Your landlord won't allow pets? You're doing a lot of traveling and can't afford kenneling? You're allergic? Hopelessly irresponsible? Hate dealing with shedding and pooping? Does the price of Pedigree give you sticker shock? Or are you looking for a gift for someone in any of the above situations? Consider a robot pet. They can be pricey, initially, but no vet or grooming bills, and when it comes time to "put it down," you can go buy another one just like it.
Slate Magazine has done a product "test drive" for your shopping convenience. Most of the mechanical critters they surveyed were pretty...well...mechanical. But this golden lab pup lookalike, Biscuit, might just satisfy the craving for furry, responsibility-free companionship. At $169, he's still cheaper than a live purebred lab.
My mother has a robopet, a realistic curled-up yellow tabby whose tricks are limited to a rising and falling belly as it snoozes in its own faux sheepskin bed. So, you see, there is a place for pseudo pets. Since Mom functions on the "out of sight, out of mind" principle, every time we hand it to her, she's delighted all over again. What more could we ask?P.S. My Gato Divertido (bottom of this page) can do more than any of the robopets in Slate's test drive, and she's free! But not fuzzy.