I think it's great for little ones to be around animals. Last weekend there was this family of "cat virgins" (never had a cat) who wanted to adopt a kitten. They had a 3 year old. They were first looking at 2 11-week-old tortie sisters. But their foster mom said that they were little terrors. Then I showed them a foofy tortie named Brownie. She was a "teen ager" (5 months old.) This cat let me hold her upside down on one arm, so that was a good sign. The father had her in his arms and she was purring away. The family adopted the cat.