I've never thought of getting anything smaller than a cat (besides a small dog, ha). Never had a rabbit or a hamster before, although I've had friends who have had them. That's a good alternative.

A cat is something to consider. They're certainly much more independent, and would not suffer so much in the absence of a person.

I am a volunteer with our Greyhound group with my mother, and once my mom gets the Hartford Dog Pound group going, I'll have that to volunteer with too.

I have no clue what my schedule will be- who knows, I may have time after all, but I can't dismiss this as a possibility. I'm iffy with it because I'm so close to all my pets, but I just began to think about this. I tend to contemplate things like this ahead of time (sometimes, it ends up working out and I worry for nothing...). We'll see what happens years from now, but thank you all for your insight.