So I'm not having the best year, thus far, and every time I think about what would make me happy coming home: A PET. A kittie or a puppy, though I think a puppy would be better.

The thing is that I can barely take care of myself financially, who knows where I will live the next half of the year, and well...this is a lot of responsibility.

When did you get your first cat or dog? (One at a parent's home doesn't count) Did you get it for co-dependent reasons?

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

i'm sorry but if there is even a hint of doubt about whether you can afford it then you definitely shouldn't get a pet.

i got my cat when i was nine years old and since i was 15 and earning my own money she's been my responsibility and there have been times when i wasn't sure if i could afford things for her and it's the worst feeling in the world. a lot of the time i've had to dip into my savings which are pretty meagre anyway. i would definitely not get another pet right now even though i still live with my mum.

aren't you a student? or at least a young graduate? do you want to know how much our dog's vet bills are? my mum hides them from my dad! and cos you're dead young and all, isn't there a strong possibility you'll be moving around and starting new courses and careers? it's just not fair to get a high-maintenance pet until you can really make the commitment

i'm a TOTAL dog person, i can't wait until i have one of my OWN (she's my dog, but she lives at the parental home) but i'm too young, too poor and too unsettled. i think you have to be settled to get a dawg.

my uni chums and i got a hamster, pedro. he's little enough that we know we can always afford to look after him, he can be left alone all day (in fact, he WANTS to be left alone all day. dogs cry!), they only live for a couple of years so it's no long-term commitment, but he's a lovely lickle thing and we all love him and all our friends love him and he's a great source of joy in our lives! let me find you a picture!



my friend (also a student) was planning on getting a cat, until she was talked out of it. she doesn't know where she'll be in 5 years, some months she has to struggle to pay her rent, sometimes she goes out and stays out - she's just too young for a cat. so she joined the hamster club, too!

or what about a couple of rats? i really wanted to get rats but some of my friends (not all girls!) were being big sissies about them! but they're lovely and they make great pets

haha i've never seen a hamster before! (i'm pretty sure you can't get them in new zealand for some reason) he is SO CUTE!

haha! my chest is swelling with maternal pride!

can you really not? that is the most random thing i've heard in ages.

want more? i am one of those tedious mothers who loves to show off their bubba:





his favourite thing is getting in his exercise ball so he can go EXPLORE! he always makes a beeline for err the toilet lol

i'd just like to point out that that really hairy arm is not mine!

im not a student and i can pay my rent and my living expenses. vet bills would be the issue. this isnt serious thinking, i suppose. im far too rational to impulsively get a dog.

i dont know. i wish there was a place i could borrow one. like rent one. rent a puppy for a day.

im not big into smaller animals. those i DO find a pain the ass. ive traveled with a dog from one country to another, but traveling with a rodent would make me want to slit my wrists, i think.

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

actually ideally id like one of these....

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

if you like dogs, why don't you volunteer at a dog shelter? those poor little things nobody wanted. when i lived in london, i was a dog walker for a rescue home and it was ACE! and when they found new families and got adopted it was the best thing EVER

i just can't believe you didn't fall in love with mr pedro!

what about a rabbit or a guinea pig..?

i thought that thing was a fox at first. ...what IS it? actually, i have foxes. well they're not strictly mine but they come to snaffle the food i leave out for them under my window when i'm feeling flush! it's a good arrangement.

HAHA i love his little face! he looks like he's scheming something in the second photo.

yeah i really have no idea why we don't have hamsters here? at first i thought it might be the weather but i imagine it would get even colder in england than it does here. maybe they are just a northern-hemisphere-only animal. we have guinea pigs and chinchillas and stuff though.

it's a red panda! i'm pretty sure they're an endangered species though.

it's a red panda. the cutest animal on EARTH. im watching videos of baby red pandas on youtube. i hardly squeal.

squarepusher has a rabbit and im rather jealous, to be honest, but he says i should wait till i have a yard to have a bunny. let's see. that's going to happen in like 30 years.

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

they are. i didnt know of their existence until yesterday when i was at the central park zoo. i couldnt believe my eyes. they were amazing. i felt like i discovered a new animal.

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

my mate has a rabbit and keeps it inside. is that bad? she's a bit dim but the sweetest person ever. she won't allow more than five people round her house at any one time "in case they stress out the rabbit" haha

haha i know! "nibble nibble ive got a secret nibble nibble im not telling you, you pleb. nibble nibble". or "would you get that thing out of my face, my dear, it's becoming rather TIRESOME"

i went to the zoo with bort and petals the other week and the red pandas weren't there. or at least, we couldn't find them. very upsetting, i always look forward to seeing their little faces and pretty fur.

thanks, reppahz. i have lost my green dot privelege so you will remain beautiful strangers. but i am pleased to hear that's a legitimate way to keep rabbits. to be honest, it's probably what i'd do. especially as i encourage those pesky foxes! i sometimes have this nightmare that i have a cat but won't let it out and it hates me but i just could not live with the streeeeeeeeeess!!! i don't know how cat people cope.

I recall reading a book stating that if you desire a puppy you really want a baby and vice-versa.

If you think you can't afford one, you definitely can't afford one. One of my pooches has an ear infection and to treat that has cost upwards of $500. It's weird that you can go to the doctor for an ear infection and pay $50 but if its your dog then it costs you 2 weeks pay. It's well worth it though, when you eventually get one!