Mr. or Ms. Right. Your choice

So you made up your mind and will live with a pet. Perhaps you want to bring another one to join your home. Maybe someone in your human family also is driving you crazy about the idea of having a dog, cat, hamster, rabbit or even a...frog. How do you choose the right one?  How do you make sure you are the right one for her? With so many pets available for adoption, I was wondering about how to help to reduce the frustration of humans and pets before they start living together.

Akira and Flick the cat: Love at first sight by MaryLinz

I went to ask my brother Edmo and my sister in law Mary, as they have of one dog and three cats, all of them living in perfect harmony.  For me their pet family looks just so well balanced that they might have some nice advice to share with us. And they were happy to do that.

Akira, a 6 year old Shih Tzu was their first pet to join the family. "We wanted to adopt from the shelter, but couldn't afford to deal with the uncertainties of a unknown mixed breed, like how much he would grow or the level of barking. So we made a very rational choice. We would never be happy to have to return a dog", Edmo says.  Akira was then there, a very loving and lovable hypoallergenic, non-barking dog, who is always happy to meet and live with other pets. I just found this wonderful Animal Planet video here that explains the breed so well.

Four years later Flick the cat was adopted, a little furry ball who immediately fell in love with his dog older brother, as you watch here. And from then it looks like they couldn't resist and in ten months two other cats, Cleo (found skinny and infested on the street) and Tom finally came along, a cat mostly rejected for adoption because of an eye problem.

Four in a box by MaryLinz

Maryanne, my sister in law, explains: "Flick saw Akira as a role model, and even wanted to act and eat like a dog!", she recalls.  She believes that the secret for a happy pet family lives in the decisions you make before you start growing a pet family: "Ideally you should pick a pet adequate to your life style, to your level of commitment". I couldn't agree more with that.

So here are a few links and tools with good advice to give you:

Cat chooser: The Humane Society has a very good article on cats and will probably help you to go for the right one for you. Helpguide has some useful tips, and of course, Cathy, from Catster has a wonderful story to share.

Dogs: Again Animal Planet has a great tool. It suggested me to have a ... Cocker Spaniel!!!  Good tips are available at Good Housekeeping.   My younger son and I got  a Bichon Frise as the perfect dog for us. If you already know you will adopt a pet, this article by the ASPCA is essential to help you. And don't forget the new app, BarkBuddy.

Small animals and critters: This website has some explanation about small rodents, and PetHealth  is very illuminating about exotic animals. If you choose to have a pig, read about this one here.