Pet Parade

For some reason I was thinking about all the pets I've had in my life recently and thought I'd do one of those silly things you do on a blog and make a list--and then maybe you, my dear readers, (which is pretty much just my mom!) can make a list of your own to share with me! Nothing like wasting time on useless lists! ;)

Heidi--a mutt, probably a Border Collie mix; killed on the road in front of our house; thankfully I was too little to remember

Pepper--a wild tiger kitten that I probably brain-damaged by throwing her when she would scratch me. She remained unpredictable her whole life and was also hit by a car in front of our house (the price you pay for having outside pets and living on a highway!)

Bump, aka Mark--a toad that we overfed till it puked; it hibernated all winter and we thought it had died; I think we let him go in the garden eventually

Shelly--a redeared turtle; we let him go in the flooded stone quarry because Mom heard that turtles carried lots of diseases

Daisy and Prince--two chicks that our aunt gave us for Easter; they lived in a cardboard box in our room and peeped all night; we would line my Barbie penthouse with tissues and let them wander around in it and would give them rides in the elevator; they had to go to my aunt's farm when they got big enough to fly out of their box and strut around the house. They turned out to both be roosters (and probably eventually, dinner).

George--a goldfish that Dad won me at a fair by throwing a ping pong ball into his bowl; he developed a big lump and I prayed hard that George wouldn't die; he actually got better for awhile, but as all goldfish do, he eventually had a burial at sea

Various fish--we had an aquarium for a few years and had lots of different fish, lots of swordfish and black mollies (which I thought was SO funny--a fish named after me!); I loved it when they had babies (although the babies usually ended up as lunch for their parents).

Baby--a crazy calico/Siamese kitten that liked to follow us to the bus stop and one day didn't come back home

Calvin--a huge black and white cat that had the soul of a Golden Retriever; he was the best cat ever: super friendly to everyone, cuddly, and would come when he was called; he disappeared after Mom and Dad moved to town, probably trying to return to his territory in the country

Hobbes--Calvin's slighty mentally challenged buddy; a sweet, goofy orange tiger; I don't think I've ever cried as hard as I did when he too got hit on the road

Cody and Cassie--orange tabby brother and sister that we got after Hobbes passed away; Cody was a sweet cuddly guy who unfortunately died of feline leukemia after a week of pumping him full of antibiotics and trying to force feed him; Cassie came down with something a while later and had to be put to sleep (Sniff)

Hamlet, Hannah and their club-footed daughter Hope (and about 42 others)--hamsters; we made the mistake of getting a "friend" for Hamlet and before you could turn around our laundry room was full of cages and hamsters; they started inbreeding and having deformities and eating their own young; it was not cool; we gave the whole lot away to a kid who probably used them for experiments or something--and we were okay with that.

Phoebe--our morbidly obese Maine Coon who is too fat to clean herself and must be bathed and shaved regularly; but she loves to cuddle with us and Betsy likes to chase her around and say "meow." Our neighbor has a cat that lived to be 22 and Myron is worried...

Gideon--my first dog and practice baby; he lets Betsy climb all over him, hug and kiss him; he loves to chase rabbits and run in the woods; he makes me feel safe when Myron is out of town by keeping watch whenever he hears a sound outside--good dog

There may have been others, but I think that's most of them. We had quite a zoo growing up! How about you?