Cat or guinea pig?

[emer95]

Which would you choose for a pet?

My daughters are 9 and 11 and they have been begging us for a pet. My youngest even wrote a persuasive essay asking for a puppy. It was a beautifully written essay, and very persuasive, but she's not getting a puppy. I know my limitations and I am just not a dog person.

I would consider a cat or possibly a guinea pig, but I want to research first. I have a few concerns, though. I hear cat owners complain about their cats throwing up in the house- that's disgusting. Does that really happen often? I also knew a woman whose cat had a peeing problem and it would pee in her daughter's bedroom and nothing could get the smell out. They had a terrible time selling that house. Those are two major worries for me.

A guinea pig sounds like a good idea except people say the cage smells terrible and is a pain to clean. Plus, do you have to trim their nails? How on earth do you do that?

Other than those worries, I am very excited about making my girls happy and bringing a little furry family member into our home.

I'd appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks!

 

[briarwolf]

Honestly, I would go with the guinea pigs. We have two cats (on the insistence of my DD7) and they are pains in the ***! They are nocturnal animals, so every night they are up playing, meowing, crying, hissing, scratching, etc. EVERY night. We have tried to put them in the basement, but we still hear everything they do!

My DD adores them, but I am not a cat person so they get on my nerves big time. They do throw up and sometimes I won't find it until weeks later. The litter box is a pain to clean up and they are both very standoffish. They won't even sit in anyone's lap to be petted.

If I could do it all over again, I would definelty get the pigs. Or better yet, I would have just gotten fish.

 

[georgina]

Guinea pigs are social, it's better to get a pair! The cage does have some odor, it helps that I do some spot cleaning every night to remove wet bedding. Trimming nails is not hard, someone holds them for me and I use a nail clipper. We've had our piggies 5 years and love them very much (I am allergic to cats, but can tolerate the pigs as long as I wash my hands after handling them.)

 

[HunnyPots]

Given only those two choices I'd have to say......... neither! And this advice is coming from someone with four dogs and two cats, so I'm definitely not an animal hater.

If you're looking for an easy pet, I honestly don't think there is one. All require plenty of attention and dedication.

Cats are not easy and yes, some are pukers - I have one and it drives me crazy but there is nothing I can do about it except clean it up. Cats can be very tempermental. I truly think it takes a special kind of person to love cats and I'll be the first to admit that I am not one of them! We rescued ours from a dumpster when they were only very tiny babies and, well, I kinda became a kitten mommy...

Guinea pigs, to me, are large fluffy rats! The cage smells horrible even if you clean it every day. And they bite - at least the ones I've known did.

Maybe start small - how about a goldfish?

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I'm a cat person -- not a crazy-lady-with-10-cats-person, but a reasonable 1-2 cats is great person. We have one indoor/outdoor cat that comes in to eat and get a rub, then goes out to use the bathroom. We have one indoor kitten that stays in all the time. The litter box is no big deal to me. I scoop it every few days. She sleeps on the foot of my bed most of the time. Sometimes she wants to play, but as she's getting older, she's calming down. My sister used to keep her cat in her laundry room every night; he cried to go to "his room" every night and stayed there all night. It's all a matter of what they get used to. My previous cat (now gone ) slept on my feet every night.

My best friend and I had a guinea pig in college. UGH. The cage stunk, the thing ran around all night long and squeaked all the time. He was cute, but we had to bathe him to keep the smell down and that was no fun. At least cats are self-maintaining! And, he was not the type to just cuddle up with you to watch TV, or if you were holding him you'd always get pooped on. We wound up giving him back to the pet store when he grew much larger than they said he would and we just couldn't keep him anymore.

You can leave a cat alone with a bowl of food and some water for a weekend and not worry about it. Can't do that so much with a guinea pig.

Yes, cats throw up occasaionally, or "gak" as we call it. Frequency depends on the cat. We've had our kitten 3 months and I don't think she's gakked yet. Our inside/outside tomcat maybe once in that time. We always hear that tell-tale wheeze and rush him out the door. Personally, I'd rather clean up gak than poop. There's way more poop with a guinea pig.

