The concept of pets has always been a little strange to me. I mean, think about it -- little fluffy balls of fur that you welcome into your home, and take care of like they are your children. You can't communicate verbally, yet you live compatibly and look out for one another. These little fur balls brighten our day, create a sense of comfort, and give us the utmost love and affection. It would make sense, then, that we would want this same kind of comfort at a time in our lives where we aren’t so comfortable; in the overwhelming and stressful world that is college.

There has been a recent boom in pets around campus that’s been kind of hard to ignore. If you take a stroll through Landis during the day there are constantly tons of dogs running around in circles. They may even collide right into you, at which point you look down at their puppy face and find it impossible not to pet them. My roommate and I love animals, so we wanted to see what it would be like to have a pet. We went to the shelter and picked out two kittens and a puppy that we fostered over the summer. This is what I concluded over the month span that we had our pets.

You always have someone to cuddle with.

My roommate hates when I curl up in a ball at the foot of her bed and go to sleep, but when the dog does its "cute." I don't get it?

You will become very popular.

All of a sudden everyone wants to hang out and be your friend. People you don't even talk to are texting you asking when they can come play with your pet. It was fun for a while, until I walked into the room and saw a stranger on my bed tossing around my cat. Not cool.

It gets pretty messy.

Whether it's the constant clean up of kitty litter all over your bathroom floor, or picking up dog poop from your newly mopped living room, it's the last thing I wanted to deal with when my hangover was hitting me like a bus.

There is constant barking or meowing.

Have a huge test in the morning you really need to get some sleep for? Yeah, that's not going to happen. Dogs and cats need a lot of love and attention when you first bring them home. If you can't give that to them expect to hear their wrath.

Cats and dogs are boy magnets.

Hey, want to come back to my place, I have a puppy? Works like a charm.

It is very possible that they will get fleas.

Florida, in general, has a problem with fleas because of the warm climate. Both my cats and dogs got fleas while we had them and they are very tricky to get rid of. If you do encounter a bad flea infestation, you will have to bomb your house with Raid multiple times and comb through your pet 24/7. There are treatments though, which you can buy at your local vet.

Pets can get very expensive.

Since we were only fostering our pets, we didn’t have to spend too much money on them. But if you decide to adopt a pet for the long-term you can almost bet on shelling out big money for vet appointments, food, and other toys and things they may need. This is one of the major points you need to take into consideration if you decide to adopt.

You will get attached.

I fell in love with my foster animals and it broke my heart when I had to give them away. I could have become a “foster-fail” and kept them, but I knew giving them up was the right thing to do.

After our time with our pets, my roommate and I both decided it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to keep them. We have very busy schedules and wouldn’t be able to give them all the love and attention they deserved. If you love animals and want to make a difference, but can’t handle the full responsibility of adopting at the moment, then fostering is the way to go. With fostering, you pick up a pet and take care of it for a couple weeks while you look for someone who can permanently adopt it.

There are a lot of families, graduate students, and even undergrad students in the Tallahassee area who have enough time and money to take really good care of a pet. I picked up my kittens from a kill shelter, where they were getting ready to be euthanized. There are still many cats and dogs in the shelters looking to find a home. If you are interested in fostering or adopting you can contact your local shelter, including the Cauzican Shelter and Best Friends Dog Rescue located around Tallahassee, Fla.