Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Animals - Essay Example Mostly compared in the debate on the best pet are cats, dogs, reptiles (turtle, tortoise, and fish). The other point worth noting is that each kind of pet has its own advantages and disadvantages and it depends on what its owner expects of it. In addition, the nature and behavior of a pet also determines whether it is the best or the most appropriate (Radford 24). For an illustration, a dog may be quite laid back by nature while one may acquire and keep a cat which has uncharacteristically high energy. Similarly, if one wants a pet to take a stroll, play, and go places with, then a dog would come highly recommended. On the other hand, cats are easier to care for and are thus recommended for pet owners interested in a more relaxed atmosphere while dogs are for fun and outdoor people. The comparison is however not always about dogs and cats; sometimes dogs and cats are compared with other kinds of pets such as reptiles and fish. In these comparisons, a good pet is defined on the basis of characteristics such as temperament and the ease of care and upkeep (Radford 43). Many pet lovers also concur that the best pet is not only gentle but also good natured and easy to take care of. This paper compares dogs and cats on one side and fish and reptiles on the other. Cats and Dogs versus Fish and Reptiles There are several advantages that dogs and cats have over reptiles, which make them better pets over the latter. Among the positive aspects of cats and dogs are loyalty, easy to manage, simple feeding/diet, easy to find feed, they are playful, and are fun to be with. However, there are several bad aspects of keeping cats and dogs as pets. For instance, they need medications/shots for diseases such as rabies, mange, cough, worms, and they must be licensed. In addition, dogs and cats need to be neutered and are costly. The main advantage of fish and reptiles such as lizards, tortoise, turtles, snakes, and fish is that they are kept in cages hence easy to keep and manage. Moreover kid, especially boys love reptiles. Since they are mostly in cages, they require little attention from their owners once they are fed and have few problems of running away from home. Nonetheless, there are several problems that make reptile pets a bit difficult to keep. That is, they may cause salmonella-related infections, more so to kids, who should always be kept away from such pets. The second problem with reptiles is that they require specialized diets and costly tanks and cages for fish, snakes, lizards, and turtles. These cages must also be cleaned as regularly as possible since reptiles, more so fish are rather delicate. The other pets often compared with cats, dogs, and reptiles are bunnies, which happen to be fun to play with for a lot of people. In addition, bunnies are easy to feed, smart, social, and play a lot, thus entertaining and easy to bond with. A rather boring aspect of keeping bunnies is that one cannot walk and play games such as â€Å"catch† o r swim with them. Further bunnies do not like being held a lot and are rather frail. From the mentioned advantages and disadvantages of cats, dogs, reptiles, and bunnies, it is clear that each pet has its own good and bad sides. As mentioned earlier, what determines the best pet is the owner’s personality, lifestyle, the nature of the pet, and the expected role of the said pet in the owner’s life. In fact, some people have compared pets to children. For example, for someone always working, with little or no time to take care of a pet, a cat would be highly recommended instead of a dog since cats are mostly indoors. This scenario presented by a cat is quite unlike the case of a dog,