Passing down our love for animals...

[happylabs]

One thing my friends and family know about me is that I have been a major animal lover all my life.

I just have to smile when I see my daughter Rachael interacting with my cats. The first thing she does in the morning when she comes down is talk to Buddy or whichever cat is closest. She sits down on the floor with him, pets him and pets him, talks to him and tells him she loves him. If I do nothing else in my lifetime I think I have given her a huge gift.

I think the best thing we can do for our children is raise them with pets. It teaches them many things.

[krazyaboutkatz]

That's wonderful and I agree. Although I don't have any children, I'm so glad that I was able to grow up with many different kinds of pets. Both of my parents are animal lovers and so are my brothers. We had cats, a dog, guinea pigs, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, fish, turtles, snakes, frogs, toads, lizards, and even a pet squirrel for a little while.

Unfortunately both of my SIL's are highly allergic to cats and one of them is also allergic to dogs. My brother in CA has a dog and I think that my nephew still has a snake. My niece and nephew are both in 4H so they take care of farm animals in their spare time. They both have lambs right now and I think that last year they had cows. My nephew is a huge animal lover and I can see him doing something related to working with animals as a profession.
My niece and nephew who live in Texas don't have any animals. I think it's sad when children can't grow up with at least some kind of a pet.

[Cataholic]

I believe my son has a huge appreciation of animals, cats especially. He is very attached to one, and semi attached to two more. He has learned to be patient, kind and loving with them. One of our cats, Dakky, wouldn't let Jonah near him for at least 4 years. Not because J did anything to him, but, he was just too fast and darty for Daks. Now? Daks is usually lying inbetween us, comes up to J for pets, and J is thrilled with his 'growth'. He is still trying to get Gus'sers to allow him free pets. Gus'sers runs from anyone. No one sees Gus. But there have been several sucessful petathons with even Gus!

J is now learning more about dogs, and handling them. I love watching him interact with animals.

[3Catcondo]

Amen!!!! I cannot imagine life w/o animals and althought I don't have children now, if I ever do they will grow up with an appreciation for them. Both of my nieces are animal lovers and I am so proud. I think it's ashame when children are denied the chance to grow up with a pet. Life isn't the same w/o animals IMO.

[Sonia59]

I agree. My daughter loves cats already and probably all other animals too. I just have to be careful in the street because she always wants to pet dogs. she is very excited when she sees one! Of course, I always tell her that she should not touch a dog she does not know, we never know. She is too young yet, but with time she will learn not to do it. She also loves when we bring Peppito to her bed to wake her up in the morning. She gives him kisses and pet him

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Let's just say my daughter learned "cat" and "doggie" before she learned to say mama or dada!!

[Karen]

We don't have children of our own, but not only are my nieces and nephews taught the love for animals, I try to teach every child I encounter the same thing! Certainly every child that lived on this street in Miss Hoppy lifetime learned to love and respect bunnies!

[momcat]

While I never had a pet growing up, my love for all animals goes way back to when I was a little kid. I spent much of my childhood at my uncle's dairy farm helping my cousins with the farm work including caring for the cows. For this city kid, helping with all the animals including the dogs and cats was a real treat. My happiest memories of growing up involve the time and work I shared with my cousins on the farm. To this day, I believe that every kid should have the chance to spend time at a farm!

When my cousins and I were small, another uncle had a beautiful Irish Setter named Ginger. Our parents emphasized to each of us not to tease Ginger or do anything that might hurt her. When we were outside, we always played with her; we'd wrestle with her, chase her, things small kids do with a dog. Ginger never so much as growled at any of us. When she had enough of our antics, she'd just walk away and go someplace she knew we weren't allowed to go. After awhile, Ginger would come back and play with us again.

As Mike (Soncat) was growing up we had goldfish, hamsters, even a toad. he learned from a very early age to respect and care for animals. When he lived in Rhode Island, Mike adopted a kitty from a shelter who sadly came from an abusive situation. His patience, love, and care brought Graphix around and she became a friendly, affectionate, loving companion. Mike says you can tell how someone will treat people by the way they treat animals. I have to agree with him!

[happylabs]

The funniest thing about my upbringing is that I always had dogs. My parents did not like cats and I was never taught anything about them. Thank goodness Kit Kat showed up on my doorstep 10 years ago. It only took a short while for her to live with us until I was hooked!