Getting a pet is a promise for its whole life, not just the cute months.

An animal cannot leave, cannot find another home, and cannot understand that you got bored. The whole arrangement rests on you keeping a commitment it cannot enforce, through the years after the novelty wears off: the vet bills, the early mornings, the stretch where the animal is old and difficult and no fun. That later part is where the promise actually lives.

If there is a pet in your house already, take the unglamorous job this week without being asked: the litter, the walk in bad weather, the nail clipping. If you are asking for one, count the fifteen years, not the first fortnight.