Journal Jar #15: Pets

What pets have I had?
Which one was my favorite?

My family has had a slew of cats, one dog, 4 birds, various hampsters, tadpoles, fish, a turtle, and a rabbit. The hampsters never lasted long (remember, we had cats), so I don't even remember their names. The turtle was a found turtle, and if you can imagine: it escaped. Our neighbors found it down the street, and said it was their turtle, so it just stayed with them. The rabbit we owned for about a day (another found animal). We named it Fast. He escaped too.

The cats started with Peter. Peter was part of the family before any of the children were. He was born before my older brother Mike, and lived until Mike went on a mission at 19. During Peter's life, we also had Paco, Waldo, Figaro, and Tina; but Peter outlived all of them.

After Peter's time came Fred. Fred is mellow and lazy. He got hit my a car as a kitten, and has a limp tail because of it. This is good for babies and little kids because you can squeeze it and pinch it all you want, and Fred doesn't feel a thing. After a while, we decided to get another cat, so along came Ethel. Ethel is a very non-affectionate fluffy kitty. One day, she became quite affectionate, and we realized she was pregnant. She had 4 cute kittens. We decided to get her spayed once her kittens were given away. However, she had different plans, and before they were out of the house, we had a pregnant Ethel again (the little floozy). That time she had 6 adorable kittens, and 5 were adopted. The 6th one was black (a less desirable color), and never left the house. His name is Lucky. So yes, my parents have THREE cats, but quite by accident.

When I was 6 or 7, my family got a golden retriever named Ranger. Ranger was an awesome tennis ball catcher. At one point he could fit 3 in his mouth at once. He also loved water. He loved the hose, the retention basin after a rain storm, and he knew where every pool was in the neighborhood. Ranger used to put Cathy to bed. He would wake her up if she fell asleep on the couch, walk her to her room, lay on her bottom bunk (Cathy slept on the top bunk) until she fell asleep, and then leave and go sleep in the hall. He lived to be about 12, and it was very hard for our family (especially Cathy) when he died.

In high school, my dad built a bird cage outside of my bedroom window. I had 4 cockatiels in there for a while that I loved.

I would have to say that my favorite animal was Ranger. He was a good dog. However, I can't wait until I can get a cat. I love kittens, and they're much easier to take care of. Jake, who was an anti-cat person when I married him, has also warmed up to the thought of a cat, now that he's spent time with my parents' cats. I'm sure our family will have a dog someday, but it will be a while.