Pets...tell us about yours

I lost my cat Taz, of 13 years , my best friend also, less than a year ago. I still miss the 'ole man! So very, very much!

I'm so sorry you lost a very valuable companion. I know just how terrible it feels. My fist pet was a dog, he was like a japanese chin/ shitzu mix, and my mom bought him for my sister and me when I was 11. His name was Chavito (in Mexico "Chavo" means boy, so "Chavito" means little boy). He was so tender and loving. Of course, my little sister and me, could not obey my mom when she told us that, if the puppy cried at night, we should just leave him with his pillow and his ticking clock, so he got used to sleeping alone. He always ended up in our beds; we took turns, one night he would sleep in my bed, the other he would sleep with my sister. In time he ended up sleeping in my parents' bed.

He lived with us for ten years. Towards the end, he was sick, but we never found out why. We spent hundreds of dollars taking him from vet to vet, but nobody knew what was wrong with him. He died in my parents' car, when they were on their way to another vet. They tried reviving him there, but he was gone. They were very nice, they consoled my parents and gave them a nice box to put Chavito in. They asked my parents if they wanted an autopsy, but now that he had died, they really didn't want to know what was wrong with him; what if we found out we could have done something to save him? This would have broken our hearts, and we preferred not to know.

We buried him in our backyard. I cried so much, and I missed him so much that I swore I would never have another dog. I just couldn't go trough that pain again.

Well, some six months later, on January 2004, my boyfriend (now my husband) showed up at my house with the cutest little puppy. He said if I did not want her he would take her to a shelter, but he just couldn't leave her where she was before. I think the puppy knew she had to convince me, because she walked towards me and started playing with my feet, and looking up to me as if she were saying "Come on, adopt me". So, I just couldn't say no to those beautiful eyes.

It turns out my husband had taken her from one of his neighbors. They had her tied up with, would you believe it, a rubber band! She couldn't even lie down because her head was way to high. She couldn't reach down to drink the little water she had access to, and she looked miserable. So, one day, when there was nobody home, my husband cut the rubber band from her neck and took her to my house.

We took her to the vet. Imagine my mom, my dad, my sister, my husband and me, all in the vet's office with a little puppy wraped in a towel. She had no hair on the tips of her ears and her tail, because of the sun and because of the scabies. Her tummy was bloated from all the parasites, and no vaccines had been administered to her. But we nursed her back to health, and she has repaid us with love. We call her Muñeca (it means Doll), and she is so lovely. She has broght such happiness to our lives, and I look forward to many years with her.

I know someday she will leave us; it's a fact of life. But when that happens I will remember how happy she has been with us, and how happy I have been because of her.

I'm so sorry you lost Ralph, but very happy that you had him in your lives.

We have 4 cats and 2 dogs. All of our cats are rescues, as is our eldest dog. The dogs are both shelties. We love Sparky so much, that we can't bear the thought of being without a sheltie in our lives. Since he is now 13, we decided to get another sheltie before we lose him.

My 13 year old poodle was purchased from a breeder as a pup. Our pit bull is a free loader here, who actually belongs to my daughter and is in a 2 year holding pattern waiting for her to get a house where she can keep him. Of our 8 cats, the 15 year old one came from the Humane Society when she was a tiny kitten. The next cat was being taken to the Humane Society by my adult daughter, so I took her. Next cat came here pregnant with one of my daughter's boyfriends. Boyfriend went and cat stayed--along with all 4 of her kittens who are now 4 years old. Then my youngest daughter rescued a little tiger kitten and gave it to me for my birthday (as if I needed another cat) and its now 3 years old. I have 7 rats that I rescued just before they were to become snake food. Then we have 2 gerbils that we got on freecycle for our handicapped daughter. We also have 2 tanks of fish. We have always had a house full of pets but we keep the animals for their entire lifetime once we get them, so we are at our limit now (or beyond!). Sorry you had to part with your dog. That's always hard to do.

we have a black lab-shepherd mixed wonderful dog.. she really enjoys the kids playing with her and even dressing her up now and then... a couple months back we had a really bad scare with antifreeze that if you search my artilcles you will find more information on what happened, but we did save her.. we were so worried about her.. Now with all the pet food scare I worry we will buy the wrong dog food and lose her anyways..

We also have 2 cats.. they are almost a year old and play well with the kids too.. we got them to keep the mice down...

we also have a conure that we just love and adore...

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