Two kids and their pets

Son and Ghengis Khan

Daughter and Patches

We've always had pets in our house. Our children had numerous puppies, kitties, hamsters, and fishies. We even had two ducks once -- Hari and Kari -- who stayed until they flew away one fine fall day. The kids even wanted birdies in a cage but we didn't think they would last long in a household full of kitties. It was a regular zoo at our house over the years.

Guess who mostly took care of these lovely animals? Right. It was mom. Mom bought the food, took the sick ones to the vet, delivered countless kittens, and had the animals neutered and spayed. I was even asked to take care of a dove with a broken wing once. This bird resided in our garage until it was healthy and released back into the wild. We buried those that went to animal heaven in our back yard, under the big Hackberry tree. It's a regular pet cemetery and many a service was held there.

The children loved those pets and the pets adored the children. In fact, all the children in the neighborhood loved coming over to play because of all the animals.

Over the years, however, mom and dad got tired of the mess and expense, and we all were upset when one of the animals died on the road. After the kids left home, we gradually pared the pets down to a more manageable number. No more dogs because we don't have a fenced-in yard. Our cats are smart enough to avoid getting run over these days and mostly stay in the house (to eat and sleep). The fishies don't do much but swim back and forth in their large tank.

We are now down to five cats, two kittens, and five fishies. The five cats have been spayed and the kittens will be spayed when they are old enough. That's enough animals for me to take care of.

The kids' lifelong love of animals has followed them into their adulthood and they each have cats living in their homes. Thankfully they married spouses who also love animals. The granddaughters love their kitties too. I have tried to instill in the kids the need to neuter and spay their animals and they have been good about doing this. Somehow, however, we all manage to have more animals than we need residing in our houses. Oh, well.

My philosophy is that we are all calmer and more sensitive because of these wonderful pets. My kids turned out to be loving, caring individuals and that's all a mother could ask for.