how old were you when you got your first pet?

[Cayte]

Hi everyone,

    Do you remember how old you were when your parents let you have your very first pet?

    My very first pet was a Siamese fighting fish or Betta; I got him when I was 5-6 years old.  I had bugged my mother so much that she finally bought one for me.  With a small amount of money I had saved, I managed to buy a round glass bowl and a couple of lived plants.
     I'm always fond of this kind of fish so a couple of years ago I participated in Secret Santa at work. I had to provide a list of a couple of things I would like to have for Christmas and Beta was one of them. I came to work one day and saw 'George' in a plastic bag on my desk. Before heading home that day, I stopped at a pet store to guy a two gallons tank for him so that he has rooms to move around.  I had probably killed 3-4 beta by accident before I realised that this kind of fish couldn't live in the cold climate. They constantly got irk or some kind of disease that was incurable. I did more research and found out that the fish preferred 70 degrees water and the $40 heater was an answer to their mysterious deaths. The latest one I have is a couple of years old. According to my studying, my George might not live to see the next winter. His life span is only 3 years.
    What is you first pet? Did you do anything to keep him/her happy?
 

[luke]

We had cats all through my childhood, although the ones I really connected with were first brought home when I was about 8. They were a pair of tabby cats, sisters in fact, and tiny in size. We named them Amber and Tilly, and they lived for ages. Amber died when she was 14, and Tilly made it till 17.

They were both absolute luvvies, and used to like nothing more than a lap to sit on and a stroke on the back. I loved them like my sisters and was so sad when they passed away.

I hope to have a new cat when I move back to the UK next year. Perhaps by 2010 I will be settled and a kitty will be a new member of my already growing family. I can't wait.

[Cayte]

Talking about kittens, I saw something moving along side of the road a week ago so I asked my husband to stop a car. Four little cuties kittens were jumping over a small ditch to the other side where the bush was thick. At that time, it was raining and all of them were soaking wet. I remember one of them has black-white colour on its little face. I assume that their owner had just dropped them off before we arrived. The owner might have thought that she had done those little guys a favor by dropping them off on the road hoping someone would eventually pick up them. The little kittens were scared and uncertain about my intention as I was approaching them. My husband said to me, "Take all of them home." They were out of my reach so I couldn't actually save their lives from their predators like raccoons, possums, coyotes, and foxes. The hope for these guys to see the next sunrise was nil.

Cats and dogs tend to have very long lives. What is your opinion about  putting your pet to sleep when they are old and suffer from their sickness? I only know the word that uses with human - euthanasia - but I don't know what it is for animal.

[luke]

Putting the animal to sleep is the correct phrase for this.

We had to put one of my cats to sleep because she had broken her leg and it wasn't healing. ife was too painful for her, so my mum and I took her to the vets and did the only thing we could. I remember she cried and I almost did, but it was the right thing.

Life is cruel sometimes.

[Cayte]

Putting the animal to sleep is a humane way especially if they are suffering.

I'm sometimes too sensitive about animal. Our first year in the country, my husband found a couple of baby mice in a basement where he set a trap to kill their mother. I told him I wanted to raise them until they were strong enough to defend for themselves. While I was running upstair to prepare a small place for those little guys, he was getting rid of them.

A couple of months ago, one of our hens happened to have a swollen eye. We were not sure if the other hens pecked on it or she had a serious infection. She was still eating and walking around with the rest of the flock. I went on-line trying to find her a cure while my husband was putting her to sleep. I understood why he had done that.

I had never been so touchy with anything easily until I came here.  It seems that crying or upsetting over a dead animal comes natural to me. I don't really like this kind of person I am now.