Pets

You could call me an animal person.

I have always loved dogs, cats, fish, rats, birds, hamsters.  We had a variety of pets growing up, and I loved each and every one of them.

When I was really little, we had a cat named Peter Twinkletoes, and a dog named Cleo.  We lived close to a busy street in Kellogg, and both eventually found their demise by being run over by a car.  We never had any more dogs or cats while I was growing up.

But I did get to take care of the various animals my mom would bring home from school that were her classroom pets.  In the summer an aquarium full of guppies would arrive home for summer break, or seahorses (before they were illegal), parakeets, a white rat (which was not my mom's, it was one of the other teacher's pets in her building.  She asked me to take care of it one summer, and I got to keep it.)  I think there was a hamster once, too.  I seem to recall some pet turtles as well.

So when I first moved out on my own out of college, and had my own apartment, I adopted two cats.  I think I would have been very lonely without these cats.  Their names were Lynx and Jessie.  I still remember one particularly hard day when I was living 12 hours away from my family and my fiancé and missing them all very much, and crying on the couch in my living room, and Jessie coming to comfort me.

I am often curious why some people are "animal" people, and others are not.  I could not imagine my life without dogs or cats.  But there are others who could care less, and do not consider themselves animal people at all.

Fortunately my husband was also an animal person.  He also had a pet rat growing up, as well as a pet cat.  So he was all excited when I adopted the two cats the year before we got married.  Then we eventually had more cats, and finally got to the point of getting our first dog, then ended up with two more.

Our children are all animal people, too.  They have had a variety of pets as well, including gerbils, guinea pigs, frogs, fish and dogs. 

Right now we have four cats, Cozomo, T.C., Toby and Benjamin, and two Pomeranians dogs, Sadie and Juliet.  Sadie is Molly's dog, and Juliet is Zoe's dog.

Today we were at a bookstore in Coeur d'Alene killing time between lunch and seeing a movie.  I found this Dog Encyclopedia, and it was fun looking at all the different kinds of dog breeds.  We lost our Keeshond Peaches last fall, so occasionally replacing her with another kind of dog comes up.  We have not come to a consensus yet on when we will get a new dog, and, when we do, what kind of dog will it be. 

We love our pets.  Yes, we are "those" kind of pet owners who believe their pets are a part of their family.

Yes, we are "those" kind of pet owners who speak in different voices for each of their pets, and often carry on conversations with their pets.

It is just a part of who we are, and what we do.

If you aren't an animal person, I'm not sure you would understand....or even really care to want to.