Question of The Day. Saturday 8th of August.

Norachan

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Hello!

Besides cats, what other pets do you have or have you had?

Growing up I had a couple of goldfish, Splish and Splash, a Guinea Pig called Worzle, a giant albino rabbit called Bobby (He eventually outgrew the space we had for him and went to live with the other bunnies in the petting zoo at our city park) a dwarf rabbit called Willow and a couple of gerbils. They belonged to my sister, I can't remember their names.

At the moment I just have the cats.

What about you?
 

jcat

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We had dogs, various rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, spiders....actually just about everything except rabbits (though we tried to rehab wild ones the dogs brought home).

I never understood why my parents drew the line at pet rabbits till I looked after them at the animal shelter. They're not a pet that should be left in a child's care and require far more room and companionship than most people provide them. The same goes for birds.
 

neely

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Over the years we've had a variety of pets besides cats that include: dogs, a hamster, fish, turtles, a russian tortoise, snails and hermit crabs.
 

Silver Crazy

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I have had a Galah that was a wild bird but arrived at the house one day and decided to hang with us for about 2 years..it could imitate my mothers voice so well calling our names and sending us running to see what she wanted and most of the time it was the bird. it would squawk like crazy when I got home from school...never figured out why it adopted us..was a perfectly healthy bird.
A Magpie I found that was sick and the family as a whole nursed it back to health. He would walk around with you where ever you went simply for the chance to undo your shoelaces when you stopped walking. Doted on my mum. He flew off one day but would come back and visit.
Had a few Budgies Grew up on farms and worked at the zoo,s for a while so had a varied selection of pets if you can call them that..lol.
But I never personally had a dog.
 

Katie M

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I've had an aquarium (never named the fish), a hamster (Mittens), two chocolate Labs (Ellie and Sammi), a beagle mix (Gracie), and a Great Dane (Oscar).
 

Mia6

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hamsters as a child

I have had a Galah that was a wild bird but arrived at the house one day and decided to hang with us for about 2 years..it could imitate my mothers voice so well calling our names and sending us running to see what she wanted and most of the time it was the bird. it would squawk like crazy when I got home from school...never figured out why it adopted us..was a perfectly healthy bird.
A Magpie I found that was sick and the family as a whole nursed it back to health. He would walk around with you where ever you went simply for the chance to undo your shoelaces when you stopped walking. Doted on my mum. He flew off one day but would come back and visit.
That must've been so much fun! I guess the Galah was lonely?. The Magpie sounds so sweet. Nice that he came back and visited
 

Elphaba09

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Up until a couple of months ago, I had a spider named Oona. She was almost 20 when she died. I currently have two goldfish named Xiomara and Saoirse, a betta named Hanzo, six adult danios known as "Them," and six baby danios.
 

mama africa

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I have had a Galah that was a wild bird but arrived at the house one day and decided to hang with us for about 2 years..it could imitate my mothers voice so well calling our names and sending us running to see what she wanted and most of the time it was the bird.
:flail:
 

NY cat man

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We had family pets, but my first one, when I was 10 or 12, was a 4-H rabbit that I had for a number of years. I didn't have another pet until much later. When Michele and I were at the town clerk's office to get our marriage license, a woman came in with a German shepherd puppy that someone had dumped near her home, and she couldn't get hold of the guy who served as de facto animal control. We looked at him and said that we would take him ourselves, and as a result, I got the notarized copy that I needed to send to the VA for free. Unfortunately, he was stolen 2 years later. We had a parakeet some time later, and that's it, as the places we rented didn't allow pets and it wasn't until we bought our house that we had our first cat.
 

klunick

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Growing up, I had dogs, hamsters, fish, rabbits, and lizards. As an adult, dogs and ferrets.
 

rubysmama

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My family mostly only ever had cats, and only one cat at a time. But we did have some goldfish between cats one time. And also 2 different budgies shared our home with one of our cats..
 

catapault

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In my married life: cats, mostly two at a time. An elegant standard smooth coat red dachshund. A lovely lab / weimaraner crossbreed, beautiful black hound. A pet skunk for five years - yes he was de-skunked - bought as a kit in a pet store. Didn't think of the goldfish as "pets."
 

Winchester

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Right now, it's the girls: Mollipop, Muffin, Tabby, and Amber Louise.
We had to put The Beast (aka Jackie the Beagle) to sleep back in the spring. She was Rick's parents' dog and when his father passed away, we took her. We had her for almost five years, I think.

