It's summer, which means that fairs and carnivals are prevalent. At many of these events, there are games with highly desirable prizes, such as stuffed animals, over-sized lollipops, and goldfish. While the stuffed animal easily is stored on a shelf and the lollipop will be eaten within a day or two, what is one to do with a goldfish?While goldfish (or other small fish) may make excellent first pets, there are things to consider.
1. Goldfish can live for 5-10 years. While this prize is won with a few throws of a beanbag, this pet will be with you
Pets definitely are not allowed to inhabit the place where I live, but after my friend offered me a kitten for $30 that was medicated and came with food, litter, and a litter box, my roommate and I started to think about how we could house a cat in our 8 person suite. Well, all of our hopes and dreams came crashing down when one of the suitemates told us that she was allergic to cats, but that we could get a dog. Yeah, let us hide a Golden Retriever. The next animal we looked into getting was a chinchilla. This 
Just on the off chance you missed the June 14th issue of Current Biology, there was an insightful article about cats entitled "The Cry Embedded Within the Purr". In summary, your cat is smarter than you think he is and he's been playing you for a fool. Cat owners everywhere responded with a collective 'duh'.
