Please tell me whether I should get a kitten

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I want a pet - partly because I like dogs and cats, and partly because I think it's nice for the dcs. I have an agenda too: I grew up with a lab, 3 cats, guinea pigs, gerbils, lots of other things, and dh didn't, has a mum who's really paranoid about animals (terrified of dogs, even small ones) and is obsessed about everything having to be practically sterile. DH is a bit like that too, and I loathe the thought of it being transmitted to the dcs. Ds1 is already scared of dogs.

Anyway, dh toys with the idea of agreeing with me about getting a pet, but when it comes to actually doing it he always says no. I have a colleague who's trying to place some kittens, and I am thinking of just bringing one home in 2 weeks time - I think he'd be pleased, when push comes to shove. After all, cats don't really need looking after like dogs do - it's not like I'll be condemning him to walking it every night for 12 years.

Do you think I should get the cat? (A consideration is that we move house and countries every 4 years or so, and at the moment we go to the country in the car every weekend.)

I would say no cause not every member of the family is 110% for it.

Well kittens are very cute but sometimes little horrors so you may need to be prepared to watch out for soft furnishing, ours loved to climb the curtains when they got the chance.

I have moved house loads with our cats and has never been a problem, they soon settle into new surroundings, not sure how easy it is to take pets from country to country though.

I agree is nice for children to have pets and as pets go I think cats are one of the easiest, no cage to clean, exercise themselves and are pretty independent.

Why does your DH say no, does he make any good points or maybe just a fear of the unkown and easier to keep things as they are? Is there any chance you could take him to visit the kittens?

No, I don't think you should. Your dh doesn't really want a pet, and although cats aren't as demanding as dogs in some ways, they are still a big commitment. You say you move house and countries every 4 years - where does that leave the cat? And going to the country every weekend, do you mean you stay overnight? If so, you couldn't leave a kitten.

I would normally say yes but maybe not if you are away every weekend. An older cat would be ok if you got a neighbour to feed it but think a kitten would be lonely and I think kittens needs to be kept indoors for a while with litter tray - it's a lot to ask someone else to clean one out!

Maybe wait till winter when you might be at home more?

I have put off getting a kitten till after the summer holidays for these reasons....

dont get one, it wouldnt be fair on the cat. get a hamster or a guinea pig

We'd take the cat to the country though - unless cats can't get the hang of 2 houses. It's only an hour in the car. I remember my cats hated the car, but since the only time they ever went in it was to go to the vet that's not very surprising.

The only reason dh doesn't want it is fear of the unknown.

As for moving countries, the cat would come - though he would have to be sedated and freighted if it was a long way. My colleagues' pets seem to deal with this fine, though it's not great and is very expensive.

Mmmm I don't think cats easily take to having two homes - think there is a real risk it would bolt as soon as you got to the weekend place and you would never see it again.... they are more attached to their surroundings than their owners, unlike dogs.

Grapefruit, that's what I was worried about. A dog would deal much better with all the moving around that we do. But dogs are just more trouble generally and life is already busy, to put it mildly. Maybe I'll stick to a couple of goldfish . I'm trying to persuade someone to keep their pony in our field in the country too, so I can pretend to the dcs that it's ours!

The pony would be fab, especially if they got to ride it at the weekend.