What animals make the best/worst pets?

What are you longing for in a pet?

Someone who is madly in love with you? Who sees you as their God. Then get a dog.

Someone who is fiercely independent, but graciously allows you occasionally to stroke them. Who knows that they are a Goddess and deserve only the best for a brief purr. Then get a cat.

Or you want someone who not contradicts you as a nice ornamental addition to your environment. Then a fish would be right on top.

However, when my father in his retirement home tried to join the group that shared memories about their pets, the others looked at him in disbelief. In their mind you cannot have an emotional connection to a group of fish.