UK bound here and my brother has had ferrets for years, he uses them for rabbiting so they are working animals.Lil devils x said:Yes, even the best trained ferrets for use around children wound up biting someone and they had to pull them from the childrens event. LOLAccursedTheory said:
I have never seen a ferret that didn't bite eventually. Which if it bites the wrong person, you get sued and the state takes your ferret and kills it.
I have seen cats make tunnel systems in the couch too. I had this one cat that would hide in there and when friends sat on the couch he would attack their butt from inside the couch. LMAO
...I want one of those!altnameJag said:A Maine Coon or Maine Coon mix:
Maine Coons are super friendly, inquisitive, don't lose their kitten-like playfulness, super fluffy, and, if you're normally a dog person, can potentially grow to be the size of your average medium dog.
It has great big paws so even if you end up with a monster cat, it won't hurt to much when they walk on you (and they can walk in top of snow just fine regardless of size), their coats come in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and speckles, and despite there being a lot of it, it's easy to maintain. They have a surprisingly wide vocal range and aren't afraid to talk.
They are usually very intelligent, mine notwithstanding, and tend to be trainable. They do take a bit more cuddle and playtime than your average cat though, so a big dog like that way.
I'd stay away from the "small animals", and one of those things is not like the others. Hamsters and gerbils tend to be short lived, which will do nothing for anyone's depression. Chinchillas are delicate and fussy animals that require a lot of special care. Rabbits, properly cared for (IE, on a vegetable/hay based diet and not kept in a cage like a hamster) will live 10-14 years and are almost as serious an undertaking as a dog. In addition to dietary needs, bored rabbits can be as destructive as bored puppies, so they require a lot of care and attention. They've been seriously miscast as "starter pets" or kid friendly pets when they're anything but.Barbas said:
Dogs aren't really any smarter than other companion animals. They have about half the neurons in their brain as cats, for example. What dogs are is significantly more socially adapted to humans, as a species, due to a long long history of domestication.Barbas said:
GOATS ARE NOT LOW MAINTENANCE.. they are demons. LOLflying_whimsy said:I disagree with most of the folks about the maintenance levels required for dogs, both big and small. It's not the size, but the breed that has more of an effect on how high or low maintenance a dog is. I'd recommend actually looking up dog breeds on the American Kennel Club website http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/. There may be a dog that fits both your living style and activity level. Also, small dogs have really long lifespans.
As far as cats go, well, screw those things. They aren't dogs and are typically wired to respond the exact opposite way a dog does to most stimuli. They play to kill, and petting them will eventually get them worked up enough to lash out. But if you want something that feels more like an obnoxious roommate and less like a pet or companion, then cats are the way to go. Some added benefits are that they kill rodents and, with proper training, can be taken outside and walked if you want.
Other than that, I have a hard time recommending most of the other animals people have mentioned: short life spans can make some of those pets into ticking trauma bombs. Also, people are not exaggerating when they talk about just how messy ferrets are. Good god are things messy.
If you have a fenced in yard, you could always get a few chickens and dwarf goats. Low maintenance and they make great emergency food supplies.
