My Pets

1. Wolf, our German Shepherd. We had him while we lived on our farm until I was three. He was hit by a car. We also had pigs and piglets, a cow, and barn cats on the farm. I remember once when my Mom was milking a cow, and a barn cat came by to check it out. She sprayed the cat in the face with the milk.
2. Minna, our black cat. She had a litter of kittens born on Mother's Day when we were little. It was interesting to watch them being born, but gross to see her lick the afterbirth off them. For a long time, they wandered around with their eyes closed. Then they learned to climb up on the curtains and we would walk in and see 5 or 6 kittens stuck up there, unable to get down, meowing for help.
3. Poochie, our tabby. He went missing. I suspected foul play. Our local ne'er-do-well's finally admitted he had jumped into their car and then jumped out when they got to their destination. I'm still not too sure of that version of events.
4. Fluffy, my beautiful grey, Russian Blue cat. My favourite. Unfortunately, she was the only female cat on our street, and about six tom cats would always be around to "court" her. They would sit on the slope of our roof with her, right in front of my window, facing the street. It made for an interesting sight to those driving by. It drove my Mom crazy. That, and the fact that when they were in heat, they were under her bedroom in the crawlspace under the house. That was the last straw, and she announced she'd be taking Fluffy in to the Humane Society to be put down. I was devastated. The day I had to say goodbye to her I was home for lunch. I knew I'd never see her again. I cried all day.
5. Assorted Goldfish. At one point we had a large tank full, then none for a few years. A few months ago, my daughter came home with Oleksandr, the goldfish. Now she's living in a dorm where they don't allow pets of any kind, so we inherited him by default.

The downside to pets is, of course, that you have to get someone to look after them when you go on vacation. And no matter how much they promise, kids never do end up looking after them. They become the parents' responsibility. And worst of all, you begin to care for them, even dumb little goldfish who have their own unique "personality".
While the girls were growing up, we probably would have had a cat, but my oldest daughter is allergic to them. Our house isn't suited to a dog, and I don't like rodents, like hamsters or gerbils. A turtle might be cool.
One day, if we move to a house more suited to it, I would like to have another dog; a German Shepherd. I don't like yappy little dogs, and German Shepherds remind me of happier times.
I always thought it was funny that guys would walk a dog because women stop to talk to them. I would never do that. At least, I thought so, until I saw a nice German Shepherd. I guess it does work, after all.