny owners, the shelters I looked in to were reluctant to adopt to an inexperienced family with a child. So we found a reputable breeder and now I can't imagine my home without them.

My boss' cat had kittens and she invited me to see them. Amongst a litter of 6, two were perfect little ginger-and-white fluffballs, and my heart melted. That was 16 years ago, and one of them is still with us (his brother, sadly, had to be PTS due to cancer at the age of 13)

For each of our three we had a species in mind and then just sort of waited until the right thing came up.

First pet, we were looking for a dog to accompany DP at work. We ended up being told about a dog in the next village along having 11 pups from an accidental pregnancy, so we went with one of those.

Second pet, I wanted a cat for when DP and DDog were out working all hours and I had no one at home. I went to a rescue centre and wanted them all. In the end, I got chosen by the biggest, oldest, ugliest cat they had he was such a softy but looked like he could hold his own in a house with a dog and around and about on the farm, so I took him. I bloody love that cat.

Third pet, I wanted another dog at home with me who enjoyed lots of interaction with me and was keen for playing/training. Our other dog loves being out of the farm, but once he’s home, he doesn’t have time for nonsense like fetch - i notmally just get a look of ‘really? I’ve been out at work all day and you want me to play with a stupid ball?’ so I just kept my eye on rescue sites for about a year, and eventually found a 5 year old dog who possibly now loves me a bit too much and is essentially just an extra body part of mine now!

I have a cocker spaniel cross toy poodle. I 'chose' him because I was at my brothers house one day and he told me to come have a look at the puppies before he sold them all. Fatal. I started cuddling my boy and, er, didn't put him down, just took him home 😂 My boyfriend at the time was so annoyed, we were meant to be getting a new gun dog, likely a cocker spaniel, and I came home with a mini fluff ball!
I love him so so much and he's been the perfect little dog. He's wonderful.

I went to a rescue with my boisterous 2 year old to pick up a specific kitten.

It was teeny tiny and terrified of my toddler.

The much older cat/kitten we brought home was completely different to the one I thought I wanted, but she thought DS2 was a new playmate.

They have a special bond. She is a mardy cow with everyone except DS2 who she seems to view as a combination of other cat/god.

Cat #1 was bought for me as a gift from my parents.
Cat #2 was living in a toilet, we felt sorry for him.
Cat #3 was just lovely.
Cats #4 & #5 are cat #4's kittens.

Rabbit was living in a box in a mate's kitchen because no one wanted her.

There was a colony of stray cats living at the place we used to live. I would feed them, not being a cat person, just a sucker for a hungry face. One day, this little thing appeared. Sore paw, looking dirty, freezing and desperate. Miaowing for attention, cuddly and just wanted to be inside. He was very shy, scared of men, sudden noises but he would recognise my car from far away and run to me for food and cuddles. 9 years later, he either chases mice and rats outside or he sleeps in my bed, preferably cuddled up to me.
And then there was this kitten, looked like she ran away or was dumped by someone. Followed me and my daughter home. 7 years later, she keeps us awake with her snoring, enjoying her life of a little diva.
Cats pick you, you don't pick them.

I have tortoises.

I got them because:
-I've always liked them
-they aren't furry (I'm allegic to furry things)
-the are surprisingly engaging whilst being generally low maintenance
-they are cheap to run
-I get very emotionally attached to my pets and hate, hate, hate it when they die. Tortoises rarely go wrong and these two should outlive me quite comfortably.

Tortoises are ace (but don't get one unless you are up for an 80 year commitment and read up about them first - they are quite specialist and need more space than crappy tortoise tables give them).

I wanted a pet I can keep in an apartment, something that would be good company, not too noisy, not smelly, not nocturnal, affectionate, curious, playful, able to amuse itself, trainable, preferably with a lifespan of longer than 10 years. I filled in a form on a website that promised to fit me to the perfect pet and it came up with a small green cheeked conure.

I searched for a reputable breeder via the National Parrot Society, bought a big cage and lots of toys, and had the bird sipped to me from Newcastle via a professional animal transport service.

He's absolutely the best pet I have ever had and ticks all my boxes. Here he is: Figaro, my little featherball.

A work colleague of DH volunteers at a local animal shelter/rescue. She was really upset because there'd been a pregnant cat dumped there in very poor health, who then hadn't survived giving birth. Two of her kittens had survived, but they had only been able to find a home for one of them. The second one was really runty (her word) and looked quite sickly. She couldn't take him and the shelter just didn't have any space to keep him indefinitely.

DH text from work to say 'I'm coming home with a kitten, can you nip to pets at home for supplies'. We'd just bought our house and, after nearly a decade in rental properties where we couldn't have a pet, had been discussing getting a cat once the decorating was done. He's still very small for his age, and is a house cat on the vets recommendation, but he's an absolute joy and the kids adore him.

