Most children want pets at some time, but you need to think very carefully before deciding which type of pet is right for your family, your home, and your lifestyle.

Children raised with pets show many benefits, helping to contribute to a child's self-esteem, self-confidence and trust. A good relationship with a pet can also help in developing non-verbal communication, compassion, and empathy. They provide lessons about life; reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents, death, and bereavement.

Taking care of a pet can also help children develop social skills and respect for other living things but certain guidelines apply:

• Very young children (under the age of 3-4 years) do not have the maturity to control aggressive and angry impulses, so they should be monitored with pets at all times.
• Young children (under 10 years) are unable to care for a cat or a dog, on their own.
• Parents need to oversee the pet's care even if they believe their child is old enough to care for a pet.
• Children should be reminded that animals, like people, need food, water, and sometimes lots of exercise.
• Parents must be role models as children learn responsible pet ownership by observing their parents' behaviour.
• Parents should be cautious about having aggressive animals as pets. Exotic and unusual animals may be difficult to care for and should be considered very carefully.

It is generally considered best to go for something that is low maintenance to begin with. Small pets, like budgerigars, canaries, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters or mice are a good starter as they are normally kept in a cage or a run and are fairly cheap to keep.

But wherever type of pet you consider you will need to establish some ground rules for your child first. Below are just a few of them:

Do -

• Worm cats and dogs regularly as worms can transfer to humans. Seek advice from your vet on this.
• Insist on good hand-washing following any handling of pets or pet excrement when cleaning out cages etc.
• Show your child how to handle pets gently.
• Teach your child to learn about your pet's likes and dislikes
• Tell your child that pets may not like the things they do - such as loud noises, rough play, or 'Human' chocolate, for instance, which can be very harmful to dogs.
• Explain that your pet needs to exercise regularly
• Explain that your pet needs to go outside to go to the toilet (or use the litter box) always making sure your pet's toilet area is away from play areas and is effectively disinfected

Don't -

• Let pre-school children handle pets by themselves
• Allow your child to yell at or hit your pet
• Let your child bother your pet when it is resting, sleeping, eating or playing alone with a toy
• Let animals lick faces - ‛kisses' are nice but when you consider what animals keep clean by licking, letting them lick faces is not good..

The most important thing to consider before having a family pet is will you and your family really care, love and make it part of the family if not - DO NOT get a Pet!

For more information, visit www.rspca.org