I don't think you can beat cats for "least noisy and straining", except in specific cases. Although I know a few rabbit and iguana owners who might disagree, they may be quieter but have more upkeep needs.

Rats are excellent.

We have three dogs, three cats, three rabbits, a cockatiel, and various fish.

For true companionship, unconditional love and loyalty, and as walking buddies, the dogs are best.

For lower-maintenance companionship (but with more aloof love and loyalty), the cats are best.

I enjoy the rabbits and the cockatiel and the fish too, but I don't really have a "relationship" with them like I do with the dogs and cats... But I know people who really do form relationships with all kinds of pets, so I think it's a very individual thing, and it depends on individual circumstances.

I like cats, caused I was raised with a cat. A huge-ass Maine Coon that would do this little stalking-following thing whenever I'd leave for school. Just kind of shadow me til I reached the next to the last house before the field. When I'd come home she'd bounce out of the bushes, yelping, and expect me to pick her up to take her home. When we moved to a new place, she couldn't quite grasp the concept of three floors, so she'd stop on the second and wail to be let in. Once, I was coming up the stairs and saw her moaning at the door at our downstairs neighbor and went to pick her up. Just then, someone opened the door. Cat RACED in and I RACED IN after her. In a burst of sheer adrenaline I ran into the strange apartment after the cat and pulled her out from under a bed (She had run to her favorite place in our apartment, all the floor plans being the same) and then I ran out, screaming "Sorry! Sorry!" to the very confused family whose house I had just invaded.

After that, she was kept inside, but then she managed to get out via the balcony, we found out when she brought home a bluejay.

But after all that. I'd really like a corvid. Their sneaky and almost malevolent intelligence is a big draw. Fly my pretties! Fly! and ect.

And I know two people with deep relationships with their rats. It's like Octopi, it's so sad their lifespans are so horribly short because they are so shockingly intelligent. You almost think they lost a war or something and living for only 4 years is a ounishment.

I couldn't live with a no-strain pet, of any species.

One of the funnest things about having a dog/cat/fish/bird/octopus/nutria/babby essexjan around is that they are fiercely individual and you have to adapt to how they enjoy spending time as much as they do you.

Our last pet was Sadie, a formerly-feral grey tabby with a mangled tail and a yowl that could peel paint.

It was like living with Bette Davis or the cat equivalent of the Sylvia cartoon. But that's what made Sadie so wonderful - how annoying and adamant she was about what she liked or wanted.

I love most animals, and they generally seem to return the favor, and tend to trust me. I've formed the closest relationships with cats and songbirds- two in particular. For a couple of years when I was about 6 or 7, I had the sweetest little female thrasher, whom I found as a featherless hatchling and hand-raised.

And the cat who lives with me now is a wonderful little being (little only in comparison to me, as he is one of the larger-framed cats I've known and almost everyone catching his glowering stare from the depths of his massive carrier when I'm lugging him around asks what kind of dog he is). He has a short temper, but a forgiving nature, and comforts me when I'm sick by making himself into a heating pad for the part that hurts, or tucking his head into my neck when I'm sad and crying. When we're curled up together, he matches his breathing to mine. I don't know if I'll be able to have another cat after him, for the sake of loyalty.

My great-great-grandmother Sarah (always called Sadie, amusingly in light of LT's comment) raised and kept a crow as a companion, which she taught to speak. According to my grandmother, it was her accomplice in all sorts of practical jokes.

My great-great-grandmother Sarah (always called Sadie, amusingly in light of LT's comment) raised and kept a crow as a companion, which she taught to speak. According to my grandmother, it was her accomplice in all sorts of practical jokes.

That's fantastic, nqmaryann. It sounds like your great-great-grandmother Sadie was a character in a Eudora Welty story.

Oh, how I wish... that side of the family was indeed all Southern and hopefully all eccentric. I went to check the genealogy which her youngest son wrote, but there's practically nothing about her apparently since this version was put together in the 50s when she was living. But he (great-great-uncle Laurence) is still going strong, so this is a good reminder to try to ask him.

