So you want a pet, but you live in an apartment. That’s why you’ve ruled out getting a pet giraffe.
All right, that was never in the cards since there are laws about exotic pets, but certainly some pets work well for apartments, while others fit better in a house.
If you’re trying to figure out which pet to get for apartment life, the first step is to check the lease to see if pets are allowed and whether there are any restrictions on breed or size or other factors. Look for any fees associated with pet ownership within the unit, such as an extra deposit or a “pet rent” amount added to your monthly rent.
If that all checks out, here are some suggestions and ideas for your next steps.
Best Dogs for an Apartment
We’ll start with man’s and woman’s best friend. For people who just want to see a list of some good apartment dogs, Melissa Bartoli, a certified dog trainer who works at Abandoned Pet Rescue, a no-kill animal shelter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has some suggestions.
“Generally, the following breeds are well-suited to apartment living,” Bartoli says. Breeds you’ll want to consider include:
— French bulldog
— Shih tzu
— Pug
— Dachshund
— Bulldog
— Bichon frise
— Boston terrier
— Mini poodles
— Chinese crested
— Maltese
If you have your heart set on another breed, Bartoli says that there are some breeds that typically “struggle in an apartment setting due to their size, energy level or need for space.” These dog breeds include:
— Border collie
— Siberian husky
— Great Dane
— Dalmatian
— German shepherd
— Doberman
— Rottweiler
And, yes, some dog owners are reading this and thinking, “But I have a Great Dane who loves my apartment.”
It is indeed possible that you could have a bulldog that doesn’t do well in an apartment and a dalmatian that thrives in one. This list evaluates general tendencies. Choosing an animal companion is a personal decision based on individual factors.
“When considering a dog for apartment living, it’s essential to think about the dog’s size, energy level and temperament,” Bartoli says.
Best Cats for an Apartment
When it comes to apartments, it really isn’t the breed of cat that you need to think about, but the question: Are you getting a kitten or an older cat? The older cat will likely be easier to take care of.
“Kittens are high energy and thus can create some challenges in an apartment, although not as much as a puppy,” says Julie Hunt, a veterinarian in Harrogate, Tennessee, and a consultant at Embrace Pet Insurance.
Still, if you want a kitten, get a kitten — just make sure you have plenty of things to occupy the kitten, like scratching posts. If you are interested in an older cat, Hunt points out there are plenty in need of adoption at shelters and cat rescues.
Overall, Hunt says, “Cats are excellent apartment dwellers.” In fact, she says, “There are tales of cats who happily reside in far less square footage than apartments, such as living on sailboats with their owners who sail about the world.”
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Best Small Pets for an Apartment
Hunt says smaller caged pets, like birds, fish and reptiles, work especially well in apartments.
“Smaller birds don’t take up a lot of space, yet can provide happy experiences for their owners, even if they can be a bit messy,” Hunt says, explaining that seeds might fall from their birdcage onto the floor.
“Fish, including freshwater and saltwater fish, are great apartment pets,” Hunt says. She also likes reptiles, but she points out that if you’re an apartment dweller, you should steer clear of any that will grow a lot.
“For example, not iguanas or pythons,” Hunt says.
Some reptiles are tricky to raise, Hunt points out. “Most are sensitive to temperature, humidity and diet,” she says, and if these things aren’t managed properly, the reptile can become ill or die. Of course, that would be the case even if you’re raising a reptile in a house.
Hunt also recommends small mammals like guinea pigs, domesticated rats and maybe rabbits, although those require a larger cage, she says. She would steer clear of gerbils and hamsters. Sure, they’re small, which arguably makes them perfect for an apartment, but she says they bite too often, even if you’re gentle with them.
Also, as hamster and gerbil owners already know, they can sometimes escape. Your landlord may not love hearing that a gerbil was spotted in Apartment 4B, while you live in Apartment 3C.
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Other Apartment Pet Factors To Consider
Of course, common sense suggests that big animals probably won’t work well for an apartment and smaller ones will. But size and the type of pet isn’t always an indicator of whether an animal will take to apartment life. There are several other questions you should ask yourself.
How Often Will You Be at Your Apartment?
Will you and any other human residents be gone for long stretches at work or school? That’s a consideration if you’re in a house, too, but if you have a dog (or dogs?) they may be happier in a spacious, presumably quieter house. If you’re in an apartment and your dog can hear every sound other tenants make, you could find out your dog barks all of the time and is driving neighbors crazy.
You also might find being alone makes your dog irritable or anxious, and you could return to find your carpet chewed up or a lot of scratch marks all over your door. If you are counting on getting your security deposit back when you move out, you may want to consider how a pet may or may not endanger it.
On the flip side, some pets, like a dog, could mean you’re out of your apartment more, since you’ll have to take daily walks.
And that can be a good thing. “Indoor pets like cats, guinea pigs, goldfish or iguanas might be easier to live in an apartment, but having a dog might get you outside more to enjoy the best of your neighborhood,” says Steven Gottlieb, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Warburg in New York City.
What’s Your Pet’s Energy Like?
This, too, is something to think about. Robert Elson, also a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Warburg, says certain breeds, like hounds and setters, tend to not do well in apartments, but he adds that some large dogs fare better in apartments than you would expect.
“As a resident of New York City all my life, I can’t tell you how many Great Danes, mastiffs, Bernese mountain dogs, and even Saint Bernards I’ve seen on the street, and when I ask the owner what it’s like having such a large breed in New York, the response I invariably get is that it’s not what people think — they love to lie around.”
Elson also points out: “There are many dogs within small breeds like Yorkies and dachshunds that can be too energetic or overly barky for an apartment.”
Have You Thought About Pet Odors?
Gottlieb says pet odors in a small apartment can be particularly noticeable, especially to other tenants. For the pet owner, he says, “It can be easy to become desensitized from this.”
Pet smells can be particularly acute if you don’t open the windows regularly or if you have poor ventilation, he adds.
This is something to think about, with cats, too, according to Gottlieb.
“Cats can be great pets for an apartment, but sometimes, finding an out-of-the-way spot for the litter box isn’t so easy,” he says.
Hunt says ferrets, a popular pet at pet stores, “fit in small cages in apartments, but even when de-scented, they can have an odor that may be apparent in an apartment that’s not well ventilated.”
Bottom Line on Pets and Apartments
If you live in an apartment and want a pet, and the landlord or management allows it, go for it. Pets will enrich your life in any setting– you just want to think carefully about what kind of animal.
It’s like choosing a roommate. If you do your research, all will likely go well. If you rush into things, the wrong roommate, whether animal or human, could make your life pretty miserable.
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Best Pets for Apartments originally appeared on usnews.com
