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I've always had or wanted some sort of pet.
When I was a child I had a weakened immunity system. this meant that every month I had to go and get an immunity booster shot. Around 8 or 9 the doctor gave my mother an option of discontinueing the booster shots. However If I suffered an allergy attack it would be bad news. After reviveing from an allergy attack of that magnitude I would have to restart the booster shots as if starting out from the first shot all over again. Now allergy attacks can be verry harmfull to a child if its verry extreme. Fearfull of this my mother labled any allergy causeing pet off limits to me. So for a long long time There were no other pets than the family dog. Tigger.
It was a loveable german shepeard that attached itself to me firmly. Oddly enough I wsa the one who named him after the "Winny the Pooh" character. Event though I named it I cant ever remember doing so. I think it was because I wanted a pet tiger as many small children might. Eventually it was given to my aunt and uncle to take care of while we moved to North Carolina. during the few months of care it died. A vet said that it's heart had been too small.
It was a wonderfull dog. Aparently it latched onto me and protected me from everyone, includeing my mom. It was smart too. We had to give it pills every so often and it would eat the food then spit out the pill. Even if it were hidden inside a hotdog it would manage to eat it, then spit out the pill. It was really neato.
After it died there were many years without a household pet untill I was a teenager. It was a year after I had gotten my first job and I was verry suprised when My mother droped a kitten in my hands one night after getting hom from working at the movie theater. I first thought we were taking care of it for someone else untill my mom told me it was mine. I wanted to name it 'Minerva' after the greek goddess of wisdom. My brother said it was a stupid name for a cat so I abreviated it to the letter M. Shortly aftwards I called it 'Em'ers' then later 'Emily'. So it stayed Emily untill it died. After 13 years she got sick and I took it to the vets. She stayed over the weekend while they gave her IV fluids and some medicine. She got worse and Without the funds for surgery It was obvious what was going to happen. She had stoped eating and drinking for a few days and even with all the stuff they gave her nothing changed. She was going to die and the only thing I could do was make it less painfull for her. I had her put to sleep.
Now before You say antyhing about putting a pet down I should make note of one of my aunts. she nearly had a kennel full of dogs that needed medical attention. She spent what she could to care for them and yet they still had problems. They still suffered and yet in the end, they still died of those same problems. I didn't like to visit her place as the dogs made me feel uneasy. Not that I was afraid of dogs, just that they all seemed to have something wrong with them. It's because of those dogs I've realized that a pet is just a pet. There comes a time when you know you cant take care of them anymore. That you have to find a new home for them if their healthy, or if there extremely sick, to put them down. There's no need to make an animal suffer because you can't care for them anymore.
Now to keep my mind away from depression I would often think of other things. When Emily was sick I thought about other animals and pets and thought. What would I get if she died? Not that I wanted her to die but just daydreaming something to keep me from thinking about about the worst possible outcome. I hoped she would get well when I took her to the vet but she didn't. In those daydreaming questions I answered "a parakeet". Because I had always felt guilty of a parakeet I had when I owned "ruffles" that died when I was away. I felt like I was responsible for it and the deaths of 1 hermit crab and 3 small lizards i didnt mention before.
Her death though is long after the next pet I had. During my college years I owned a parrot. A kind of conure called a quaker/monk parrot/parakeet. thats right two differnt names, & two differnt commonly named classes. So It could be called a monk parrot, monk parakeet, quaker parrot, quaker parakeet. Either way it was the same bird. A big green bird with a light brown beak, and a grey belly. It squaked a lot and loved to chew and nibble. but This is a common trait of conures. I didn't know that at that time but it was. I took good care of 'ruffles' even thought I didnt know all i should have about bird care. He learned to say his name, pretty bird, and to wolf whistle. Emily was scared to death of him though. For years she would follow me from the front door to my room whenever I got home. With ruffles, whenever I got home she would follow me up, Ild open up the bird cage and ZOOM she would be hideing downstairs. It was funny. Ruffles could be in his cage and emily sleeping on my bed. Ild get up and open the cage and the moment emily heard that metalic twang of the door opening... ZOOM, gone like lightening. When college was over I had to decide If I was going to keep ruffles or Emiliy and I chose emily. So I sold ruffles to a guy who had owned a cockatiel before. I knew he was taking ok care of him when he called back a week later and asked "did you teach this bird to meow?". Which I had but the bid refused to do it often. I wonder some times what has happend to ruffles. Conures can live well past 10 years.
