| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"CyberDroog" |
| Date: |
24 Feb 2007 09:23:46 PM |
| Object: |
No More Cats |
Sweet Pea and Fluffy are gone. I cried. Too much crying this past year
after years of not being able to cry at all.
I don't want any more cats. Now would especially be the wrong time for a
kitten, with another baby on the way.
But my wife wants something furry to play with (don't even think of it... I
tried that joke already.) We're thinking of a hamster or two.
Is anybody familiar with hamsters? Are they okay as singles, or better as
pairs? I've had gerbils, but never hamsters.
.
|
|
| User: "Rhiannon" |
|
| Title: Re: No More Cats |
25 Feb 2007 11:36:25 AM |
|
|
"CyberDroog" <CyberDroog@ClockworkOrange.com> wrote in message
news:9102u294ie4lj9eep4v7ah202efomgq2fo@news.easynews.com...
Sweet Pea and Fluffy are gone. I cried. Too much crying this past year
after years of not being able to cry at all.
I don't want any more cats. Now would especially be the wrong time for a
kitten, with another baby on the way.
But my wife wants something furry to play with (don't even think of it...
I
tried that joke already.) We're thinking of a hamster or two.
Is anybody familiar with hamsters? Are they okay as singles, or better as
pairs? I've had gerbils, but never hamsters.
I have owned numerous hamsters over the years and in my experience they do
better on their own. Hamster's are loners, not colony or pack oriented the
way rats are. If you do decide to get two you will have more success
pairing females than you will males. Because they prefer to be on their own
they will also resist human contact at first, but handling them often
throughout the day will go a long way in establishing a bond. I have only
ever read that hamsters tend to be biters, having *never* had one of my own
bite me. I have had hamsters lay on their back in the palm of my hand with
their little legs up exposing their belly for "scratchies" staring at me
intently the whole time I talked to them as calm and as gentle as you could
imagine. Perhaps it was partly luck, but I also believe it was mostly due
to taming them through consistent handling. Depending upon how you and your
wife feel about rats, that might be a better choice. They are highly
interactive. Like small dogs and a real treat to live with. I have owned
every small caged animal, with the exception of a ferret, over the years and
the only pet I would not recommend is Gerbils.
--
Rhi
.
|
|
|
| User: "Me" |
|
| Title: Re: No More Cats |
25 Feb 2007 02:33:24 PM |
|
|
Like small dogs and a real treat to live with.
I miss my lap dog: a 90 pound female german shepherd of working pedigree.
She lives with my parents because I'm in an apartment and they have a big
fenced yard for her. She has a bad hip and I know it is going to stress
me out terribly when I finally have to deal with that.
.
|
|
|
| User: "CyberDroog" |
|
| Title: Re: No More Cats |
25 Feb 2007 08:51:31 PM |
|
|
On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:33:24 -0000, Me <noone@all.com> wrote:
Like small dogs and a real treat to live with.
I miss my lap dog: a 90 pound female german shepherd of working pedigree.
She lives with my parents because I'm in an apartment and they have a big
fenced yard for her. She has a bad hip and I know it is going to stress
me out terribly when I finally have to deal with that.
We used to have a Wire-Haired Dachshund - Greta - that had hip dysplasia.
She became paralyzed in the hind end eventually. But she wasn't in pain, so
my mother kept her in a playpen for three years. When in the house that is.
Outside she would still run around, dragging her hind end.
We had to treat her much like a baby and clean up after her. But she seemed
happy. When excited she would jump up and down on her two front paws. She
looked like a seal sometimes. We had taught her demented tricks also. When
we'd say "Zieg Heil!", Greta would raise her right paw. Even our Jewish
friends got a kick out of that.
But eventually she started to show signs of feeling pain, so my parents
took her in. I miss that dog. And I don't even like dogs as a general rule.
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "CyberDroog" |
|
| Title: Re: No More Cats |
25 Feb 2007 08:41:53 PM |
|
|
On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 12:36:25 -0500, "Rhiannon" <rhianon@sympatico.ca>
wrote:
I have owned numerous hamsters over the years and in my experience they do
better on their own. Hamster's are loners, not colony or pack oriented the
way rats are. If you do decide to get two you will have more success
pairing females than you will males. Because they prefer to be on their own
they will also resist human contact at first, but handling them often
throughout the day will go a long way in establishing a bond. I have only
ever read that hamsters tend to be biters, having *never* had one of my own
bite me. I have had hamsters lay on their back in the palm of my hand with
their little legs up exposing their belly for "scratchies" staring at me
intently the whole time I talked to them as calm and as gentle as you could
imagine. Perhaps it was partly luck, but I also believe it was mostly due
to taming them through consistent handling. Depending upon how you and your
wife feel about rats, that might be a better choice. They are highly
interactive. Like small dogs and a real treat to live with. I have owned
every small caged animal, with the exception of a ferret, over the years and
the only pet I would not recommend is Gerbils.
I did some Googling, and I am seriously looking at Sugar Gliders now.
Though they require even more attention and affection than other small
mammals or they can become depressed.
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "slunky" |
|
| Title: Re: No More Cats |
24 Feb 2007 09:26:30 PM |
|
|
_/ CyberDroog wrote \_
Is anybody familiar with hamsters? Are they okay as singles, or better as
pairs? I've had gerbils, but never hamsters.
I've got two dwarf hamsters. They're better in pairs. I like dwarf
hamsters better than regular ones, they eat less, poop less, and can
live in smaller cages, but they only live about a year.
--
-slunky
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