After having cared for and raised many of both, I agree, cats are much smarter than dogs. Cats think ahead on their own and use tools, they design and set booby traps.. My one cat will take rope and tie up chairs, then go get his brother and manipulate him into pulling the rope and pulling the chairs on his head. He will do the same to the vacuum cleaner, boxes, end tables.. He will open the door then lock his brother in rooms and closets.. He is always trying to play tricks on his brother. He is terrible, but hilarious.Loyal cats will give their life to save yours, since cats see themselves as your "owner", your protector they feel they have to take care of you. That can become annoying when they kill mice or birds and bring them to you as a gift to feed you. LOLBloatedGuppy said:
There's no definitive analyses that says that either cats or dogs or more intelligent, but there are some interesting studies that are in the dog's favor. They have (Perhaps with a few breed exceptions) larger brains per pound of animal than cats (A metric that lines up pretty well with other mammals when comparing intelligence. Elephants, whales, apes, and dolphins all have fairly high brain to weight metrics and have all shown fairly incredible intellects), and they've found some interesting (But admittedly not conclusive) evidence that animals that socialize in their own species are more intelligent then similarly built and sized solitary animals. They've also found that the simple act of domestication can improve a species intelligence, and that the more social/domesticated animal is, the smarter it will grow (Highly social animals being more likely to breed and all). And its postulated that even species that are not domesticated, but have social interactions with other species, are also smarter then similar species that do not socialize outside their genome.BloatedGuppy said:
It probably depends more on the cat. If you have an outdoor cat that kills 60 animals a week, then you may have some problems. Mostly indoor cats usually don't have as much of a problem living with smaller animals, though I still think it's probably a bad idea to let them co-mingle for too long un-observed. A hedgehog also has a fairly effective defense mechanism (Those spines), which will deter a less dedicated cat, but probably wouldn't stop one that was really into murder.Dreph said:AccursedTheory said:Hedgehogs
Pros
-Absolutely adorable
-Seriously, look at'em
-Look one more time
-Clean
-Small, cheap cages
-If well socialized, like being held/petted
-Ok, look one more time
You... You monster! Now I have to break it to my spouse that we are getting a Hedgehog.
On a more serious note, how do they do around cats?
It's not the size of the brain, it's the neurons. Humans and other animals considered highly intelligent all have an extremely high neuron count. Sponges, for example, have 0.AccursedTheory said:
Eh. It's going to depend on how you measure and quantify "intelligence". If your sole concern is social behaviors or demonstrating "human compatible qualities" then an amiable goat is going to rank as "more intelligent" then a sulky and uncommunicative/uncooperative human. In terms of neural pathways and "raw intelligence", cats are about twice as smart as dogs. However, they won't fetch your slippers or play dead or perform other human-centric behaviors, so they're generally viewed as "less intelligent"...or as you've put it, they've "squandered" their intelligence by doing things well suited to cats, instead of things well suited to humans.AccursedTheory said:
I love ferrets, but surprised to hear you say this. I consider ferrets analogous to extremely high energy dogs. When they're "on", they require near constant attention and supervision. They may sleep more than dogs and operate indoors better than dogs, but holy shit those energy levels are through the roof.Lieju said:
That surprises me. The ferrets I lived with decided that the proper place to shit was that 90 degree angle where the wall meets the floor. And not one wall or anything - ALL walls. And I swear to God that they refused to shit anywhere in their cage. Little bastards would hold it in for when they were let out.Lieju said:
It is actually really easy to toilet train your cat so you do not have to deal with a litter box at all.immortalfrieza said:
As with all things, it's down to the individual cat. Some cats are aloof loners, others are clingy, cuddly schmoozers. Some are neurotic headcases. Some are the life of the party.immortalfrieza said:
My sister tried that, many years ago. Worked like gangbusters until the cat fell in the toilet. That was the end of that.Lil devils x said:
I'd note that 1. cats have breeds. Siamese Classic and American Shorthairs are very social, the later having a really strong colony instinct so they do better around other animals while monastery breeds are the aloof rat hunters (and quiet) and 2. cats and dogs have different social structures that are often compatible (herding dogs get along super well with social cats) but reflect their pre-domestication nature. Cats hunted alone and grouped for safety when necessary while dogs operate in a pack with defined hierarchy.BloatedGuppy said:
You know, suddenly, all those videos I've seen of cat's balancing between the toilet and the tub and shitting on the floor beneath make sense.Lil devils x said:
Oh definitively. If anyone wanted a friendly cat, they could just pay through the nose for a Ragdoll. I'm generally against selective breeding in domestic animals, though, because of all the corresponding health issues it introduces, so I like to encourage "mutts". And with mutts, you never know what you're gonna get, outside of the nurture factors you have control over.MCerberus said: