MomsTalk: Should You Wait Until Your Kids are Older to Get a Pet?

I am a cat lover, but I grew up in a house with a brother who had allergies.

I always dreamed that “when I grew up” I would have a little feline of my own. In my mid-20s, I convinced my brand-new husband to let me pick up a kitty from the pound.

We named her Bean, and through the years, she’s been feisty. She hissed, she swiped, she growled. But when it was just her and me, she adored my undivided attention.

Then my husband and I had a baby.

Suddenly her hissing, growling and swiping seemed a lot more than "feisty."

More like dangerous.

We recently decided she wasn’t a fit for our home.

It was an agonizing decision. One animal advocate I spoke to mentioned that we should have waited to get a pet until after our children were older. She said many pets are displaced after couples have children.

I’m not sure I agree, totally. We have another cat with a wonderful disposition who doesn’t cause me to lose a blink of sleep, ever. I hope no animals go without having good homes because young adults have taken that advice and put off getting a pet to wait for marriage and children.

Weigh in: Should young adults delay getting a pet until after they have children, and until children are older?