If you go to choose a cat, I think tomcats are very lovable and friendly. Our current tomcat is a purr-er and lover, and our previous one was as well. Very good lap-cats. Our new female is a bit more aloof, but does curl up on me and purr, just not like my beloved Shadow did.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i've never had a problem with my cats(i have 3 of them right now, and my parents had 2 when i was growing up) peeing outside the litter box. they had an "accident" once or twice with going #2 JUST outside the litter box, but other than that nothing else.

and throwing up we only had a problem with one cat. they're kind of like people in that way. they get sick, the throw up. we haven't had an issue with throw up in a long while.

maybe you're thinking about furballs instead of actual throw up? in that case, you just get some stuff from PetSmart to give to them to prevent furballs. but tbh, i've never even had a furball problem with any of our cats, we don't even have to give them meds.

 

[georgina]

Perhaps those with terrible stinking guinea pig cages aren't using the right bedding. The Carefresh stuff is really good. Ours don't keep us up at night, but they don't live in our bedroom. I've never had to bathe them. And other than once or twice when they were babies, they don't bite. They do poop a lot, my DD puts a towel on her lap when she holds them.

There are cats that have issues such as the OP described, they are by no means perfect pets either.

 

[samshane]

Have had both... currently have 2 cats and 3 dogs, 4 fish and a hamster. One cat throws up all the time and has since we got her at age 1 (she is now 12 - we have consulted the vet and tried various meds). The other never throws up. The guinea pigs were fun - one my mom actually litter box trained when I was a kid and that was great. But they could scream up a storm. Loved them all... I was okay with the messes and the loudness and everything else that goes along with them.

The easiest to take care of out of all my pets - my fish.

Good luck!

 

[MulanUSAF]

Get a house rabbit instead. I have had cats and guinea pigs and I would trade all of them for house rabbits. Guinea pigs are noisy, mine used to whistle and make weird sounds all night long, plus they pee and poop everywhere. Cats claw up furniture and drapery plus they are moody. Now rabbits, they're quiet, neat, cuddly, sweet, litter box trainable and doesn't shed any worse than a cat would. Oh, and no nasty throw up hairballs to clean up after either. Check out www.rabbit.org about how to raise a house rabbit.

 

[swmmom]

We currently have three male (neutered) cats and a rabbit. I love them all, but the rabbit, much like a guinea pig, can be more work than the cats. We actually cleaned the rabbit cage today, and it's a two person job that takes at least 15-20 minutes. She is litter trained which helps to not have to completely clean the cage every week, just the litter pan.

We feed our cats a dry food that prevents hair balls, and we rarely have a problem with them. And if you keep a clean litter box, you shouldn't have any problems. Kittens are really cute, but they are also verrrrry active. All the kittens we have ever had would wake us up about 4:00 in the morning. If you don't want that then consider an older cat. The last two that we adopted were about a year old and didn't feel the need to play early in the morning.

Which ever you decide, be sure to check your local animal shelter to adopt your pet. I know that my local shelter always has small animals as well as cats & dogs.

 

[JoShan1719]

Ok, I'm the crazy cat lady with 10 cats (9, actually) and I love them to death. But they are work. Mine don't throw up very often at all, sometimes they just don't feel well and up it comes. My roommates cats do, though, so we have to get them a different brand of cat food. As for the peeing in random places, like pp said cats are temperamental. My husband and I joke that we don't own cats, they own us. Ours are very picky and if their litter box isn't scooped twice a day they'll go somewhere else. My roommates cats will use the box no matter how dirty it is, they won't go anywhere else.

I've never had guinea pigs, but my husband had ferrets growing up and said their cage smelled pretty bad. If you're looking for an easy pet you could try hamsters. We have a hamster and a mouse and they don't require much. Change the water everyday, bedding once a week and that's it. I'd suggest stopping by a Petsmart and talking to someone there, they'll be able to give you more information about all the up keep with the different animals. GL!

 

[mking624]

As a piggy advocate (I have three males)...I'd go with the cat. Guinea pigs are VERY delicate creatures and definitely require much more work and attention than a cat...and unless you plan on being the one in charge of the piggies (yes, as in plural...they are herd animals and need a piggy companion), I do NOT recommend them as starter pets. Here are a couple of good links for you on piggies so you have an understanding of what goes into them...
http://www.cavyspirit.com/care.htm
http://www.guinealynx.info/

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I agree with HunnyPots and say neither. You do not sound onboard with getting an animal and if YOU don't want to take care of a pet then don't get one.

I have had lots of cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, hermit crabs, and I think that is it. Right now I have 2 betas, a hamster and 2 dogs.

Pets are work and all of them have their gross issues. It is part of pet ownership.

