Small Pets

[Catrin]

Those are all good thoughts, and I hadn't thought about the tent getting hot during the day. There isn't a guarantee that I could get a shaded spot and leave the flaps rolled up for ventilation.

I am really not a dog-person, though I like other people's dogs well enough. After being bitten earlier this year I find they make me a bit nervous. A bird, or pair of them, might be a good choice - and probably easier to find a sitter if I can't make food/water arrangements for them to be alone every other weekend in the summer. I do like parakeets, and they are not expensive. Get a pair of them to keep each other company for when I am not home...

Thanks again, I've got some time to think about all of this. Would love a parrot but they are expensive, expensive to care for, and I refuse to have a pet that will outlive me

[Trek-chick]

When I was younger (still living at my parent's house), a neighbor had a pet duck.

They also had a golden retriever, and sometimes I would see the dog and the duck playing (seriuosly--I am not kidding ) in their front yard. I have always thought it would be really cool to have a pet duck. I imagine they would be a messy pet but they are soooooooooooooooooo darn cute!!!!!

[Catrin]

When I was younger (still living at my parent's house), a neighbor had a pet duck.

They also had a golden retriever, and sometimes I would see the dog and the duck playing (seriuosly--I am not kidding ) in their front yard. I have always thought it would be really cool to have a pet duck. I imagine they would be a messy pet but they are soooooooooooooooooo darn cute!!!!!

They really are, aren't they? I suspect that my apartment complex would consider them an "exotic pet", which aren't allowed. Another nice thing about choosing a bird or a small animal that would be caged when I am not home would be I wouldn't have to pay a large pet deposit, nor pay "pet rent" every month.

I just renewed my lease early to avoid an increase that happens on Jan. 1, and just realized that all cats must be declawed...another reason not to have one. I understand why they have that provision, and each pet owner has their opinion on that, but I consider it cruel. There are other options.

[Biciclista]

oh that's terrible. Forcing people to declaw their cats? I couldn't live there. Sheesh.

[Veronica]

oh that's terrible. Forcing people to declaw their cats? I couldn't live there. Sheesh.

I couldn't either. My babies desperately need their claws clipped now. Tucker gave me a nice, inch long gash on my middle finger, while playing "hide under the blanket." My fault for not clipping his claws this weekend.

Veronica

[Blueberry]

Me three. We regularly trim claws, and I have used soft paws (nail caps) before when a kitty was scratching a raw place on himself. There are awesome alternatives. There is no reason for that. Pre-kitty, I refused to live in apartment complexes that had that rule - on principle.

[alimey]

Chinchilla - they look very cute, and might suit your lifestyle. No ratty tail either. African Hedgehog?

[TsPoet]

I go camping with my small dogs all the time. I take them with me on hikes. The only trail I've ever not been able to take them was the Pacific Crest Trail.
I think the dog for you is an Italian Greyhound
They are 25 mph couch potatoes. The negative for camping is that most people find them unreliable off lead. I let mine off lead all the time - but I also work her recall every day without fail.
Second negative for your lifestyle is that they "break easily". Mine does amazing athletic feats and has never broken. But, I was holding another IG and dropped him on a bed - and his leg broke! But, I built up Tari's bones/muscles with walks from a young age.
One advantage/disadvantages for you is that they are litter box/potty pad trainable. Tari does her business in the winter on potty pads (IGs have little hair and no fat, so they don't like to go outside in the cold.) This is actually really nice, once you get over the icky thought of a dog pooping in your house - I can take her to hotels and camping, or leave her locked in a room if I have guests with a potty pad down. Don't misunderstand me, I spoil my dogs, I don't leave her locked up! and, this is the same as you'd have with a cat, rabbit, etc.
I would guess that there are other "toy" dogs that might fit what you want (a Yorkie? I have a friend with a Boston Terrier that is a little dynamo). Please avoid "teacup" dogs.
I don't think there is any pet you could just leave in a tent, but there are some little dogs that you can take with you and can sleep in a tent just fine. I have Tari (Italian Greyhound - 12 lbs), Murphy (20lb mutt, who Tari can stand over), Finn (22 lb Mutt). I take them all many places with me.

[Catrin]

oh that's terrible. Forcing people to declaw their cats? I couldn't live there. Sheesh.

First time I've noticed that in THIS lease, it is, however, a common lease requirement for every complex I've lived in for the last decade. I have not seen one since I moved to Indianapolis that did not have it and I tried to find one that did not. Having it, and enforcing it, are two different things. I've never seen it enforced or even asked. I think it is there in case your cat does damage from scratching though I can't imagine why it would be considered necessary since they all charge such high pet deposits. I paid over a deposit that was more than $500 at my last apartment.

