I may get lambasted for posting this, but here goes...

I like the biology lesson aspect of pets having babies.

We also "let" our cat have a litter.

Now to explain...

Our kitty - the one we'd had for 12 years - died. A few weeks later, one of DD's classmates happened to take some kitties to show and tell at school, and said they were 'selling them for free.' lol. DD asked if we could buy one at that price, and I said yes.

The friend's mom had taken in a stray that had a litter of kittens the very next week. Our kitty was from that litter. That family lives on a farm and the mama cat became a barn cat, as did its siblings.

The kitty we took was an inside kitty. She darted out of the house one time at 4 1/2 months old. and we didn't find her again until the next morning. Unbeknownst to us, she was out being trampy. She continued her life as an indoor kitty and we'd planned to have her spayed at around 8 months, mostly because that was when it was going to be convenient for us.... and as an inside kitty, it wasn't like she was going to get pregnant.

And of course right about the time we were going to have her fixed, we realized she was pregnant.

It WAS a great biology lesson for our kids. They loved to put their hands on her belly and feel them move around. And it was fascinating to us that she insisted on DD being with her when she delivered them. If DD left her side she would find her and meow at her loudly until DD followed her back to the closet she had staked out.

Watching them get to the point that their eyes opened... introducing them to real food.... it was a great experience.

She had three babies. My brother took one and got him neutered. A friend took the other two -a male and a female - and sadly, the female had a reaction to the anestheia and died as she was in surgery being spayed. The vet had never had that happen. It made her scared to have the male fixed.... so they keep him inside all the time.

I'm the daughter of a vet and lived all of my growing-up years at our animal clinic. I helped deliver everything from goats to calves to kittens. It was just what we did. We also frequently spayed cats that turned out to be pregnant once we opened them up... and I took many a kitten fetus to show and tell in jars of preservatives as a result. It was fascinating to compare the aborted kitten to the gestational development chart and figure out how 'old' the kitten was.

I certainly don't recommend getting pets knocked up just so your children can experience the process, but I do have a very strong understanding of the mindset that has an appreciation for all that you witness when you have a pet that has babies. It's always been a little sad to me that this is not part of their lives: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman - ThePioneerWoman.com

I do believe if you can't afford a pet you shouldn't get one.