What's your favorite kind of pet?

With Ben speaking about how he loved having rats during his Breakfast n' Ben. I was wondering what everyone's favorite pet is? Personally, mine is bunnies. They're soft balls of cuddly fluff, what's not to love?!

What about y'all? What pet do you love or wish that you had experience with?

Capybara

@tnecniv: Not a bad choice. Pangolins are cool too

Well, my honest, but boring, answer is dogs. :] I currently have two.

But back when I lived in an apartment building that didn't allow fuzzy pets of any kind I had a pair of hermit crabs. I actually thought they were pretty cute, and I'd let them roam free in the apartment sometimes. I've been thinking about getting more - though with the dogs, free roaming would no longer be an option...

I had seven dogs previously, so it’s hard for me to love anything as much as those little buggers. Cats are cool too and they tend to love me too. Still, dogs are the best.

Rats And bunnies are nice too. I’ll like anything as long as it's cute (even ugly-cute).

@relkin: I can understand that

@fear_the_booboo: What kinds of dogs have you had?

Rats are the best. Affectionate as hell, playful, energetic, require attention but not too much attention (though you must get two or more), and rarely if ever bite. They chew things up but you just have to be careful. Only real negatives are 1. not very compatible with other animals/pets so no go if you always have a cat or dog around, and 2. their short lives. If they lived 7 or 10 years and weren't food for most everything they would be so perfect. Also the best Pixar movie was centered around one.

I like/love plenty of other animals but even with their shortcomings nothing beats rats. Honorable mentions are ferrets, ball pythons, red tailed boas, african grey parrots. I'm somewhat of a cat person too but I prefer something more unusual if I can. Hope someday I can have a pet skunk.

@alwaysbebombing: Two labs. One teckel. One dalmatian. Two German Pointers. One Greyhound.

Loved all of them. The Greyhoud was probably the most peculiar one. It’s incredibly lazy and sleep all day. It’s smart and affectionate but not in an excited way other dogs are (that may be due to their harsh life prior adoption, it was a rescue). If I had the space to get a dog right now I’d probably try to get another Greyhound. I loved having one.

I have 2 cats and a human. The human is the best.

I like dogs but it would be cruel for me to have a dog and leave it home alone all day.

Cats. Always had cats in the house growing up. We have two now, and they're probably the best pets I could ever have. Always get neutered males, brothers, at least two, 8-10 weeks old - if you socialise them a bit they'll end up extremely affectionate and loving. Our current cats are also very low maintenance - we don't have a litter tray in the house because they poop outside, and one of them has never been to the vet except for annual check-ups (the other has been in fights and gotten infected wounds). One of them is a ginger cat we called Garfield, so when during the third Garfield with Gerstmann episode when Jeff talked about how lame it is when people name their cat Garfield, I was deeply offended.

I would love to have a dog, but it's such a commitment.

None.

I like dogs

Cats and Dogs, but I would love a Chameleon or Gecko but their so high maintenance.

Something I can leave mostly alone and barely take care of.

Dogs. Cats are the lap dancers of the pet world.

Dogs. Cats are evil and other pets dont count besides maybe pot belly pigs which i have never had. I say they dont count because they are just caged wild animals and not domesticated pets.

Cats...especially because they are the lap dancers of the pet world. Dogs are are close second.

Anything that cuddles me

I can probably fall in love with any pet, but dogs would be my answer. Of the two most popular, while I like cats, they're less sociable and just want to do their own thing. They're more independent. Plus, they have claws and barbed tounges that'll peel your face off. Some studies have shown that dogs love their owners more than cats too. I'd say I'm a dog person for those reasons, but I like cats. When I was little we had two white rats, a frog, and a lizard. I don't really remember feeling much about them. I thought they were cool, but I do remember crying when they died so I guess I cared. I was in kindergarten. I currently have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and love him a lot. It's almost kind of hard to call him a 'pet' because he's so much part of my life he's merely family.

I've had cats around me since the day I was born, and I can't imagine living without one for long. I've had two dogs, and they were and are great animals that I love, but they require so much more attention and effort that sometimes it can be annoying. 90% of my cats have been extremely affectionate, but they get the message much easier than a dog if you're not in the mood to snuggle or play. (Food, of course, is an entirely different matter.)

Pets I've had

Dogs: awesome

Cat: fine

Fish: boring and a surprising amount of work

Hamster: lame

Bearded dragon: ASSHOLE!

Once they engineer all the heart problems out of King Charles spaniels and Cavs, I'll never want another pet. Cats are alright. Especially when they get to the age where they don't give a shit.

I’m allergic to basically everything with fur, so I can never actually own a pet. Even with shots I still end up with respiratory problems if I don’t wash my hands and get fresh air regularly. However, I am lucky enough to have a job where we have a good relationship with the local APL. About four years ago we cleaned out a giant room in our office and started taking in feral foster kittens that the APL thinks can be domesticated. They live with us for a month or three and then get placed in real homes. It’s been one of the great experiences of my life and I’ve gone from being largely indifferent to cats to loving the hell out of them. Plus, you know what’s nice when you’re having a bad day at work? Taking five minutes to go to a quiet room and listen to a cat purr.

Cats. I’ve had cats all my life. My parents had one before I was born, he died and we got another one who was the spit of Tom from Tom & Jerry. After he died we got two sisters. One had three kittens and was killed not long after. The other lived to nearly 20 and turned my hubby from a dog person to a cat person. After she died we adopted a cat with FIV and FeLV who was hard work but the most loving boy ever (and he was crazy about motorsport and cuppas). When he died, we adopted two “brothers”, not litter mates, but they’d been together since they were very young. One died unexpectedly overnight one day and left his “brother” devastated. We planned on getting another older cat to keep the remaining one company, but a friend of a friend had twins that needed a new home, so we’ve somehow ended up with three. We have an ancient & huge ragdoll, and two teenage British shorthairs (one black, one blue).

