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?

If your DD isn't that interested in the existing pets it might not be a good idea to add to the mix. As PP have said why don't you get her to feed the cat every other time or something? That way, the cat will start to associate her with feeding. Otherwise I'd say guinea-pigs are pretty easy to look after and not smelly IMO.

we have 4 cats and also have Gerbils and a guinea pig - the cats are fascinated by the gerbils but can't get to them and they ignore the piggy

Gerbils and guineas are both great pets

We had guinea pigs for years with cats - the cat was terrified of them (but she was a bit pathetic, not much of a hunter).

poppins as long as they have been handled regularly since young and continue to be held regularly they are fine, it’s like any animal really you have to put work in
He was very well socialised when we got him and dd gets him out of the vivarium most days. He just sits with his tail curled around her hand looking around.
No smell and very little cleaning out required. If we go away my friend who feeds the cats checks him once a day to see if his big is warm and wet enough and he is fed a pot of food 3 or 4 times a week. Much easier than a cat or other mammal but not so cuddly I suppose.

fish + cats don't mix! it can be stressful for the fisheys ...

no issue at all. cat is not remotely interested in the fish tank.

I think I will get her to take more responsibility for the cat and if that works, revisit this whole issue. though I would fancy a kitten.

A rabbit? They don’t smell (unless you don’t bother to clean them out often) and easy to train. My cat has never bothered them.
A tortoise/Snake/Gecko?
Parrot/budgie? (Kept seperate from cat)
Chinchilla/ferret
Rent a horse/pony

I didn't think it was legal to have a hedgehog as a pet because they are protected wild animals but I'm now thinking there must be a type that is allowed.
I don't agree with introducing a kitten to an older cat, I've seen that go badly tits up several times and cause unhappiness to both pets.

We've had both gerbils and guinea pigs in the house with cats without mishap.
One of our cats took to greeting the pig with a nose to nose hello. (Although I would've have risked letting the guinea pig loose - the greeting was through the cage)

Davros - African Pygmy Hedgehogs can be kept as pets in the UK. Not sure they fulfill the 'cuddly' criteria though. Tbh, I keep quite a lot of exotics/small pets and none of them are cuddly, my dog is by far the most tolerant of cuddles.

OP - could you do some volunteer dog walking with your DD? Dogs Trust or borrow my dog maybe.

I love hedgehogs, I'll look those up but our cat definitely wouldn't like any other beast in the house

This sounds crazy but do you have room in your garden for a small pond? We have goldfish and koi in ours.

1. They are friendly, our koi lets us hand feed him, they will recognize you when you go to feed them. They live much longer in a pond than inside! We’ve had some over 4 years!
2. Very inexpensive, we use feeder goldfish that are .50 each
3. Very quiet
4. We feed ours before a vacation and they are fine for a week
5. Only work is changing the filter
6. During the winter we cover with netting to keep leaves out but when it gets really cold the fish go to the bottom in hibernation. We leave our pump going and they survive just fine outside in the winter. Totally hands off for 4 months.

They are my favourite pet!