I’m no expert on hedgehogs, but my understanding is that they’re wild animals who aren’t naturally social and who have a nocturnal lifestyle; while they’re very cute, they generally make lousy pets and are miserable in a domestic setting. The Humane Society of the United States discourage private ownership of hedgehogs, sugar gliders, iguanas, and other wild animals.
Daniel
Unfortunately, that seems to describe the typical behavior of the average pet owner, regardless of the type of animal they own. Simply by starting this thread, Amp has shown himself to be more responsible than most - he’s actually considering whether a cat would be an appropriate pet for him BEFORE going out to the nearest pet store and buying the first adorable cuddly kitten he sees.
Somewhere, I once read that the average puppy has only a 50% chance of remaining in its new home past the age of 2 - and 'behavior problems" are the usual reason given by the owner for giving up their pet. Who buys a dog without realizing that it will have to be housebroken, trained, and given regular exercise and care to become a satisfactory pet? Apparently, the answer is “a lot of people”.
Folks, follow Amp’s example - learn about the animal, and make a realistic decision about whether you can provide for its needs and live with it successfully, BEFORE you bring it home!
It sounds like you managed a wonderful pet store! My personal pet peeve are the large national chain stores which regularly stock and sell large psittacines. They won’t, as a matter of principle, stock puppies or kittens (lest they suport the mass breeders/puppy millers, and to discourage people from buying dogs and cats as impulse items) - but they WILL sell a Scarlet Macaw (a FAR more challenging animal to keep than any dog, and one that can live for more than 70 years), which has probably been mass produced in a large breeding setup that caters to such chains and may be only minimally socalized as a result of suboptimal handfeeding practices, to any yahoo who walks in off the street with a few thousand dollars in cash, no questions asked! Does this make ANY sense?
If you are interested in buying a parrot, do your research first. Then find a good private breeder, or the type of store that Mixie has described, and be prepared to answer a lot of questions. LISTEN if the breeder tells you that the bird you were considering isn’t right for you! And for heaven’s sake, don’t go to your local chain pet store to buy a parrot. If you wouldn’t buy a dog or cat from them, then you shouldn’t be purchasing your bird from them either!
Just FYI, many people are allergic to a cats saliva rather than the hair:
Actually, there is a relatively hairless cat breed–the Sphynx. I suspect that like most purebreds it would cost a bundle of money.
http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/sphynx.html
However, I have known people allergic to cats who keep the cats out of the human’s sleeping space, vacuum frequently, and groom the animal regularly and are able to live relatively symptom-free.