Here she is, Shana, Siamese chocolate point, soon to be 16yo:
In general, dogs; in particular, my dog.
I don’t even know why we’re having this thread. I love my old-man bird. I’m fond of cats when they aren’t making me sneeze or shredding my hand because scritch #87 was deeply offensive compared to #86. Fish can be interesting.
The answer, however, is dogs. People who disagree are entitled to their opinions, but their opinions are deeply flawed.
Rocket:
Unless I’m talking to Keanu:
Or Lorelei:
Omg they are gorgeous! 🥰
Rats.
Literally their only downside is that they only live 2-3 years
It is a biv downside. From my experiencev they also start to have health issues halftime through and these can be pretty bad. Happy for people who don’t have issues with it but I couldn’t go through what I did again.
Still miss my boys though, they were lovely. I wish I had a friend who has rats to experience the joys again a little.
There are some breeders who try to minimize some inherited illnesses, but yeah, they can develop quite a range of illnesses.
Personally, I lack the space for chaos potatoes, so I have to enjoy them via !petrats@lemmy.world and /r/rats
Downside for me: I’m allergic.
Didn’t know until we got a wire cage and I couldn’t breathe in my own house anymore.
No more rats for us.
that suck :( even naked rats?
Although they do tend to look like a mix between chicken breast and scrotum
Never been around naked rats, so I don’t know. You got me curious now though.
Well I have cats, so I have to say cats.
But I also really enjoyed keeping spiders.
so I have to say cats
blink twice if they are holding you hostage
Slow blink if they are treating you well
My best buddy for about 18 years now: When I lay on my bed and she’s sitting at the other end, I say to her, “you wanna sit next to me?” And she immediately starts walking toward me to give my arm a head-bump and receive a neck massage.
Every cat I’ve ever met has been my favorite and I love them all. They all agree they are indeed the best cat ever, no other cat compares.
My precious dog, who doesn’t have much time left, and I spend my days dreading losing.
She’s been with me since I nearly killed myself in college, pulled me out of depression, through graduation, the first date with my wife, our wedding, covid where I feuded with my family for 2 years and had almost nobody, and a move across the country.
We’ve got 3-6 months left together, and I don’t know who I will be with her gone.
We do not deserve dogs.
I love both cats and dogs, I grew up with an amazing black cat, and a maternal uncle has had dogs for as long as I can remember.
If I had to pick, I’d go with a cat, they are fantastic.
I remember playing a not too old mobile game called Super Starfish, where the characters are based on real life sea creatures.
A lot of them look really adorable, I want them as pets, especially Jooso (the yellow-orange koi fish), Bluberri (a blueberry colored tropical fish), and Mantee (a very colorful mantis shrimp). Garnette (one of the octopi) also looks kinda nice. And so does Don (based on the megalodon shark).
my previous golden. I love the current one but my last one was so gentle and loving even by golden standards. We literally had people say they were scared of dogs but ours was an exception.
Living? Kimchi the cat, Kim Chiara Obscura. Endless kitten, gorgeous and playful and sometimes cuddly. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, love them all but yeah she is my favorite. Luckily we have 4 humans too who each have a different favorite.
Of all time? Tie between the enormous Shepard - Akita mix dog we had, Loki, who was an utter delight and the cat who lived to 23, Max. One time my ex stood for an hour with Max on the counter, letting him sniff each of the spices individually. Opening each jar, sniffing, closing it. He always wanted to taste anything we ate and wanted us to share what he caught.
If I could have only one pet, a cat is what I’d get. But if I can have two, I would have a dog too.
RUDE! I can’t pick favorites!
OP’s cat actually looks like a Pug in that side view