The problem with pets outlasting their owners is the fact that they usually go "mental" when they know their owner will no longer be there for them.

Case in point: about 3 years ago, around my dad's birthday, my grandmother died of pancreatic cancer. She had a chihuahua, named Bitzi, which was about 13 or 14 years old. We were all gathered around her bed when she died, struggling to breathe through all the fluid in her lungs. The dog immediately jumped on the bed, and began growling at all of us after she died. After we buried my grandmother, we gave her dog to one of my aunts.

The dog wouldn't let anyone else get close to her, and she would often bite. Finally, about a month and a half after my grandmother's funeral, Bitzi ran away from my aunt, into the road where she got ran over and died.

Just explaining why getting a pet with a long life may not be the best thing, is all...