As noted before I purchased a parakeet after Emily died. During this time to keep my mind busy I read every tidbit of information about parakeets. I approached it from the process of a unique prespective. I knew that whatever bird care knowledge I had could have been wrong. After all I had a parakeet when I had ruffles and it died. So i approached the research on parakeets from the prespective that i had never seen or cared for a parakeet or pet bird before. Ever. As if it were an alien creature that I knew absolutely nothing about. This was the real way of doing research on a new pet. It opened my eyes to their behavior, diet, and more. It also dispelled many myths I had about bird care as well. So I purchsed the smallest bird I could find in hopes of makeing the biggest imprint on its tiny little brain and making it a neato pet bird. Unfortunately that bird died the same night. I had the cage covered and didnt even try to interact with it. Food, water, etc. I can only think It died of fright. It's replacement was 'ivy' a much bigger healthier bird. Later when I moved to PA, I bought a bigger bird cage and a second bird. "Snow". Snow was mainly white with patches of blue and black untill she got older. Now she has a yellow tint. Now in both these cases I thought I was purchaseing a male and in both cases they matured into females. Birds are like that. Many times you cant tell the sex untill their either mature or have a blood test done. So I adopted a 2 year old male that oddly enough was never named. it was called 'bird'. So I named it 'beau' as in 'bow' As in A beau for Ivy or Snow.
Updated 8/2005
I can't leave this section without mentioning those pets that I dont own but are close to me. My mother owns a minature poodle (thats yorkie or chihuahua sized) thats amazingly smart. I've never considered a dog as an indoor pet before meeting this little poodle. It's like a smart cat but licks a lot more. I often help to take care of it and often take it over to my aunt for "doggie daycare". My aunt owns 2 other toy poodles and they all get along fine playing together.
Beau bonded with Snow and I got a mate for Ivy. I sold Ivy & her new mate as Beau and Snow decided to mate and have eggs. Now parakeets often get the whole process of raising young wrong the first time. Many times none of the chicks hatch or even survive. This pair on the otherhand got it all correct the first time. I ended up with 5 new baby budgies with bright colors. Now dad was a typical yellow-green budgie and mom was a white-mottle combination. Their babies included 2 yellow-greens and 3 white-blues. I found new homes for them and they were all weened onto healthy pellets. Pellets are a healthier diet than seed for parakeets.
I have also slowly built up the cage and toys for a much bigger bird. The cage I got I could have easily housed a smaller conure in if I wanted to. instead I got what I was planning for. A cockatiel. A cockatiel is best described as an easily frightned parakeet thats double in size with a head crest.
It's young and all the signs are there that it's a male. I've decided to name him "KFC" as the abreviation for "Kentucky Fried chiken" But I'll call him "Kasey" for short. He's new and still in training. The good new's is that I have all the stuff to keep him for a long time.
Update 9/2006
Beau got sick and hung around a while. All the time Snow started to act verry excited. I thought that she was bonding with the cockatiel and I didn't want Snow to give Kasey whatever she had been sharing with her mate. Beau died and in the following weeks I learned that Snow had no interest in Kasey but with me. The little critter now thinks I'm its mate. It will fly to my shoulder or attempt to land on my glasses.
Kasey on the other hand is still sort of stand off'ish. When I got it, it's tail was broken off. I presume from being kept in too small of a cage. However living indoors it decided it didn't need to molt as much. Now on it's second mold since I got it it's tail feathers are starting to grow in. I think it forgot it ever had a tail. Also I'm starting to believe that Kasey is really a female. All the behavior tends to point in that direction.
The Dog....
Though it's been in ownership of my mother for over 5 years now it's decided to get the worlds worst allergy. We've eliminated grass and floor cleaners as the cause. We've switched her to a wheat and corn free diet and yet any time we take off her 'cone' she atacks her own feet as if it were a fight to the death. It upsets me to see a dog that was so nice and tame to become so self destructive. I'm starting to think it's just plane Nuts.
Update 4/2007
Kasey is still terrified of Snow. It's just how hyperactive budgies are. I've taken in a neglected cockatiel male. Aparently it must have been a real sweetie pet at one time but was then essentially abandoned whereas attention and interaction was concerned. A pet store would have been better and thats pretty bad. I decided to name it 'Kernel sanders' or just 'kernel' for short. They share the same cage but are not really 'friendly' just yet. I give them through the spring and summer before 'instinct' kicks in.
The dog 'ruthie' is now taking a special medication. (sigh) it helps but something is still triggering alergic reactions. She's now acting like her hyper old self and seems back to normal. So much that she doesnt need the cone anymore. My aunt's most loved dog 'Molly' died recently and so its playmate 'Cassie' is a little alone.
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