the middle class abu dhabi expat: someone fishy

Here in the Emirates with living in a rented flat or room in a high rise building, it can be difficult to keep pets. Unless you are living in a villa with a somewhat spacious garden or don't mind your pet getting into your shoe closet, there won't be much space for your pet to get exercise. Taking them outdoors is not easy too as there isn't really any parks for pets to roam freely.

Growing up having pets, I kind of miss having one thus we decided to get ourselves a pet fish. I think it's the easiest pet to care for. All you need to do really is to remember to feed them once a day, change the water bowl water once a week and that's it. We first had a couple of gold fishes but they died a couple of weeks later - I guess a fish bowl isn't a condusive environment for them, they need a big tank with an aerator. After their demise *sniff* we ask the pet store attendant which fish can survive in a fish bowl without any oxygen apparatus and he suggested a fighting fish.

We got a dark red one, he (I assumed it's a he) had the 'fiercest' color of all the fighting fish available for sale and named him Barney - after Neil Patrick Harris' character on the series How I Meet Your Mother.

Barney might not be as active as dogs who come bounding and licking your face when you come home but I get the feeling that he recognises me when I come near the fish bowl because he swims in a frenzy and that is enough to make me smile and love my pet more.

Source: http://themiddleclassabudhabiexpat.blogspot.com/2012/07/someone-fishy.html

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