Family Pets - question for all Pet Talk people

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

We always had 1 or 2 cats when I was a kid. I don't think though that one of my parents had pets. My mom was a city girl, living in a very small house, together with 4 other kids.
My dad was born in the city too, his parents had a butchery. No pets either, I think.
My brother has a cat and a rabbit.
My sisters has 1 dog, and 4 horses.

[sirrahved]

My dad had animals growing up, for sure. I am certain his parents had them as well. They both lived on farms.

My grandma tells of a dog that they had when my dad was young. The dog had learned when a certain show's theme song came on that the school bus was about to bring his kids home. As soon as the song came on the TV he'd jump up and watch out the window.

[lizbud]

We were not able to have pets when we were children. My Dad's
people had a black Chow but it was never allowed inside. It was kept
chained to his doghouse next to a shed. Mom's people were farmers
in Ireland & had animals around but they weren't treated as pets.

[Trisst]

My parents had no pet history whatsoever before me and my brother came along. I dont suppose u can blame my mum, who lived in a house with 6 other kids and my dads mum is a headmisstriss so i guess things could be pretty strict there.
Plus both my grand parents hate cats and are scared of dogs. The only pet person in my family is my grandma who keeps pigeons... but theyre not really pets since theyre for the pot!
when i was litle i begged for pets all the time. I loved animals. My parents were also curious to have a pet so they got a cat. And thats how it all started!

[Twisterdog]

My mother grew up on a ranch, so animals were not pets. They had barn cats that kept the mice under control, and a herding dog that moved the cattle. But no pets for the sake of having pets. After my grandparents retired and moved to town, my grandmother had Persian cats, a pomeranian and canaries, though.

My dad, OTOH, always had a pet or two growing up. They weren't "family" pets, as his was a rather disfunctional family. They were pets he found, because he liked animals. Once, someone gave him a wire haired fox terrier. Once he had a coyote as a pet!

We always had a dog growing up. But only one at a time, and it was a pet "for the kids." After all of us kids grew up and left home, neither one of my parents ever got another pet. My mom isn't an animal person, she prefers plants and grandkids. But my dad loves animals, I never understood why he didn't get a pet. I bought him birds once for Father's Day, he made me take them back. And my sister and I have tried to give him dozens of dogs over the years.

My sister and I both have eight dogs, and are involved with rescues and shelters. But my brother has never owned a pet.

[Glacier]

We always had two cats growing up--one for me, one for my sister. And we always had a dog, but the dogs were outside almost all the time. Cats were allowed to roam at will and many never came home. Vet care was minimal, although my Dad is the first spay/neuter advocate I ever knew. We lived in the country and often found strays. We were allowed to keep them, but my sis and I had to save up our allowances and get them altered. I'm sure Dad had a deal with the vet to pay the real bill later. Even in the late 70's, 20 bucks form a 7&5 year old didn't cover a spay!

My Dad does not like cats and barely tolerates dogs. My Mom is a cat lady and frequently tells my Dad that within 24 hours of his death, she'll have a house cat! My parents were just here. It took them longer to drive up here than they stayed to visit! They stayed for five days cuz that's all my Dad can stand of my zoo. Even that is seriously pushing it for him....that's why he usually offers to pay my airfare to come to his house!

My sister has one cat, but we have serious differences in how they should be cared for....her cat is allowed to roam, eats crappy food and if it got seriously ill, I have no doubt she'd just put it down. She shares custody of a small terrier mix with my brother. About a week at a time is all she can stand of a dog, even less if it's a big dog! She hasn't been to my house in over five years.

My one brother has small dogs, including the one he shares with my sister. He went to remarkable lengths to prolong his last dog's life, but I suspect that was more his wife using his Visa card than my bro's choice.

The other brother has never owned a pet. His wife wouldn't let a goldfish in their house. Animals are dirty, messy, germ balls as far she's concerned. I've never seen her kids with dirt on their faces, a toy on the floor!

[Cinder & Smoke]

We always had two cats growing up -- one for me, one for my sister.
And we always had a dog ...

My Dad does not like cats and barely tolerates dogs.
My Mom is a cat lady ...

My sister has one cat ...

My one brother has small dogs,
including the one he shares with my sister ...

The other brother has never owned a pet.
His wife wouldn't let a goldfish in their house ...

And then, God created Tamara ...
And the Animals said "This is good; Thanks, God."

[K9karen]

My mom had a puppy as a young woman (I saw the picture) but it died from distemper. In those days, people didn't invest (or have the money) for shots etc. Her dad, my grandpop, had a GSD and a cat. The dog, tagless of course, and although very obedient, strolled off one day in search of adventure and was stolen by a local tailor. The dog ran back to my grandfather, but the tailor had gotten a liscense, and although the police knew the dog was my grandfather's, couldn't do anything about it. Isn't that sad?

My mom always loved GSD's so when we got Mz Princezz Logan, altho she's a mixture, mom said it brought back memories.

During a reading with a psychic, she mentioned a black and white dog with my parents!! That was my mom's puppy! Isn't that (Cody isn't with them-he's too busy guarding the Bridge)

[jennielynn1970]

I think it gets passed down from my dad's side of the family, lol.

My grandpa was a total nut about cats. He and my grandma had a bunch of indoor cats, and then also neighborhood strays that they fed. ALL the strays had names too! When my grandpa died and we cleaned out the house, there was so much cat food stock piled, it was just crazy. At that point he only had 2 indoor cats (Tiny and Lucey), but still a bunch of strays he fed. There were over 200 cans of cat food, 40 boxes of dry food, and about the same with Tender Vittles.

Also, in his will, he left most of his money to the church, but the rest went to Tiny and Lucey. He wanted to make sure they were well taken care of. He was a good guy with a big heart.

My dad will feed any stray animal. It can be a raccoon, a skunk, a opossum, basically anything with fur or feathers, lol. All you have to say is "hey, there was a ____________ sitting outside earlier" and within about 20 minutes there will be bowls of food sitting out here and there for them.

At the moment he's feeding some ducks that have decided that they like the cracked corn at the bird feeder. There are 5 of them total, and they're just so darn cute, lol. They wade up the creek, walk up the neighbor's yard, and cross the little road to my parents' house to get to the bird feeder. My dad also set up a stand with cobs of dried field corn on it as well. He's too funny. My mom just rolls her eyes, but she loves it as well, although Dad is more of a softy than she is, lol.

[K9karen]

And then, God created Tamara ...
And the Animals said "This is good; Thanks, God."

AMEN to that!