Any thoughts, anyone?

Our daughter is turning 4 next month. We asked her on what she would like to receive as a birthday present. She said, "I want a white rat with red eyes that can catch a ball. hehe... Where can I find that? A white rat with red eyes, that's easy but I'm not sure if I can find one that has the ability to catch a ball. (eBay perhaps? lol) Then her brother asked, "Why not a dog or a cat?". There, he shouldn't have suggested that. Now she wants a rat, a dog and a cat.

No, she wouldn't have any of these. I love animals but I don't think I want one here. Having an animal at home is a great responsibility. They're not temporary, they're like family members that depend on us to love and care for them...forever.

Also, having one at home could be messy. When our son was only about 7 years old, he asked for a rabbit. I was not so keen about this at first, since at the time, we were still in a very small apartment and to add an animal that requires a cage would require a space. He burst into tears, begging, and said, "If you don't like a rabbit, gerbils would be fine.", (as if twas the solution to the problem) as he saw an ad in his school about gerbils (mouselike rodent with long hind legs and a long tail) being given to those who wish to 'adopt'. So, in the end, after several 'I beg yous' and 'rollings about on the floor', we finally bought a cage, a modified bird cage & its accessories, some toys and vitamins then adopted two, both male. Since gerbils mutiply rapidly, keeping males and females is not recommended. Troubles were, aside from chewing their toys to bits (everything was in plastic), making too much noise especially at night, scattering straws outside their cage and producing a foul smell, they were so aggressive with each other. And although we knew that we had to separate them at this point, we didn't do it for there was no more place for another cage, so we let them there, together... to the point that the one killed the other; the one left didn't last long either for it was badly wounded. Good riddance? Poor gerbils, we had fun watching them sharing the wheel, though. *sniffs*



So I'm crossing out the rat from the list. Then, why not a cat? I know that cats are naturally clean animals but it's still my job to make sure that the litterbox stays clean so that the house remains sanitary. And I should do that as often as possible because of its frequency of getting stinky. Oh, that's gonna be a lot of dirty works. Eeew! Also, cats love to explore, it might jump on tables, on bookshelves, and on cabinets and it might accidentally break or knock over fragile items. Then the cat's hair, I don't want them on beds, nor on our sofa/chairs. And the worst of all, cats love to scratch the furnitures. Oh no, not my buff leather sofa! Why do they do that? Some say, to sharpen their claws. Ok, whatever, I'm crossing out the cat too.



Now, how about a dog? Owning a dog could be a lot of fun, and a lot of work too. hehe... I guess that even a large yard wouldn't be enough for an active dog. We now live in a bigger apartment but dogs unlike cats need long walks everyday and that means that we're obliged to walk him at least 2 times a day. And if we go on vacations, who would look after him? No one in our entourage would be willing to do the task! My! Tsk tsk tsk! There are lots of things to consider so we better think before committing eh? But, but , but... on second thought, I'm sure our daughter will be delighted to have one. But what kind of dog? Actually, I don't know much about dogs races, but I would prefer one with short hair and does not shed a lot, any thoughts? Or do you have any ideas on what makes an ideal apartment dog?