Post Grad Pets

My office is located near the downtown area of Rochester, yet we still seem to attract animals like crazy. Outside of my office we have tons of pigeons and squirrels (not uncommon for a city), woodchucks, about a month ago we found a stray puppy, and most recently a stray kitten. Most of my co-workers are animal lovers (one of them even adopted the stray dog we found.) But we can't help but wonder what's going to show up once we find a home for this cat.  A horse?


What our office stray cat looks like :)

 All of the strays coming around have me thinking about post grad pet ownership. Growing up, I never had a dog or cat (my dad is allergic to animal hair) so I got my childhood animal fix by riding horses. I thought for the longest time that the second I got my own place, I would get a dog or cat to call my own.

Now that I finally have my own place, I've realized that I'm not at a point in my life where I can take care of an animal just yet. From what I can tell, having a puppy is like having a small child and I'm just not home enough to give one the attention it deserves (did I mention I also live in a studio and I love large dog breeds?) While cats have become the new "starter pet" for our generation, I still wouldn't feel right adopting one until I was in the exact right place in my life.

I also thought maybe I would wait until I moved in with a significant other before making a dog purchase. Two sets of hands is better than one with a puppy, right? From what I hear, having a love puppy can be complicated too. I have a friend who took his ex girlfriend to court over a dog they shared and eventually lost custody even though he covered most of the dog's expenses.

I'm interested in learning about your post grad pet experiences! Did you get a pet as soon as you graduated? If so, what kind? Do you find it's tough to take care of  the animal now, or was getting a critter in your twenties the best decision you've ever made?

I'm looking into animal shelters where I can volunteer to get my animal fix. Until then, youtube videos of cute animals will just have to suffice.