Any advice before getting a cat/dog?

[wildfloweragain]

I did read the FAQ.

Background:
We've always been a pet family. I grew up with a dog and a cat. As an adult, I had a dog and cat, and all 3 kids were born with them in the house. The youngest was a few weeks old when we had to put our cat to sleep. We paid a vet to come right to our house because he was carsick.

Our dog died at home last year. Our youngest was 1.5 yrs old.

We got both animals as adults/rescue. They were just right for us and our situations at the time, we didn't research anything about getting them prior, just took vets advice on their specific needs.

At first we liked being pet-free. Although we missed our pets terribly, our life is a bit harder than we anticipated with some family things and job things that came our way that we didn't plan for. We are very busy and during the school year (I'm a teacher) sometimes I can barely hold things together with the 3 kids while DH works a few days at a time. So not dealing with pet hair constantly and the other things that come with older pets (throwing up mostly) appealed to us. So did being able to have allergic friends over. We are not allergic.

We recently have been asked to take a cat from a litter that was delivered at my BIL's house, which brings us to- I told the kids this summer or next we'd be ready for a dog. While we like the freedom of not cleaning up after them (the main issue is the hair, as long as I have time to train them this summer) we think kids should grow up with pets. We are set up well for taking a dog out, etc.

Since we've never really had a choice about gender and type of dog and cat before or planned that far ahead, I'm looking into it now.

I think we are looking into possibly getting a cat soon. Likely a kitten, even if it is not from this litter. A dog might wait until next summer, although I just really keep thinking about it now. We'd likely not get a puppy.

Ideally, we'd find a dog people are not allergic to, that does not shed, and is great with kids, at the shelter. Not likely, but ideal.

It's possible that we get a cat from this litter, bring it right to the vet and have the spaying/deworming/defleaing/shots done this week or next. We'll not be declawing.

I'm open to any advice, as simple as "pick this gender" or "have you thought about the impact of that."

I'm open to questions as well.

TIA!

[niemand88f]

I assume your kids are still young, so I recommend an adult animal from a rescue. They can tell you if it is ok with kids and it will be less work than a puppy/kitten. More importantly, you'll probably be training your kids to be respectful of and gentle with animals at the beginning- and a young kitten could so easily learn to be fearful of grabbing, noisy children. Whether you get a cat or kitten, make sure to provide vertical space like a cat tree, and a safe area where the cat can hide from children if it wants a break.

If you get a kitten, get two They'll take out their crazy energy on each other. Thanks for not declawing!

[kellbell191]

I would also choose a dog from a rescue that is living with kids and other animals. Usually they do a lot of the work for you on crate training, etc.

For dogs I'll make a plug for hounds. Mine are both rescues and are low maintenance (wash and wear, I furminate once a week), low energy, and fantastic with kids. They tend to be very happy, even tempered dogs. I have one beagle basset mix who is the best kid dog I've ever seen, and one beagle shepherd mix. They are hugely overpopulated in the south, where we are, , so I feel good rescuing them too. And they're good with cats generally speaking.

I know a lot of people also recommend greyhounds b.c. they're very low maintenance and low energy,.

[lyndel]

Are you close to an animal rescue or shelter? Maybe you could take your kids in and see how they interact with the kittens? You don't have to adopt one from there, but that might help you decide if you should adopt a kitten from your BIL's litter.

[wildfloweragain]

We do have a shelter here. A well-known (around here) one, plus another rescue dog group that I know of. Where people foster and train the dog until it gets adopted.

The 7 yr old and 5 yr old know about animals. Our dog you could do anything to, they just had to be careful not to step on her (she got under foot a lot.) MIL and SIL both have dogs we teach our kids to stay away from because they are not that good with kids. Our cat was one you do NOT chase - he was very ornery unless he approached us. And he had claws.

The youngest is a little over 2 yrs. She has to be taught. She has had practice on a few other pets. There is a cat at my dad's house she sees from afar once a week.

Keep the advice coming! Thank you!

DO shelters get the kids of dogs that don't shed, or if they did, would that mean their temperament is not great with kids?

[kellbell191]

Jul 30, 2012 14:58:02 GMT -5 wildfloweragain said:

We do have a shelter here. A well-known (around here) one, plus another rescue dog group that I know of. Where people foster and train the dog until it gets adopted.

The 7 yr old and 5 yr old know about animals. Our dog you could do anything to, they just had to be careful not to step on her (she got under foot a lot.) MIL and SIL both have dogs we teach our kids to stay away from because they are not that good with kids. Our cat was one you do NOT chase - he was very ornery unless he approached us. And he had claws.

The youngest is a little over 2 yrs. She has to be taught. She has had practice on a few other pets. There is a cat at my dad's house she sees from afar once a week.

Keep the advice coming! Thank you!

DO shelters get the kids of dogs that don't shed, or if they did, would that mean their temperament is not great with kids?

Dogs end up in shelters for a variety of reasons, and yes, lower allergen dogs wind up there the same as all other dogs. Very few dogs are surrendered for aggression problems, more commonly they're surrendered b.c. people are moving, etc. Things outside their control. The poo mixes don't breed true, aren't guaranteed to be hypoallergenic and that is why some of them wind up in shelters. There is a website, poomixrescue or something where you can see them.