 

[torinsmom]

We had a guinea pig in our classroom when I started teaching at my school. I was really glad when kids kept putting things in her cage and I had to follow through on giving her away to keep her safe. She was the stinkiest pet I have ever. Even with the carefresh bedding, her cage needed to be cleaned every 2-3 days or the room would reek. Also, the squeaking got on my last nerve, LOL.

I have 4 cats and they are all different. None of my cats keep me up; they all sleep at night. I started my youngest pair out "sleeping" in an extra bedroom. I have a fan on in my room and did not hear them if they were playing, and I have a small house. After about 6 months, I let them out and they rarely make noise at night. One cat sleeps in my son's room and he really does sleep all night. The fourth sleeps in the living room.

I have one cat who pukes every few weeks. It is actually a hairball; she is very long haired. I would get a short haired cat for less chance of this. If you let them outside, they are also more likely to puke, because they will eat grass and then puke it up. None of mine have ever peed anywhere other than in the litter box, or right next to it(one of mine had trouble with not getting far enough in and sprinkling some on the floor, but we got a hooded litterpan and solved that problem)

You could always get a hamster. The teddy bear ones are the best. I change the cage once every two weeks. They can be handled, but they are nocturnal.

Marsha

 

[Sparx]

A well fed, healthy, short hair cat probably won't throw up very often. The only time would really be if the cat had a stomach ache. In the wild, cats will eat grass and then vomit to cure an upset stomach.

 

[Frantasmic]

Guineas are fun to have and take care of...for about 4 months and then the novelty wears off. At least it did in my house. It is more difficult and costly to clean guinea pig cages in my opinion. We had to scoop every day and the litter doesn't clump, so you it was difficult to keep clean. You also have to feed guineas extra food (some vitamin C stuff and other munchies). Also, their nails and maybe their teeth need to be taken care of. If you won't do it, it's about 15 bucks every 2 months at Pet Smart. They need regular baths and ear cleaning.

Guineas last about 4-5 years while cats can live up to 12 years. I know people love their guineas. I didn't dislike ours, but to me, the cost-benefit weighed heavily in the cat corner for me. We owned cats for nearly 8 years. Currently, we are pet free.

 

[luvmy3]

I will never own another animal that belongs in a cage again, way too much work. I have 2 cats, and to me there is no better pet. I have had house rabbits, a hedgehog, gecko lizards, hermit crabs, birds and a dog in my lifetime, cats are a breeze compared to them (well except the hermot crab )

 

[emer95]

This is all extremely good advice! Thank you, experts!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

We currently have three male (neutered) cats and a rabbit. I love them all, but the rabbit, much like a guinea pig, can be more work than the cats. We actually cleaned the rabbit cage today, and it's a two person job that takes at least 15-20 minutes. She is litter trained which helps to not have to completely clean the cage every week, just the litter pan.

We feed our cats a dry food that prevents hair balls, and we rarely have a problem with them. And if you keep a clean litter box, you shouldn't have any problems. Kittens are really cute, but they are also verrrrry active. All the kittens we have ever had would wake us up about 4:00 in the morning. If you don't want that then consider an older cat. The last two that we adopted were about a year old and didn't feel the need to play early in the morning.

Which ever you decide, be sure to check your local animal shelter to adopt your pet. I know that my local shelter always has small animals as well as cats & dogs.

ita about the kittens. plus they are a LOT of work. you have to pratically baby-proof the entire house. and keep them confined to one room for a while, and you have to watch them all the time or else they'll manage to sneak into any place you can think of. and i'm sure guinea pigs would be the same way if they got out.

i'd say a cat about 1 year or older would be perfect. they're already litter trained and they're too big to crawl into small spaces and get stuck(they'll still crawl into spaces, but nothing too bad).

 

[mamacatnv]

Cat lover checking in who also ownes 2 guinea pigs

Go with the cats. I have been owned by cats for 20 years. Yes, we have had a pee'er in the bunch, as long as his boxes are clean and we don't leave inviting towels on the floor it is all good. I have a total cuddler, a grump and a feral kitty that eats and sleeps in the house. My DD has been in charge of cat boxes for a few years, a cat is easily something your girls could reasonably take care of.

Our piggys take up a lot of room, they need a very large cage, they are noisy when they know we are near the fridge which is where their treats are. Their cage requires a lot of maintenance to keep the smell at bay. I myself use a machine washable liner along with litter trays, it is a pain to keep clean. DD and I both use towels when holding them since they poop and pee often. The piggies are more expensive with their fresh hay, their pellets and fresh veggies. We have to get a pet sitter when we go away.