Years ago, I had an Alaskan malamute. His name was Sir Barbarino Fonzerelli (our son named him!) and we called him Fonzie. I used to call him Meathead because he was so crazy. I dearly loved that dog. He was mine and he was very protective of me. He went everywhere in the car with me and we walked all over the neighborhood together.

Other than those dogs, it's always been cats with us.

Although, I have a confession: I think I'd like to have a puppy. It's been on my mind for quite a while now. A Golden Retriever. Rick's eyebrows went up to the top of his head when I told him. I don't think I've ever seen his eyes so big.
 

Jem

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From child hood to now we've had...
goldfish
cats - multiple
dogs - multiple
newts
fish
hamsters
gerbils
bunny
birds
snake
There was never a point in time that we didn't have a few pets in the house....well except for before my parents divorce. My mom is severely allergic to anything with fur or feathers so we only ever had fish when we were all still living together. But from 8 years old on (after the divorce) we always had several pets.

My current situation is 3 cats and a snake.
 

LTS3

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Various pets at different times in my life: the usual childhood goldfish in a plastic bowl, parakeets, more goldfish fish but in a tank, gerbils, a turtle, mice.
 

klunick

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In my married life: cats, mostly two at a time. An elegant standard smooth coat red dachshund. A lovely lab / weimaraner crossbreed, beautiful black hound. A pet skunk for five years - yes he was de-skunked - bought as a kit in a pet store. Didn't think of the goldfish as "pets."
I have always wanted a skunk.
 

susanm9006

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I grew up with hunting dogs, cats, horses, rabbits and a couple of parakeets. We also had occasion babies like bunnies or ducklings that the dogs brought home. They were trained to retrieve without damage so usually these babies were not injured and just needed to be cared for until they were old enough to be on their own. We also had litter after litter of kittens and puppies .

As an adult we had goldfish for a while before getting the first kitten.
 

Willowy

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I think I'd like to have a puppy. It's been on my mind for quite a while now. A Golden Retriever.
Keep in mind, a retriever is all teeth for the first 2 years ("chew 'til they're two and shed 'til they're dead", etc.). If you're not up for that, there are breed rescues so you could find an adult who's past the mouthing stage.

I admit, I don't really like puppies, haha.
I have always wanted a skunk.
Me too! They even have cool color mutations available now.

As a kid we lived in military housing, and my parents didn't want pets that had to move around. So we had fish and budgies---easy to rehome when we moved. When I was 10 we got 2 kittens and they moved back to the US with us when I was 15. After that, open the floodgates! I've had dogs, ferrets, rabbits, tortoises, hermit crabs, snakes, salamanders, a rat, hamsters, mice, land snails, fish and other aquatic creatures, and a short stint with a stray guinea pig (only lived 2 weeks after I found her, idk if it was all too much or she was old or what).

Currently I have 4 dogs, 4 snakes, a betta (and snails), and a freshwater shrimp tank (also with snails), besides the cats of course.
 

catapault

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I believe skunks are currently illegal as pets here in New Jersey. I don't know that I would want another one.

1) They are nocturnal. I could wake him up in the daytime but if I was not actively engaged with him he'd find a corner to go off and sleep. He was caged at night.
2) He was toilet trained to a place. If the litter pan was there he'd use it. If it was pushed a very few inches away he'd use where it should have been.
3) Very easy to feed. Eat anything - dog kibble, vegetables, fruit, eggs, grasshoppers, meat, cheese, peanut butter - anything.
4) Could walk upstairs but too short legged to come down. He'd stand at the top and thump his feet (skunks are silent) until I'd come and get him.
5) Very powerful - if I was on the sofa with him and he wanted to get behind me I could not push back hard enough to keep him from doing so. Cupboards and the refrigerator had to have mechanical, hook-and-eye latches.
6) Skunks are so susceptible to rabies I always confirmed that the vet was using the killed form of the vaccine as the attenuated rabies vaccine could trigger it.

Once I had tamed him he was a rather placid animal. I would bring him to the pre-school story hour at the library and all the shrill little children would gather round, chattering away, pet him, and he'd put up with it. I would say he was tame, not domesticated. I could say in thus-and-such a situation I think he will react thus-and-so. But would not extrapolate to what another skunk might do.

Of course this was many decades ago so maybe pet skunks are different now.
 
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