---

Initially, I was going to say what a subjective question, but I genuinely don’t think it is.

For someone who has had almost every type of animal, from sugar gliders to iguanas, I believe cats, dogs, and rats are the best. While cats and dogs feel like a boring, cop-out answer, they genuinely have the best pro-to-con ratio. Not to mention, they were essentially bred to be pets. That being said, not every dog or cat will work in every home. Even when it comes to dogs/cats, prospective owners truly need to find which breeds and temperaments works for best for them.

For example, I seriously cannot live without dogs. I have lived with dogs since I was born and the few years I couldn’t due to my housing situation were the most miserable of my life. I could feel there was something missing, a hole in my life that only a dog could fill. Even when my dogs are annoying me, I would much rather have them in my life than not. However, I cannot have intelligent or working dog breeds. Breeds like huskies, border collies, and cattle dogs are too intelligent and energetic for me. I know myself and that I don’t have the energy, time, or dedication to constantly entertain, stimulate, or train them. It would be a match made in hell.

Cats are also among my favorite despite not having any until my late teens. I currently have three cats, all with very different personalities. But I love each one and have learned to coexist with them pretty well.

All in all, Soulmate and I have a remarkably good routine with our animals.

But what about rats? Rats are the outlier in my response. If Soulmate wasn’t allergic, I would have rats now. But they are so sweet and smart. Not only are they clean, but trainable as well. You can train them to use a litter box! They are also super sweet and can develop relationships with their person.

That being said, I personally truly believe that most pets shouldn’t be pets. Reptiles and birds mainly and other such “exotics”. I hate what designer morphs have done to the snake industry as well as how much people truly don’t understand the work it takes to care for such animals, forcing them to be passed around, abused, or neglected. Soulmate and I used to rescue reptiles off of craigslist, rehab, then rehome them. We actually have 2 red tail boas that were so abused, we kept them to give them the best life we could. They’re amazing snakes but they suffered greatly at the hands of people who had not the knowledge nor the care to treat them properly.

Fish, reptiles, and birds are some of the most expensive pets and require some of the most intense care. They’re also poorly researched or not much is known about them so there is some discrepancies and disagreements on how they should be cared for.

That’s not to mention that many people just shouldn’t be in charge of caring for another living them.