Should add we'd both had cats before - just not together!

We have a cat, a half giant bunny, a budgie and an ever changing line up of hamsters (big and small). The only creature that was actively chosen and purchased was the budgie!

About 6 years ago we moved into a temporary rental while waiting on builders finishing our home now. There was a cat living in the bush outside, it turned out it had been a previous residents who had left it behind, we do know this. It took him a few months to come round to knowing we were "safe" and then when we moved he came with us.

Then someone in a local village posted she was getting rid of her hamster because she was allegedly moving somewhere that wouldn't accept pets. That was the first one and we've had a rainbow of different ones since and generally all the same story "bought for kid who doesn't spend time with it, it bites, it's gone if no-one else wants it". Even my little Elvi who had a major attitude problem when she first came (biting kicking screaming!) Has become a lovely little thing who let's me brush her and she will try and preen me in return. :D

Then we get onto the rabbit. We met a lady who had gone through a rough patch with her health and was left with various physical deficiencies. As a result she was moving to a kitted out bungalow, her charming partner left her that and as soon as he did the rabbit stopped being looked after. I didn't even know it existed the first few times I met her at her home despite it being in a vivarium (!) in the corner. For whatever reasons she wasn't being looked after properly, the viv was constantly shut up because of the dog, the lady couldn't get down to clean/feed her. Someone was supposed to be collecting her who had existing house bunnies and then suddenly wasn't. It seems that she realised how aggressive the bunny was. Well that's where I stepped in and moved her sans vivarium into proper accommodation in our home. Ooo she really was a git - I never realised they could growl till I met her! She would kick and bite and scratch, go on the attack, snatch food bowls right back etc. She soon learned, her and the cat have a grudging respect of one another, and she gambols around the house at will.

That leaves the budgie, we had them when I was a child and I really really wanted one for my kids. So I got one! :D

DP came with his cats. Then one year I suffered a really traumatic MMC & at the same time our boys came down with cat flu really badly. I was beside myself still grieving the loss of our baby and terrified we’d lose or boys too.

The vets had taken in a stray pregnant queen and they were looking to home the kittens. I told the vet when we went to visit our boys that if they got our boys better we’d adopt a couple of kittens.

And we did.

She picked me. Ugliest little naked kitty at the rescue, and she climbed straight onto my lap for cuddles. Damn.

(She's the sweetest thing ever, and has now got her fur-pants back on so much better looking lol)

We have only actually chosen two of our pets. We chose two puppies - a cockerpoo and a mini schnauzer.
The rest (cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, cockatiels, quails, snakes, bearded dragons, and geckos) we've been asked to take so we have.

Oh and my partner bought me some rosellas for a past birthday, and we went to the reptile shop to buy a chameleon for my son and came back with a tortoise as well.

We got our cat from a rescue, she's all black and had been rejected by so many people before we saw her. A woman who was there at the same time as us told us not to pick her as she was 'scratchy' - she was an utter pita that woman and made me determined to have her. Yes she's scratchy but only if you try and handle her too much (which frankly I am too!) and I ADORE her. She's a proper witch's cat & she's improved my life 100%. We got her when I was having chemo & she was just what I needed

One rabbit was chosen from a rescue I volunteered at. He was shy but seemed so desperate for attention and inspected all the other rabbits' cages when out and about. He looked really tatty so I asked to groom him. He freaked out as I picked him up but eventually settled and gave me a kiss. He just looked like he needed me the most and he certainly did as the poor fellow has had a lot of health issues. My other rabbit was one I came across at a pet shop (I feel guilty for not adopting). She looked a little like a previous rabbit but different enough that it just caught my eye and wasn't weird. As I watched her, I just had this sense that her personality would be a great fit for my lonely other rabbit and I was right. My vets often comment on how lovely their relationship is.

I got my cat on gumtree, two local cat rescue places turned me down, one because ds was under a certain age, the other because I live 15 mins away from a trainline (the local cats rarely go near it, it's well fenced off). Her owner was moving in with her bf who had dogs, and couldn't keep her.

With our dog, we knew we had to get a puppy, so the cat (who we'd had a year), could be boss. We looked at what breeds were available locally, and decided to get a border collie. She was from a farm, her mum was a house pet and her dad a working farm dog, that they bred once a year for a bit of extra profit, (defo not a puppy farm, the guy was really nice and showed us were the puppies lived, both parents etc).

*I paid £30 for cat, but as the woman explained that was to put off anyone taking her for nefarious purposes, way more likey if she'd been free to "good home".

I knew i wanted a particular breed of dog. I found a woman who was expecting two litters. She didn't yet know how many or which sex they would be. I said I didn't care!

When they arrived, she just selected one for me. When we went to pick her up, the dog was the only puppy not interested in us so if we had chosen ourselves we probably wouldn't have picked her!