Frankly this will be my last lease renewal here, I will have 17 months to save up and consider where to move next time (there is an advantage to such a long lease, plus I HATE to move). Someplace where I can still ride to my beloved country roads and that will have lower rent. At least that is my plan. I have to stay in the county to keep my job as I am a local government employee, it is a matter of a local ordinance.

There is a local pet rescue that takes in many types of pets, this includes small mammals and birds. I think that I will visit them and see what I think. I am leaning toward a set of parakeets or love birds, but we will see. I had them as a girl, and have wanted them as an adult - but not with a cat around. No rush, but I've time to consider my options,

[Catrin]

TS Poet, that is interesting about the Italian Greyhound - wouldn't have considered training a dog to use a pad. I had forgotten that my sister's little Maltese used to do that when she was younger. I do like little Corgis, and love hounds, but I don't think they are suited to life in a small apartment - they are working dogs.

[Blueberry]

I used to bike with my Maltese in a pack on my back. He loved it. He was a good apartment dog too - the only downsides were 1) health problems and 2) monthly (at least) groomer visits.

I would not, however, train a dog to use pads. Our experience was that it took longer to house train, and our dogs got really confused - they thought it was OK to go anywhere in the house if they could go in one spot. I know our experience is unusual - I just wanted to throw it out there.

[TsPoet]

I am really not a dog-person, though I like other people's dogs well enough. After being bitten earlier this year I find they make me a bit nervous. A bird, or pair of them, might be a good choice - and probably easier to find a sitter if I can't make food/water arrangements for them to be alone every other weekend in the summer. I do like parakeets, and they are not expensive. Get a pair of them to keep each other company for when I am not home...

I also have budgies (parakeets) and love them. They take a lot of work to tame - only get 1 if you want a tame one. You can get a second after a few months. They have the advantage that you can just go away for a weekend, leave them food and water and they'll be fine. They have the disadvantage that they are smart - too smart to leave sitting in a cage. It breaks my heart when people treat them like fish. Birds (all kinds) need at least 1 hr/day out doing something active. I don't clip wings, let them fly loose in my house. Mine are tame and like to ride around on my shoulder (nothing like sitting "on the pot" and have something zoom around the corner to land on your head because you were out of sight and they had to find you). I had a budgie years ago (my heart pet to this day) that had a 50+ word vocabulary. He lost his ability to fly as he got older and used to flutter down from his cage and run around after me instead of fly.
All of my current budgies are rescues and only 1 is somewhat tame. I have a large flight cage with 6 birds flying around. It's a lot of work to keep it clean - birds are very messy. I also have a Mayer's parrot - who is completely tame and has eaten much of the wood work in my house. He gets 2 hrs out every night - not necessarily 1 on 1 attention that he really needs, though.
Pets are a lot of work.
You could clip the wings of a parrot and bring them with you many places, but you couldn't leave them in a tent. I do leave my birds for up to 3 days a few times a year - with a waterer and food they don't need anyone to come in and take care of them.

[TsPoet]

This is how portable an adult IG can be (LOL)


and how active they can be

[Catrin]

I also have budgies (parakeets) and love them. They take a lot of work to tame - only get 1 if you want a tame one. You can get a second after a few months. They have the advantage that you can just go away for a weekend, leave them food and water and they'll be fine. They have the disadvantage that they are smart - too smart to leave sitting in a cage. It breaks my heart when people treat them like fish. Birds (all kinds) need at least 1 hr/day out doing something active. I don't clip wings, let them fly loose in my house...Pets are a lot of work....

Indeed they are! Love the pictures of your little dogs Also good to hear that budgies could be left alone for 48-50 hours or so, I will be away from home every other weekend this summer. I like the idea of a pair of them so they can keep each other occupied when I am not home. I will likely wait until the season starts winding down though. I want to take my time deciding what and who to get, but then I would want to spend a lot of quality time with the animal(s) before I started leaving them for the weekend on a regular basis. I know how to deal with cats, they have been my only pet for 40 years...

Tell me about how smart budgies are. When I was a girl we had a pair (Fifi and JoJo) who became really good at opening the door to their cage so my parents had to get really creative those times that we wanted them to stay in the cage.. My parents took the cage outside one day, however they didn't secure the door well OR they figured out how to "unsecure" the door...and that was the last we saw of them

I was only 8 years old at the time but I still remember them well!

[malkin]

You CAN also play with fish!

We had tiger barbs that loved to chase the laser pointer and for a while we had a huge goldfish that my daughter trained to sit in her hand (in the water). Probably not what you had in mind though.