I’d never willingly have three again, but I’ll always have a cat in my home. They don’t answer back like human children.

Kitten.

I've had Raven, Crow, Butterfly (yes, seriously), Fly (common), dog, cats.

A very well trained non-small dog. They are extremely useful, loving, and just plain awesome. Been wishing I could get a good dog and start training but I'm waiting on orders to basic so pets will be off the table for a few years. Maybe longer if my career plans go well.

Grew up with a lot of dogs at home, we rescued several over the years, so it's pretty much the only kind of pet I'd get for myself.

I'd probably get a Heeler. I wish english bulldogs weren't so troublesome, I love those dogs. Had a neighbor who had an albino English Bulldog who was awesome, but I would have to rescue to not feel like shit for encouraging the breed to proliferate.

Plus they aren't great helpers haha.

Growing up we had quite a few cats and a couple of dogs. Growing up we had six cats and two dogs all told, with the peak being 3 cats and a dog at one time. 3 of the cats we had unfortunately died in accidents (we lived next to a pretty busy road), but three lived to ripe old ages. One we got when I was 3 and he lived until I was almost 20, and two sisters we adopted when I was 13 and they lived to be about 14 years old. The two dogs we had were a Cocker Spaniel who was the runt of her litter. My aunt rescued her from a neighbor who was abusing her, but we took her in because my aunt's dog wasn't getting along with her. At the time she was just a bit bigger than our cats, so of course she thought she was a big dog. When she passed we went the other way and adopted a Lab/Shepherd mix who really wanted to be a lap dog. I want to say that both of them lived into their teens.

Of those, I find that I miss having cats the most. It has been almost 10 years since I've had a pet (after the last cat died my parents didn't get another pet, and since I moved out I haven't been able to afford to properly take care of one), but when my finical situation gets there, I'm definitely going to get a cat or two if I can.

I used to want a dog, but I worked at a boarding kennel for about a year and that kinda killed that desire. It wasn't a great job. I still like playing with other people's dogs, but after having to walk/feed/clean up after between 3 to 30 dogs every other day for a year...yeah, I'm good not owning a dog. After I quit even just hearing the neighborhood dogs barking would stress me out a little bit.

Hamsters. Cats are also good, but they make me sneeze :(

Cats, 'cause they're low maintenance.

Dogs are the best kind of pet. It's science.

I don't know if I have a favorite kind. My favorite pet is my cat because she rules, but I love and kind of want all of the animals.

Cats

Doggies

I think dogs are pretty great

Dawgs, but I have a cat

I actually like all of them, I can get down with any sort of animal.

But, my favorite is a cat. I communicate well with most cats Even cat people are shocked when their typically standoffish cat walks up to me to snuggle.

My parents adopted a lab that seems like it led a harsh life prior to adoption. When animal control found her, she had lost most of her fur, most of her weight, and was terrified of everything. It took a while for her to not be scared of her own shadow. These days, the most energetic thing she does is bark at squirrels whenever she sees them outside. Otherwise, she sits on the floor and gnaws her bone, begs to be petted, begs for food, then goes somewhere else to gnaw her bone.

For me personally, the benefits of having a pet aren't outweighed by the added responsibility. I know, I'm a monster, but every time we had a pet growing up, I didn't personally want to give it much attention (the rest of the household did). I probably would have a cat except I'm severely allergic to them.

I always saw myself as a 'dog person' growing up, mostly because my father's friends had a bunch of German Shepards that were awesome. Howeve, I have since realized I'm a cat dude. Cats have always loved me, don't know how many times I have heard someone say "Man, our cat hates everyone but they're in your lap". I am sure there have been liars saying it as a compliment or whatever, but even my SOs cats (that are now my adopted kids) were afraid of everyone and came to me pretty quickly. I think it's partially that I don't seek their validation so they want mine and they probably know I'm allergic. Though for whatever reason I seem to have outgrown my sensitivity since I don't get it from our cats now.

I have a cat now but oddly enough I look fondly back on my early years when I had a few hamsters growing up. Hamsters are just super cute. Cats are a mixed bag because they can be very high maintenance or very laid back - my current one thankfully being the latter. Any pet is a responsibility but I certainly am glad I don’t have to walk a pet around the block on a cold winter morning.

I'm way too selfish and irresponsible to ever own a pet but I like dogs fine and I'd kinda like to get a horse some day but I know deep down it would be a truly, truly terrible idea. I had a snake as a kid but it was dead within a week...

I'm also in the boat of not really being a pet person and yet other people's pets are almost always enamoured with me. A wild badger even came and park itself next to me while I was smoking outside at university, at first I was thinking it would kick off but it just hung around all calm like.

I read something recently (I forget where) that was suggesting that animals in fact do gravitate towards those that aren't interested more than those that make a fuss, don't know how true that is but it certainly matches with my experiences.

Rats are super cute. If I hadn't had so many at once I think I would have enjoyed them more. But I'm always a cat guy. Love the little fuckers despite them often driving me nuts.

My husky is six months old and I spend four hours a day walking with him. It was hard at first, but now I'm used to the rhythm of life.

Cats. No contest. (Though dogs are cool, too.)

Cats and dogs. Like them both. But have dogs a little bit more!

cats of course. I have a cat actually and he's so sweet. The best thing ever happened to me