pets..

Maybe adopt a teenage cat from the SPCA or something so then you don't have to deal with the kitty litter side of things but still get the young playfulness that will no doubt keep your daughter entertained.

Other than that, I'm thinking a bird of some kind?

we have a dog, cat and now a rabbit and out of all 3, i'd recommend a cat. they aren't as much work as the others.

in my experience, kittens are really easily toilet trained and pretty quickly....or you could adopt one that's a little older and already trained.

at least you don't have to clean out cages etc

Having had cat, bunnies and fish.

I would say, all are a fair amount of work. I miss our kitty so much, he was so fun, and while kittys are probably the worst given your situation, once they're toilet trained they're pretty easy to care for really and aheap of fun and good friend for her.

Fish, argh, boring, we have fish, and the only time we see action is now that we bought a new one - the other one is forever trying to attack him, that's about all the action we see. boring, terribly boring. Our original one grew hugely huge, the tanks need a good clean at least once a week unless you like the green algae look, and since our big one died the other silver one as i said is crazy, and when we get him out and put him in a smaller container while we clean the tank - he jumps out.. crazy thing.,

Bunnies, are very cute, and again need a fair amount of work, cages need cleaning out heaps, their droppings and wee kill the lawn if they are in a cage that sits on the lawn. If they aren't then they need a fair amount of grass and greens and they get a bit weird not being able to access the grass (we had to change to a cage with a bottom on it in order to get permission to have ours at our new place) they need regular hop around time free on the lawn (we bought little kitty collars for ours and a leish which we can pin to the ground and bunny can hop around our yard without us worrying she'll run away like she used to) Bunnies also grow fast, our bunny is huge, and they are a bit harder for younger kids to pat and get close to as they sometimes get a bit skittish. If you do have the time though, you can house-train them (a bunny will poo in the same place all the time so you can teach them to use a litter tray too.)and you can get different breeds that are more lap-rabbits. It really depends but they take a bit of upkeep cos you need to make sure their claws and their teeth aren't getting overgrown as well, plus they still need the vaccines against that rabbit virus (can't remember the name)

If i had my way, we'd not have the bunny (however cute she is) we'd not have the fish (boring boring) and we'd get a cute loveable kitty - we don't have the time to care for it properly and we are never home so the others kinda take care of themselves a little more than a kitty would. at least we do know they'll be there when we get home.

dunno if that helps.

Edited by mum2paris

We've got four fish and one bunnie and one cockatiel. Out of them all the bird is the easiest, she's a noisy little tart, but the kids love her.

The bunnie is cool, he thinks he's a cat. I agree though they are hard work. He's ended up being my responsibility as the kids have lost interest in him.

I think personally she's the right age for a kitten, or even an older cat like someone above suggested.

thank you all for your help

DH has said no to a cat because his grandmother has told him that it will smother the baby?

Thats an old wives tale.

I'm getting Andrew a couple of bunnies for his 4th birthday as thats what he wants. If you decide the bunny option make sure you get 2 as they hate being alone.

We are planning to get a cat. We plan to ring the SPCA and see if they have one that is suitable for families, is housetrained. Not sure how we plan to organise food as Taine will no doubt attempt to eat it. But cats look after themselves a lot, and are relateively easy to care for.

But that said, taine wants a guinea pig!

LOL I'm an old wife, well old-ish at 27, here's my tale. The cat we were looking after for DH's boss tried to smother Ella on the day we bought her home from the hospital!
He liked that she was all bundled up and warm I think and decided to get in the rocker on her.
Luckily it wasn't any more than a minute, DH was distracted by his computer while I went to the loo, but we gave him back to his boss the next day.
I think he would have been ok though, its just a matter of training and not leaving them alone unsupervised when bubs is tiny.
Edited for cruddy spelling

Edited by caraMel