easier pet to keep

**pedapea** · 03-22-2005, 09:59 AM

In everyone's experience, what would be an easier pet to keep. A bunny or a rat. As you all might have noticed I'm asking a bunch of questions about bunnies on this forum, but I am also interested in rats. We did have a couple in the house one day, last week for a couple of hours...up until my husband FREAKED and insisted they go back to the store. He was screaming and yelling like a little sissy girl

Obviously, deathly afraid of them. I told him that was backward/old man thinking. He associates these house rats with those big as cats dumpster rats. I told my dad about the rats and he had the same reaction as my husband...my dad is 79. So, there ya go, backward old man thinking. Oh, by the way, the rats went back to the store. For the few hours that we did have them, tho, we were in love. My kids just couldn't get enuf of them. Talk about loving and friendly little beasties..AND...I discovered, to my surprise, that my little allergic 5 yr. old was not allergic to them. They were all over her, too. Not a red blotch, not a spot, no itchy nose/ watery eyes. Nada. Nothing. I've read a few different sites on the computer and some say they are as easy to care for as all get out, not smelly, and I've read other places that they are dirty, smelly, destructive ie: if you let them out of the cage to run around they chew through everything and anything they can get their chompers on and basically a pain in the a$$ pet to have. I wish I could remember the site that I got that last bit of info from. I sort of just go here, there and everywhere then have a heck of a time remembering where I was.

I've talked to 3 different people in 3 different pet shops and they've all had rats and they all had nothing but the highest praise for the them.

What do you guys think??

**ashleycat** · 03-22-2005, 10:58 AM

well, they can be stinky IF you dont care for them,, can be destructive if you make them mad, they are like bunnies, i think, just smaller.. bunnies can be destructive too, have to bun proof house if your gonna let m loose. there ARE different kind of rats.. just keep looking.. im glad you found something your daughter isnt allergic to

**ashleycat** · 03-22-2005, 11:00 AM

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...threadid=74699

**pedapea** · 03-22-2005, 11:12 AM

I saw that post you gave me the link too, earlier. Thanx. They are SOOO CUUUTE. You just want to squeeze them. In a good way, of course.

**CathyBogart** · 03-22-2005, 12:21 PM

I think rabbits are easier, I've had a lot of both. Rats tend to need to see the vet a lot, though I like their personalities much more personally.

**pedapea** · 03-22-2005, 01:39 PM

That's a great selling point. From November I'm still paying off the almost $400 vet bill I received for my dearly departed cat Peanut. Honest to goodness, if someone wants to make money, being a vet is the way to go. From the vets I've seen over the past couple of years I'm convinced that they don't really care about your pets welfare anymore. They're in it just for the coin.

**Uabassoon** · 03-22-2005, 02:19 PM

LIke I said in the other posts I haven't had a rabbit since I was a little kid, so I'm not sure about the difference. If you have the time I've never found my rats too much trouble, I clean the cage every few days, feed them daily and then when I plop down on the couch to watch tv I take them out of the cage and they just run all over me while I'm watching tv. Mokey is an escape artist, but I've never had any problems with that. Generally if I come home and see she's gone I turn on the tv, sit on the couch, and 5 minutes later she's in my lap waiting for treats. So far (it's been a year) I haven't had any vet bills, but they are starting to get older now so who knows what will happen.

I am allergic to them, but it's no big deal. I'll break out in hives after playing with them. So I have to wash up and put some benadryl lotion and I'm good to go. When I bathe them my reaction is much less.

**pedapea** · 03-22-2005, 02:36 PM

Thanks for your thoughts, Uabassoon.

I'm still thinking. If I really feel like going for the rats, I'm going to have to do some heavy duty arguing with the husband. He's deathly afraid of them. Go figure. We had a guinea pig, and he wasn't afraid of her. I told him to think of a rat as a guinea pig with a tail

He tells me last nite.."don't get a rat or mice, if you have to get something, get a bunny"

I remember when we had our piggy, I was quite allergic to her. I had a piggy when I was younger with no allergies. Different hair type, I guess. My first one was one of those ones with the longer swirly hair. This last one I had, had short, kinky, coarse fur. It was the neatest feeling under your hand. When I picked her up or petted her I would break out in hives and be horrendously itchy. I discovered one day that I couldn't bathe her. When she hit the sink and I started washing her my throat and chest all of a sudden felt like a vise squeezing me. I could barely breathe. I was coughing, puking, gasping for air and turning purple. I went outside in the cold air and it seemed to help a bit. Talk about your anaphylactic shock. Someone told me that the dander particles from her fur got trapped in the mist from the water that was floating around as I was washing her, and I was inhaling them...hence the horrible reaction. After that. I delegated bath time to kids who weren't allergic to her. She had to be done in the bathroom with the fan going. Blow dried in the bathroom, with the fan going and immediately put every single towel used for her in the wash, as well as hang the bathroom rug outside to air out. Yeesh. What a pain in the butt.

**wolfsoul** · 03-22-2005, 06:00 PM

I have to say that rabbits are alot easier to care for. My RB rabbits never needed vet care, really. My first rabbit had to go to the vet once, and that was to be put to sleep. My rats have needed to go to the vet for checkups, medication, surgery, etc. If you want to keep them alive, they need tons of care. They have specific needs that can't be ignored.