Talk:Pet/Archives/2012

The Pet Wiki
As I am a member of The Pet Wiki, what do you think about adding a link to them there? As disgusting as it sounds, yes roaches are kept as pets, especially the Madagascar Giant Hissing Cockroach. &quot;Nova Scotia&#39;s biggest train person&quot; (talk) 18:11, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
 * No thanks, per WP:EL. OhNo itsJamie Talk 18:24, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

External links are SPAM?
The external links at the bottom seem rather spammy, I'd delete them but would like a second oppinion. Also, do people actually keep roaches as pets or should that be removed? CugeltheClever 15:15, 5 October 2006 (UTC)CugeltheClever

Pet list
Pet usage is not exclusive to the United States... Yet it does seems that the pet list has a USA-centric bias... I'm still searching for an animal listed as a common pet that is common outside USA or else equally common in the USA as it is everywhere else and I am not finding it, the list shall reflect the extension of the practice which can eb found throughout all humanity with no exception.Undead Herle King (talk) 19:47, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Ferets and skunks are not domesticated in the sense stated. That is, they do not have a different appearance than wild animals. Skunks have undergone surgery, but that does not change them.

Crickets, on the other hand, include the domesticated species Acheta domestica, which is distinguishable in form and behavior from wild crickets. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.140.52.140 (talk) 00:53, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Domesticated fish, such as koi and goldfish, should be included in the domesticated animal list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.140.52.140 (talk) 22:32, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Main Image
Are their any sources that say that owning a pet may actually promote a longer and happier life? RooZ  17:56, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
 * As with many things that impact health, there are numerous studies that shw different results. But in general it doea appear that pet ownership has a measurable positive difference on some aspects of health.  Check out the US government's National institute of Health statement on pet ownership for a fairly good assessment of current studies. I'll add this reference to the photo caption. --Siobhan Hansa 10:25, 25 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I'd like to see more on this subject, too. — Omegatron 23:14, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

"Objection To Pets" ; Pets and Others
i don't think this section accurately reflects peta's views. the way i understand it, peta is only opposed to pet slavery and maybe usage of the word 'pet', but not to "companionship". thus, this section suggests a conflict that does not exist. am i right? Bob A 07:14, 15 January 2007 (UTC)


 * — Omegatron 23:13, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

My changes
I've come across this article just now, and went through changing little things for the sake of grammar, tone, and accuracy. If there is anything I did incorrectly, be assured I did not do it out of malice, just stupidity (it's past my bedtime). One thing that I should mention is that I've made the spelling convention consistent to American spelling; if anyone opposes this, please speak out here so that we can come to a consensus on whether that or Oxford spelling should be used here. (I picked American because most of the article contained this, as well as for the sake of consistency; the article contained both spellings before I came along). After I get some sleep, I'll see if I feel like doing the review on this article. V-Man737 12:17, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

merge
Merge Residental pets should be merged with this its a duplicate article. Notability Crusader 06:37, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Merge — Omegatron 23:10, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Done. Elf | Talk 21:25, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Adding a link
I work for the America's Most Wanted Safety Center, a new branch of America's Most Wanted getting away from the capturing of criminals, and branching out to all aspects of safety. I feel a link to our post about what to do with your pets in an emergency would be appropriate and mutually beneficial, and something that people looking up pets would be interested in knowing. The link is http://www.amw.com/safety/?p=51 please consider it. Jrosenfe 13:19, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
 * That's more of a "how-to" than an encyclopedic look at pets and disasters (for instance a study on how disasters impact pets, or how different cultures treat pets in disasters would be more encyclopedic), so I don't think it's really an appropriate link for this article. -- SiobhanHansa 14:59, 22 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually there's some encyclopedic content there. I would support the inclusion of the link in a paragraph mentioning pets with regard to emergency situations.  Domesticated animals can be on either side of the victim/rescuer divide.  This is a good place to link out to our article on Rescue dogs or service dogs or whatever it's called. User:Pedant (talk) 18:04, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Barking and neoteny
Wolves do in fact bark, just not as often as dogs do.

Most domesticated pets are neotenous. Any objection to my adding a sentence and a link to Neoteny.
 * No objection here, depending on the sentence. Is there a good reference to cite as well? User:Pedant (talk) 17:57, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Word Use
The word "boid" is used under the topic of exotic pets. I can't find a reference to or definition of this word which is appropriate. Is this a typo? -Athaler 20:31, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I think it's supposed to be "bird". But since it's unsourced, along with much of the text there, and definitely POV, it should probably come out if we can't find a decent notable source to attribute it to.  -- SiobhanHansa 21:08, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, for the moment I changed it to "birds". If you think it should just be removed, feel free.  It does need a source though. -Athaler 15:50, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

I think boids is an incorrect way to refer to boas and pythons. Maybe this is what was meant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.53.33 (talk) 22:25, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

"Koko mourned"
mourned for several days

I am a bit uncomfortable with this as it stands without a good reference... Unless Koko told someone who wrote it down, we cannot know her state of mind, and mourning is primarily a state of mind.

