My kids have been pestering me to get a new cat because two of our four cats died in the past couple of years (one had to be euthanized for humane reasons, and the other died a natural but unexpected death). I consulted with the two cats that remain, and they have no desire for a new cat in the house. My kids have been scheming ever since.
My eldest decided she wanted a rat. I have nothing against having a pet rat, but we talked to her about the responsibilities that would be expected of her. That is, the rat would be her responsibility to feed, water, and take care of the rat’s bathroom issues. She quickly realized she did not want those responsibilities, so she made the smart choice not to get a pet after all.
My youngest, on the other hand, decided that she wanted to accept the responsibilities of having her own pet. Her first pet was a hamster- actually two siblings that she got from a school friend. She took good care of the hamsters, but one was aggressive and mauled the cagemate to the death. Not a pretty sight. Within three years the other one began to look really, really bad (they have a short lifespan) so she made the mature decision to euthanize her remaining hamster for humane reasons. The third hamster she had lived for about a year.
The dilemma now for my youngest was that she wanted a pet that had a longer lifespan, that would be relatively easy to take of, and that her parents would let her have. She knew she couldn’t get a dog because we don’t have the time to spend properly managing a dog. Since I had a chinchilla when I was in college and he lived long enough for my girls to get to know him (he was 13 years old when he died a natural death), she thought that would be a good pet for her.
After calling around, we found a pet store that not only had chinchillas but also had one in the color she wanted- white- because she already had a name picked out- Snow. We wanted to make sure the chinchilla was healthy and tame because I had one chinchilla that was clearly afraid of people despite my best attempts to win him over.
Snow looks healthy, and the seller told us she was his favorite because she was so friendly. She came from a breeder of chinchillas in Ohio and was about 7 months of age. That means my daughter can enjoy her for up to 13 more years. That will take her into college, boyfriends and heartaches, and maybe even marriage. She’ll be glad to have a pet with her to fill whatever void might come upon her in life.
From my Mom and science nerd standpoint, I’m glad she’ll have a pet that should be free from disease and can provide some “fur therapy” when she needs it.