I'll never live without dogs again! I grew up with them (we almost always had more than one, and they were usually Scottish terriers, but also West Highland terriers and a Cairn terrier), but then after college I never lived anywhere where I could have a dog until my boyfriend and I moved in together. He already had Zippy, the sweet little Smooth Fox terrier that he rescued several years ago from a neglectful neighbor. Then we added to the pack a few months ago when we rescued Duncan, our little scruffy terrier mutt.

They are both as sweet as can be, surprisingly quiet (they almost never bark -- they just do little happy-whimpers when we come home or when they want to play), and utter joys to be with. They're not exactly low-maintenance (they get walkies three times a day), but they're actually pretty mellow, all told. Warm fuzzy love!!

It's not that I don't love my dog or my rats; I love most animals. And, like notquitemaryann, they seem to trust and like me as well. But if I have to choose just one animal, cats are my favourite. The stereotype is that cats tend to be aloof, but I have yet to run into one; all of my cats have been quite interactive.

My most aloof cat, Abigail, checks in two or three times a day. She'll stretch up a paw and lightly tap me so I know she's there and can "assume the position" so she can jump into my lap. She hangs around for a few minutes while I pet her then off she goes to nap or whatever. If I'm watching TV she's usually right there to cuddle in my lap. Yes, I said she's the most aloof one of the bunch.

The other cats follow us around all the time and it's not for food (they're free fed). They just seem to want to be where we are. Right now Oliver is curled up on my desk next to my monitor. All four cats take turns sleeping on top of me at night or when I nap (I'm a side sleeper and they curl up on my waist/hip area). They also come to the front door when either I or the mister come home.

I don't know if I'm just lucky or if it's something in the way I treat them.

My bunny is pretty awesome and low maintenance bc of his litterbox training, but I worry about him because he is so delicate and when I go away he sometimes stops eating (how emo!). I never worried like that when I had a dog, but then again the dog needed lots of walks and baths, which the bunny doesn't.

I am a rarity on the internet because I hate cats (sorry everyone).
I think they're unfriendly and wily and stinky and I don't see the point.
There have been a few individual ones I've liked that have been more human-friendly and not so skittish.

I think I like particular animals based on personality, but not all animals of a species. There are awesome dogs and annoying dogs, same for bunnies and cats etc.

For lower-maintenance companionship (but with more aloof love and loyalty), the cats are best.

I thought "aloof love" was the new euphemism for cyber sex.

I'm very happy to finally have my doggy; I waited a long time to get her because conditions were never right for me to have a dog before. It's been the single greatest thing about becoming an almost-senior citizen... I've finally fulfilled my childhood dream of having a dog. :)

But I love cats, as well. I've had some wonderful cats... One in particular was Mistress Of My Heart. The great thing about dogs, though, is that you can take them with you (pretty much) wherever you go. The great thing about cats is - you don't have to. :)

Unfortunately, I've become more and more allergic to cats. It varies from cat to cat, with some raising welts on me wherever they touch me and causing me to sneeze and weep for hours, and some others hardly affecting me at all. V doesn't want a cat (but he didn't really want a dog, either - and now he's like the loveyloveysuperkissydoglover from kissykissydogloverland), but I could be persuaded again... If one claimed me who didn't make me cry and itch all the time.

I think I prefer a pretty high level of interaction, so it's mostly dogs and cats for me. Since I don't have enough room for a pony.

I agree with rmless2, my wife and I just love our bunnies. We're both a bit allergic to both cats and dogs, so bunnies seemed like a good compromise. We've had 8 bunnies over the last 10 years (still have 3) and every single one touched our hearts in so many ways. From our broken little special needs bunny Charlie to our "pretty and she knows it" Lucy, they've all been wonderful pets.

Before bunnies, it was tropical fish. They were beautiful, but it's hard to form the same kind of bond with fish.