to ask for help in picking a pet. Lots of criteria.

[theonewiththecats]

DD2 (almost 9, and very sensible responsible) wants her own 'cuddly and interactive' pet.

DD1 is into fishes and has a fish tank which she looks after but DD2 is not interested.

We already have s lovely cat who prefers me.

Cause we have a cat, I ruled out rats/gerbils/birds as I am really worried about a tiny moment of complacency - happened to friends. Ideally, she wants a dog but I am working all day and have neither the money nor the time and space for a dog (we live in a flat).

Oh, and I don't like smell and mess - so no rabbit or ginnuea pigs either (thankfully we live ground floor and the tiger has a cat flap so no litter tray).

I really cannot think of a pet that ticks all the boxes. Anybody with another idea? Am I missing something?

What about a tortoise? I have a pet tortoise and he is suprisingly social. He often comes to sit near us if we take him out of his tortoise table and also likes a snuggle on our laps.

He's a very low maintenance pet in my opinion!

she actually asked for a tortoise but I thought they are as social as a worm. clearly not.

A small dog! And get a dog walker in while you're at work. Dogs bring so much joy, more than any other pet.

Hamster! We have two cats and a dog and dd2 LOVES her hamster. I don't like smell or mess either so we have a (huge) plastic cage rather than a wire one.

Cats and dog aren't a problem as she handles the hamster well away from them. The dog isn't interested anyway but if the cats sneak into her room they can't do any harm because of the plastic cage.

Definitely go for it! Fab pet for responsible children.

If you don't like smell I would say that rules out rats and chinchillas unless you are meticulous about cleaning out very frequently and even then there's a bit of a whiff. I've had both. Chinchillas need a massive cage and lots of out of cage time, ime dd got bored and it was me having to supervise out of cage playtime every evening. They live for over 20 years as well.

Tortoise sound good.

I've never had an exotic hedgehog but rehab European ones and the stench is unbelievable. Dunno if the African ones smell as bad.

I’d suggest a Bearded dragon, maybe not cuddly but ours is very friendly and will happily sit in your lap and they are fun to watch and interact with. I find ours is also low maintenance so she’s unlikely to get fed up and then leave you with lots of work to do.

LIzards aren't interactive or furry! Maybe a rescue kitten and see if Tiger takes to it - you can introduce them at a rescue centre and see if they get on.

I think a tortoise is not a bad option or sponsor a donkey, you get lovely updates and they're cute

A tortoise needs a surprising amount of space and are not that cheap to keep - the initial outlay for everything they need could be fairly eye watering!

A guinea pig isn't a bad shout - clean its dirty bedding daily, take it out every night to handle and let it run around (in a room that the cat is shut out of).

Otherwise.... maybe another pet isn't a good idea. At the end of the day, if she wants a dog, nothing else will be a substitute.

If she took over feeding Tiger and looking after him/fussing him more, I'm sure he'd change sides. You just don't sound able to properly take on another pet otherwise.

My son has a bearded dragon it's a great pet easy to look after and fun

Friends of ours have a hedgehog and a cat, that don’t spend a lot of time together for obvious reasons, but tolerate each other well!

I also would not rule out rats - needs to be a pair at least. Ours survived a house with 3 massive Maine coons and the only injury was to the cats who would get their ears nipped if they got too close to the cage.

The rats used to pull off tufts of the cats fur and use it as bedding!

I didn't think hedgehogs made very good pets? But I'm not sure why I think that.

I also don't remember guineas smelling very much - those would have been my first suggestion had you not ruled them out!

So.. bearded dragon for the win?

(rats make great pets, but you'll need more than one as they are very social critters)

I’ll second getting a couple of chickens. Really easy to keep, interactive and useful when they lay eggs!

Gerbils are good. They are much cleaner than hamsters and rats and hardly smell so less cleaning needed. They need a special deep house tho not a hamster cage. I loved mine and they are happy in pairs.

I also have 3 cats when they were alive and never had an accident. Kids need to know they can’t be left alone together.

Chickens!! omg I would love to have chickens. Sadly I don't have a big enough indoor space for them in winter though :(

@damntheman

Chickens only need an indoor space to roost in (and that's all year round) - they are perfectly happy out in wind / rain / snow. They appreciate a small covered area for food / water / shelter - but it doesn't need to be big! Mine have a 2 foot by 2 foot covered area which is enclosed on the side of the prevailing wind - otherwise they are out in all weathers.

That's interesting Vice! Even in -15C? I'm up in the snowy north, scandiland. I had no idea! But may well look into it seriously now though, I'm so eager for chickens and fresh eggs.

I don't think you should get another pet. She is too young to take sole responsibility and the interest would wane, "Cuddly " animals are usually anything but. Caged pets are not kind. Cats resent a newcomer. A dog is a MASSIVE commitment

@TheViceOfReason that is true! Although there are ways of making a tortoise cheaper to buy/keep. We adopted ours from a lady who could no longer look after it and we made the tortoise table ourselves (materials costed about £40 from B&Q.) He eats plants/weeds/flowers etc from our garden from spring and we just supplement with additional bits and pieces. Our main cost for him is probably his heat and UV lamps, but I don't know how much that adds to the bills to be honest!

a Tarantula? they're fluffy.

A rock.

Get a kitten. Often easier for an existing cat to acclimatise to.

Make friends with the existing cat?