Did You Have Any Pets as a Child?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Only pet I was allowed to have was a goldfish. In my parents defense, we lived in an apartment building and my sister was allergic to cats. I was also afraid of dogs as a young child.

As I reached my teens I really wanted a dog and promised to walk it, but the answer was still no. My mother knew better. Since I've been an adult on my own I've always had a pet(s), usually dogs or cats, but some tropical fish and a parrot at one time.

Did you have any pets as a kid?
 

My Mom had a cat...two pics of her human kids...her Siamese cat 200...fish, gerbils, eventually a bunch of cats. It took until fifty to discover dogs...
 

I was always bringing home stray dogs.
We had a bought dog for a little while. Goldfish. I had a lizard, various spotted caterpillars, two different sets of tadpoles, a turtle, a really cool hairy yellow caterpillar, and a cat (who twice had kittens). One of my friends and I also had a stableful of invisible horses in our backyards.
 
Chook? Strange, very strange. Oh, and I had some white mice once that my mother flushed down the toilet when I was in school one day. She said that they kept the family cat in an agitated state all of the time, but I got them without telling her and she thought that they were a health hazard. Also, she said that she let them go outside and I only learned of how they were disposed of much later in life...
 
Ralphy1 said:
Hmm, did you grow them up and eat them?
Click to expand...

Never. Whenever we had a chicken to eat, which was about three times a year, we were told that they were one of Mrs Thomson's from across the street.
Dad couldn't bring himself to kill a chook and neither could Mum. We did have plenty of fresh eggs though.

The pet hen, named Betsy, died of old age and was buried in the garden.
She was a terrific brood hen and always was the one chosen to hatch eggs when we wanted new chicks.
 
OK, no neck wringing at your house, but Mrs. Thomson must have had some heavily calloused hands...��
 
SeaBreeze said:
Only pet I was allowed to have was a goldfish. In my parents defense, we lived in an apartment building and my sister was allergic to cats. I was also afraid of dogs as a young child.

As I reached my teens I really wanted a dog and promised to walk it, but the answer was still no. My mother knew better. Since I've been an adult on my own I've always had a pet(s), usually dogs or cats, but some tropical fish and a parrot at one time.

Did you have any pets as a kid?
Click to expand...
I am like you, seabreeze. the only pet I had was a goldfish which lived in my room and stank the place down! I always wanted a dog, but my parents would not get me one. One day, I found a stray kitten and brought it home. I hid it under the bed. However, my brother who was much older than me discovered it and told me to take it back to where I found it. So, I did have a kitten for almost a day.

As an adult, I have never had a dog or anything larger than fish. Mostly because of the commitment and cost. However, I have never been sure how I would react if I had to make a choice to euthanise it. I was very fond of a neighbours golden retriever and would play with him whenever I saw him. When I went to work at 6:15 each morning, he was going for his walk and would always come to me for attention, then off he would go to continue his walk. He was an old fellow and was 17 at the end. I noticed that he was missing one day, but did not think too much of it as he did have problems with his hips and other stuff. A few days later, the neighbours came to my door to tell me that Sam had developed a serious brain problem and it was affecting his motor skills. They had put him to sleep. They explained that they had come to tell me because Sam always made a point of coming to me when he was out. I was surprised how upset I got at this and it did kinda confirm what I thought about my own reaction should I have had a dog. :(
 
I grew up with a Japanese fighting dog that my dad brought home from Japan after the war. He found a puppy on a sinking Japanese ship that they were checking out, stuffed it down the front of his shirt and took it back to his ship, where it became the mascot. When the war ended, he had to wait three extra weeks to get permission to bring the dog back with him. I was born 18 months later and Nippy (short for King Nipponheimer the First......OK, people weren't much on PC back then) was my protector and baby-sitter. He was a loving and loyal family pet, but did not "play well" with other neighborhood dogs. Even though he wasn't all that big, every dog in a mile radius knew to get under the porch when he went by.
 
We always had a dog; German Shepherd, Irish terrier, cocker spaniel, poodle.

I had a couple of white mice when I was a kid. Kids had a hamster.

NEVER had a cat.
 
We had a total of three Shetland sheepdogs while I was growing up. Great dogs! There were some earlier dogs when I was really little, including one large hound that dragged me down a hill. The dog was bigger than I was. Recall that we had a cat too for a year or two, but can't for the life of me remember his name.
 
Other than a dog, which I've discussed in at least 2 other threads, my uncle gave me a female kitten when I was about 6. Back in those days, cats were only outdoors, never spayed, and never given vaccinations.

Needless to say at one point in time we had 13 cats/kittens---two litters of 4 and 5 at one time. We started giving them away, and eventually ended up with just one male, who died, I'm pretty sure looking back now, of tetanus. It wasn't pretty.

Then there were the guppies. Very frisky little fish. They multiplied like rabbits, and would sometimes take a notion to jump out of the tank.

Oh yes, and there was a pet turtle from the 5 and dime store. He didn't last very long. :(
 
Funny to lazy to look back but my Dad hated dogs with a passion. There was a neighborhood dog named Zero...a husky something mix...no training or socializing, you held the leash and flew. I was older than fifty when I adopted my Sophie. But the right pup can pull you into "Dog World" just like that...
 
Ralphy1 said:
Hmm, did you grow them up and eat them?
Click to expand...

Yes, we did. My dad would chop off their heads and my sis and I would have to chase the flopping dead chickens around until they stopped. Sounds pretty awful, but we just took it as a normal part of life. A lot of the chickens stayed on to lay eggs.
 

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