5th grade math has me confused?

you have three equations:

The quantity of the pets is 10 so:

B+C+H=10

The sum of their legs are 38 (assume birds, cats, and hamsters are normal):

2B+4C+4H=38

Hamster's count is twice than cats:

H=2C

Solving those equations gives:

1 bird, 6 hamsters, 3 cats

Ignore the part of hamsters versus cats, there can not be a bird, because birds only have two legs. Cats and hamsters both have 4 legs. 10 hamsters have 40 legs. Ten cats have forty legs. 5 hamsters have 20 legs. 5 Cats have 20 legs. 20 plus 20 is 40. If there were 9 mammals and one bird there would be 38 legs so your question makes no sense at all. Also, if there was a bird, then she'd have to have 3 hamsters and 6 cats or the other way around, and there is no telling without more information.

Kid, I got 1230 on my SAT's and this question is too tough for me, so how the devil is a 5th grader going to figure it out? Crap on toast and save mayonaise! Good luck, kid.

Hey, I get it. There are 6 hamsters and 3 cats and one bird. It was the plural, "birds" that threw me. I wish you love, laughter and music in your life.

This question is badly phrased - don't stress buddy.

But yeah, the Higher Mammal dude is right, it just takes a 1230 SAT scorer and a 99.95 ATAR scorer (Australian highest score) to figure it out.

But if you just need the answer... 3 cats,1 bird, 6 hamsters