Differing views on pet care:
I think it is very interesting that people have
so many different views on the topic of pet care. I have
been thinking about this a lot. Some people I know use
the smallest cages they possibly can and they give their
animals the cheapest and easiest-to-feed kind of food,
in order to be able to keep as many animals
as possible for breeding purposes. Some of these
people, when asked, of course have totally other views on
pet care than the person with just a few highly beloved
pets.
This is exactly as with dog owners. Some dog owners think it is totally ok to leave the dog alone all day, and take it out on a 5 minute pee walk once in a while. Other dog owners would feel that it is totally unthinkable to leave such a highly social animal as a dog alone all day, and would also take the dog out for long walks every day.
Some dog owner's fool themselves by getting two dogs and think that two dogs may be happier together in the absence of their owner. But two lonely dogs are just two lonely dogs, waiting for their owner. It is better to pay somebody to walk the dog during the day, or even pay somebody (a human companion) to keep the dog company during the day, than getting two dogs. Two dogs will mainly have the benefit of eachother's company in the presence of a nice human, on their own they are just as bored as one lonely dog.
Even if I could find ten different views on how to best care for, for example a rat, I cannot believe that all these differing views are just as good for rats.
What is good for the animal?
My personal opinion is that when it comes to pet care
what is best for the animal is what is best, period.
For example I think that any pet shall have the
possibility to act out its natural behaviour. Digging
animals needs something to dig in, climbing animals
need things to climb, animals that sleep in some
kind of nest need some kind of cover or nest to
sleep in. And so on. This is the rule whether it is
convenient for the owner or not!
Thus I put the animal species and its behavoural and
nutritional needs up front and not human ideas. But even
if a particular animal live in a pile of dirt in the wild
it does not have to do so as pets. Wild rats are thought of
as extremely unsanitary animals, still rats obviously do
not mind having clean cages and fresh food when kept as
pets. But they are social animals in nature, and need other
rats as friends when kept as pets. In the same way they
live in holes in the ground or whatever and need some
kind of cover or protection (a wooden house or whatever
your rats prefer) when kept as pets. They are curious and
move about over great distances in the wild, exploring new
things every day, so they need new stimuli all the time as
pets too. And so on.
This means that you will have to make a scientific
evaluation on what the needs are of a particular animal. The
animal that lives in dirt in nature may not have the need
to be "living in dirt" but may need to have a big cage, or
a nest to sleep in. You will have to find out which!
How to form an opinion:
Different animal owners base their opinions -
about good pet care - on different assumptions.
Some only want to breed a lot of animals to sell.
Then any kind of "care" will do as long as enough many
babies are born and weaned - and sold.
Some only breed to show,
then it can be important to quickly cull all individuals
that are not good enough to be shown. And also
all individuals that already have been shown and won
all they possibly could win, and thus are of no more use,
may be killed to leave room for new individuals.
Some have their animals only as pets, and would never
kill an "ugly" baby, these people have them to pet and not to
show, and would not kill on the ground of appearance.
Some pet owners would kill their pets instead of
paying the vet.
Some kill their pets when they go vacation...
When it comes to cage size and kind of food to feed the views on this is also based on what the animals are supposed to be used as. And on the degree of knowledge about the animal that the owner may have. A pet owner that bought a pet in a pet shop usually do not know much about the care of the animal and therefore the animal may be kept in a too small cage and fed something that might make the animal sick. Also a social animal might be kept solitary - if that's what was tought at the pet shop!
Many pet owners know better, they read a lot about the species they have and and try to do their best. Sometimes not even this is enough since so many books about pets contains so much desinformation (=facts that are totally wrong).
What about the needs of the animal then?
One thing is certain and that is that too few pet owners
base their care on the actual needs of the animal. And
that too many base their care on "bad" information lack
of real interest in getting to know more.
What can we learn from different views?
A pet owner that have the view that small cages and
easy-to-use food is best probably have too many
animals and too little time and place.
A pet owner that use big cages and really makes
an effort to give fresh food, high in nutrients, probably
keep these animals as pets mainly and may also have a
true interrest in getting more knowledge about the animals
and their care.
