Some Dorm Friendly Pets

Leaving home to go to college is, as one of the books you'll probably have to read would put it, "the best of times and the worst of times." You've been waiting, anticipating the magic of being on your own, by yourself, in your own place for the last two or three years, but now that it's here you realize it isn't just by yourself, it is ALL by yourself.

Your dog is back home with the? rents. Probably sleeping on your bed. You hope. You hope your dog hasn't decided to start sleeping with one of your younger brothers. The little monster (your brother, not your dog) has probably hidden treats in the bedspread to entice YOUR dog away from keeping vigil on your bed. You are not a happy co-ed.

Somehow you make it through until winter break, starved for affection and the security of your dog, you've managed to put on three quarters of the freshman fifteen in less than a semester.

This can't go on.

But you're in the dorm and somehow you just know They're not going to let you bring a sixty-five pound German Shedder to live with you and this isn't one of those times when forgiveness is easier to get than permission.

So you've started trolling Petfinder. Looking at little dogs. Then you check the dorm rules.

No dogs . . . but there are other options. Options that aren't specifically proscribed. Options that are quiet.

Maybe you should think about being a lawyer when you grow up. Or a politician. Back to Petfinder, armed with a new set of search terms.

The first option you consider is a kitten. You can teach it to use the toilet, so there won't be a tell-tale litter box. They're affectionate and cuddly and cute and playful and definitely good company, but they aren't necessarily all that quiet, and your dog at home really loves cats - she thinks they're delicious.

Maybe a rabbit. Maybe not. You read up on them and they need more room than you've really got to spare, plus they do sometimes have a distinctive odor in an enclosed area that's not well ventilated.

The cute guy down the hall things you should get a tarantula. "After all," he reasoned, "they're furry, small, and don't make any noise." Sure they don't. Not until it gets out one day and your roommate finds it under her pillow, even though technically it's your roommate who would be making the bloodcurdling screaming sounds, not the tarantula. When he suggests a Madagascar hissing cockroach you throw up a little in your mouth.

The leopard gecko is appealing, would totally be a quiet pet, is adorable, portable so it would be easy to take home on vacations, although you'd have to fight the little brother to bring it back to school, but somehow you really need that cuddly mammalian pet.

This might be it. You've got an appointment after your last class tomorrow to go look at a ferret! It's already been de-musked and neutered. You found it on Craigslist. It's being given away along with an awesome habitat cage, several books on caring for and training a ferret (who knew you could train one?) and a couple weeks' worth of food. Evidently someone's kid got tired of taking care of it so he's losing his pet. Even your roommate is excited and trying to come up with a good name. No, "Hubert" is not going to cut it, no matter how much French literature you read.

No fair; no ferret. You got there just as a sophomore you recognize from biology lab is loading up Hubert. Maybe you're not supposed to find a hairy roomie yet. At least you can visit Hubert and get an idea of whether you want to try for another ferret sometime or maybe check out a chinchilla. There's a definite cuddle factor there. Or a hedgehog. Perhaps a sugar glider?

Visiting Hubert (whose real name is now Zaphod) teaches you that you aren't quite up for a ferret. Energetic little demons! Good thing he's got a whole fraternity house looking after him. You have made some friends while visiting him, though, and it looks like you'll be getting an invitation to be a Little Sister. Maybe the best part, though, is your biology lab friend found the perfect dorm pet for you and is bringing it over along with a cage and exercise ball. One of the lab rats got sprung. You couldn't have asked for a more perfect pet in your new college life. Tidy, clean, quiet, cuddly, intelligent . . . and you are not going to name her Hubert! Trillian sounds about right.

Provided by the writers at Discount Pet Mall, where you can find some really sweet pet supplies, like pet stairs.