Koko's behaviour should be stated, rather than that Koko, "mourned", 'mourn' is as far as I can research, not a 'word' in Koko's 'lexicon'. How did she convey that she was 'mourning'?

What reference says 'mourned'?

I would appprove a more descriptive "appeared distraught" "behaved in an uncharacteristically subdued manner" or something with less of what can't be shown directly by reference but is an assumption of Koko's 'state of mind'. Any suggestions ? User:Pedant (talk) 17:53, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Unless you're blind, mourning is easily detectable from simply watching the animal's behaviour. It is easy to tell, for example, when a dog is "mourning", even though dogs have less ability to communicate with humans then Koko does. The symptoms of grief or mourning in animals are not much different then those in humans, and you can tell when a human is mourning without even talking to them. You can tell when an animal is happy, for example, even though they don't verablly communicate this with you.72.136.137.24 (talk) 16:07, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * First off, when Koko's kitten All Ball died, she signed "cry" and "sad." Now, maybe you don't quite understand what mourning is, but that's generally what you feel and do. As the previous commenter said, you don't need an animal to walk up to you and say "I HAZ A SAD!!!11" to know that he/she is, in fact, sad. One does not need to know and understand the verb "to mourn" to express grief and mourning. It's not an assumption; it's a perfectly reasonable inference and all of your "suggestions" with your "scare quotes" essentially mean the same thing. You're nitpicking.

Pubic Lice
Someone added "Pubic Lice" to the list of commonly kept pets. While hilarious, I'm not sure if it should be there, unless there is some kind of pubic lice domestication I'm completely unaware of. Remove? 72.136.137.24 (talk) 16:03, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Effects on pets' health
I saw there is a section Effects of pets on their caregiver's health, I find it too much human POV :) I intend to start a section about effects on pets' health. --Cinagua (talk) 18:35, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Rewrite needed.
This article describes the steps that need to be taken to obtain a pet; Which not only does not belong in an Encyclopedia, but also is quite biased in assuming the reader wants a pet, and cares about the pets needs and desires. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.11.104.29 (talk) 00:58, 5 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Agreed; I've rewritten that paragraph per WP:NOT. Feel free to improve it further (see WP:BOLD). Kingdon (talk) 16:06, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Pounds to dollars
In the first sentence of the section, "Choice of a pet," it gives a figure in pounds. If no one minds, I'll convert that to U.S dollars and add that figure on in parenthesis.--&#91;&#91;User:Star Trek enthusiast&#124;&#39;&#39;STAR TREK&#39;&#39; enthusiast&#93;&#93; &#91;&#91;User talk: Star Trek enthusiast&#124;Open channel&#93;&#93; (talk) 21:35, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Expanding a section of Biosafety is based on the following....
--222.64.219.241 (talk) 01:32, 7 February 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+pet+biosafety&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

Info about the topic of .....
Pet ownership and health --58.38.47.48 (talk) 09:54, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+pet+ownership&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:01, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+pet+ownership+risk&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_vis=0

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:42, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=animal+ownership+risk&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:45, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=animal+ownership+risks&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0


 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=animal+ownership+infection&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:49, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=pet+ownership+infection&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0


 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=pet+ownership+virus&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:53, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=animal+ownership+virus&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

two side opinions --58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:04, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?start=0&q=allintitle:+pet+ownership+health&hl=en&as_sdt=2000

--58.38.47.48 (talk) 10:41, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com.hk/scholar?hl=en&q=animal+ownership+health&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

Pet = Companion Animal ?
Hi! I plan to work on the article about companion animals in Russian language Wikipedia. I want to know your opinion before. I do not think that "pet" and "companion animal" are complete synonyms. Not any pet may be a companion animal, though any companion animal is a pet. I guess it is more correct to make the distinction and separate the part, relating to the companion animals in a separate article. I guess "companion animal" is at other, higher level of human-animal interaction, and our cats and dogs turned to be more "humanized" and are at the further stage of the process of domestication and evolution than the animals that became household pets. I will be thankful for your replies. Best wishes, Zara-arush (talk) 17:49, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

History of pets
There's a legend that in the Middle Ages keeping animals purley for companionship was rare and could get you accused of witchcraft (as they were believed to be familiars). Anyone know anything about this? Could make a good addition to the article. Mbarbier (talk) 17:05, 30 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I came here looking for the history of pets and was disappointed to find virtually nothing. When did keeping pets become popular? I know the ancient Egyptians had a certain regard for cats, but could they have been considered "pets"? Now that I read this above paragraph about familiars, I'd like to know about that too. This article really needs a section for the history of pets. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.89.85.137 (talk) 22:00, 15 November 2010 (UTC)