Sometimes you find many animals in big cages, given
quite good food, but where all the cages only contains
some bedding/litter, the animals, and nothing else. Then
you may guess that this owner have lots of place but no
interest or knowledge about what other needs these animals may
have. Maybe the animals need to climb, to explore or to have a
nest, or all of these things...
What do you think?
What about beginners?
Someone who just bought their very first pet may get
confused over all different ways to keep the pet,
all differing advice. The pet shop person saying "this
cage is big enough, this animal can be kept alone, this
food from this company is really the best, trust me, I know, since I do this for a living".
Then maybe they meet someone else who owns a pet and this
person says "that cage is too small, this animal is social
and need a friend, that food is just expensive but
absolutely not good"...
Who would this poor pet owner believe in? In most cases
they believe in the pet shop person! Because most people think
that pet shops are all about care of animals, and that
the persons working in the pet shops have been educated
in pet keeping!
If you instead of saying "that cage is too small" say "the pet shops do not have room for bigger cages, and a bigger cage bought in a pet shop would be extremely expensive" and then you offer to help building a bigger cage for the poor animal, then who will this person believe? If you instead of just saying "this animal is social and need a friend" tell everything you know about how this species live in the wild - and let this person realize that the animal is social - and need a friend. Maybe you could recommend a book about how this animal lives in the wild. Then who will this person believe?
Or even better, try to talk about ALL the different ways you have heard that people may care for this animal, and explain why one kind of animal can be cared for in so many different ways. I use to ask what they want the animal for. And then tell them how breeders keep them, how pet owners keep them, what pet shop personnel usually say about them and so on. So that this person will know that the different ways to keep animals usually are based on the USE of the animal, and then he or she can decide how to care for their own animal based upon this knowledge.
A pure pet dog sleeps in your bed, stays near you
most of the day, gets long daily walks and are seldom
alone. A breeder's dog or a hunter's dog may sleep
in a kennel, pee and poo in a kennel, live in a
kennel and be alone all the time!
The same kind of differencies in the care of the animal
can be found when it comes to small pets like rats,
guinea pigs, rabbits, mice, gerbils, hamsters and so on.
To agree about views and opinions:
I have been told that it must be impossible to collect
all different views on how to care for small pets in
one place, since so many peopole really believe that
their way of caring for an animal is the best
way! But this says more about the war of opinions
among pet owners than about what the care of the animal
this is all about! Totally unnecessary!
The worst thing in this war of opinions is when you start to dislike people just because their opinions are not your opinions! These people may be very nice people, so it is better to realize that you have differing opinions, which does not mean that you have to dislike eachother.
I have been told that there could never be a book
about rats covering the care of rats that all rat
owners could agree on. But if all different ways
to care for rats are covered in the book, then? If
this book covered how to keep rats for breeding,
for showing, as pets, and so on. Then anyone reading
this book could decide would suit them, what kind of
caring for their own rats they want.
This book should clearly state what the known
natural behaviour and nutritional needs are. There may
be several different ways to care for rats that let the
rats fulfill these needs. All these ways to care for
rats will be good for rats!
Pellets
Pellets is a subject that makes some people very
emotional. I am trying to stay out of that, and
keep to facts.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Pet care books:
When it comes to pet books we have to come back to what
purpose you have for keeping animals. The pet owner need
books about pets, with correct info on caring for the
animals. The breeder may want a book with photos of different
breeds/varieties and breeding tips. Some breeders want
genetic info, too.
Naturally all this information is not contained in
one book. Also some books are old and incorrect since
much have been learned about the animal since the book
was written. I can't really say that there excist many
really good books about small animals, not in any
language! Peter Gurney's guinea pig books are highly
recommended, but only for info on the subjects of
care and diseases.
I also know of a mouse pet book that has some good info
on the caring for mice. I know good books about genetics
and interesting books with photos of breeds and
varieties, mainly on mice, guinea pigs and rabbits.
But I must add that most books about small
pets contain an enormous amount of bad info
(incorrect facts).
So: show me how you care for your animals and I will tell you what you know about them and your reason for keeping them!
Written by Eva Johansson.
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 11th of August 2006.