#nikkicotten

As if we weren’t already ripping our kiddos out of a life they were finally settled into,  when we left Dallas, we had to leave our puppy, Falon.  We made up for this by promising to get a dog in France.  This seemed to pacify little girls for a while - but after moving from Bayonne to Biarritz, the girls started turning up the heat on the dog issue. In my defense, I had every intention of making good on the promise until I found out that Europe really isn’t as pet friendly as I thought.  After researching travel with pets in Europe, I found out that animals aren’t allowed on most fast trains.  Although there are whole websites dedicated to mass transit with man’s best friend, turning a 5 hour train ride in to an 11 hour one so that aforementioned friend can accompany just seems unreasonable to me.  

So - we decided to research other ways to fulfill our promise and the girls’ need for a furry friend.  Cats can be left alone for a weekend but then there’s the litter-box smell and the hair on everything - no.  Hamsters are cute and cuddly but, aside from the fact that they are rodents - eew - research concluded that they have small brains, don’t bond with their owners and tend to bite more frequently than their rodent counterparts.  Guinea Pigs - um…no.  Bunny.  Chinchilla.  

And then I stumbled upon rats.  I had heard in the past that rats made good pets, but the thought of a rat in my house gave me the heebie jeebies!  But, Ratatoullie had given me a bit of a soft spot so I decided to check it out.  I went to the pet store alone one afternoon to see if I could even stomach the idea.  There were cages with all kinds of small creatures looking back at me - big eyes (sometimes red and beaty) begging me to take them home (or to back the hell off).  And then I passed a cage with a single rat.  Black and white.  Long tail.  No red eyes.  Big ears.  Kinda cute.  Hmmmm…….Maybe.

I decided to think about it.  Back and forth.  I don’t really want a pet at all.  But I promised the girls a dog.  Maybe a cat wouldn’t be that bad.  Hamsters are cuter.  Rats have big teeth (I saw this when said cute rat yawned - ugh - I don’t want to be bitten by this one) and long fingers with sharp nails.  Supposedly, they are most like dogs though - bond with their owners, bite much less often than hamsters and are quite smart.  The girls could also take him with us when we travel.  Okay - I’ll bring them back and see what they think.

Big cage, little cage, food - only organic, bedding - again, only vegetable based - wood chips can tear up the feet, house for inside cage, water bottle, platforms, tube, exercise ball, exercise wheel for inside of cage - wait, that will tear up his feet too - no exercise wheel.  Leash.  Yes, leash.  And we were out the door.