do you have a cat or a dog/rabbit/parrot/snake/alligator...

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do you love animals? and what pets do you have? i had two cats, a persian and a feral.

I love animals and relate to them better than people most of the time. I see animals as non threatening but people are not to be trusted. I have 3 birds. One of them is a macaw. I love him but hate his screaming at 105 decibels. It hurts my ears! The macaw (he is named Tiny even though he is 40 inches) I believe is delusional because he tries to get me to bow to him. He also cries a lot or is manic at other times. I swear that he has bipolar 1!! he needs an anti psychotic and a mood stabilizer! he is also the cutest thing on Earth. The other 2 birds is a Amazon who thinks he is a dog so he is kind of delusional as well. The third bird is a Rock Pebbler and he is normal mentally except sometimes brain dead. Everyone in my house is mentally interesting including our pets!! I used to have a dog named Lady who helped me come far out of autism. She died several years ago. She basically saved my life. Before I got Lady (I named her Lady because back when I was 7 years old I was obsessed with the movie Lady and the Tramp) I never talked to anyone and had severely delayed language. Literally the next day after I got her I started to talk for the first time. I have been in magazines because of that story. One of the magazines i was in is called "Dog Fancy." If I didn't get the dog I probably wouldn't talk still and I am 28 years old. I went from nearly non verbal to talking 24 hours a day and at autism conferences about my story. I also started making eye contact because of the dog. I consider her a miracle from God. I have a problem with eye contact still in a way. Sometimes I make too much eye contact looking intensely into another's eyes and stare and other times when I am stressed I don't make any. At least its better than in the past when I didn't make ANY eye contact. Animals can truly be therapy and help people with problems. Lady helped me come out of autism far more than any therapist or psychologist did. Animals are great! I also draw animals because I love them so much.

I've got two rabbits; 8 year old Dutch Jenifer and 2 year old Dutch/lionhead x Ralph. I also have an 8 year old goldfish called Mr. Fry. I have owned other rabbits and fish but they have all passed away. Jasmine my English spot rabbit died at 1 1/2 due to a long illness, Pippin also a black and white Dutch (anyone guessed my favourite breed yet?) was put to sleep age 8 months because he had a genetic illness and grew a giant abscess, Kenny my Netherland dwarf aged 9 months escaped from his hutch and was caught by a cat, Caramel my long-tailed goldfish died aged 9 and Chub-chub my goldfish/fat fish x died aged 10.

I have always said that Jenifer was one of the main reasons I started communicating to people again. I had a long chain of bad events happen when I was 12 onwards so getting her at 15 finally gave me a reason to get up every morning and most importantly, stopped me from committing suicide because I knew she needed me. Jenifer is an old lady now and I probably won't have her for much longer but I think even when she does go I will not be too devestated, just happy that I had her for so long and that she was happy in her life.

In the future I am getting some dwarf hamsters and possibly some spiny mice but I haven't decided what yet.

I had a dog but he died on cancer two years ago in May. My husband says he doesn't want another dog because we won't get a dog who is the same way but I hope one day he will think about it again and change his mind. I miss my dog.
I still have a cat, we found him more dead than alive in a corn field - he was about seven weeks old that time. His name is Snow and he walks behind me like a dog. If I leave our house in the darkness he follows me everywhere

No pets for me, my mother is allergic to basically every single one of them. I have always liked the pets of others, though. My grandmother has a dog who visits us for a while now and then, and I just love him. I also seem to be pretty good with cats, and like them very much.

I had a cat named Ashes, but she died last November at the age of 20. I currently have a Betta fish named Seymour (Named after Seymour Guado from "Final Fantasy X") that I've had for almost two years and a West Highland White Terrier mix named Luna (Because she goes nuts when she's in a playful mood) that I've had for over a year.

We have two cats (14 and 7 years old), and my dad raises game birds as a hobby. It used to be his job back when I was born.

A bearded dragon named Pippin and a cat named Bubba

Currently I have one cat. Throughout most of my childhood, however, I've had 2-3 cats and one dog, and for several years I had pet rats (until I got too allergic to play with them ).

Sorry to hear about your dog, fallen angel. My best advice is never compare any "new" dog to a former dog. It's just like with kids....comparing them only leads to disappointment. My last dog lived with me his entire life. I handraised him from birth. Great dog, but he could also be aloof & non-responsive to me. He was also stubborn when it came to training beyond sit, stay, or heel. He ran off a few times during his life...surprised he wasn't hit by a car since he had no fear of darting across busy streets. But still, I loved him anyway. He lived 15.5 years until I had to put him down due to convulsions (it was an inherited affliction from his dam). Nothing could be done at his advanced age. During his life, he got me through some tough times. I'm glad he left his footprints on my heart.

Fast forward to now, we have a "new dog." Adopted from a rescue group....found in a similar state as your cat. More dead than alive in farmland, had an infection in his ear, skinny, etc. He'd been abused by either teenaged boys or men....we don't know much other than the fact that he cowered with men he thought were going to hurt him. He's much more trainable, but still has some aloofness when it comes to being called. He's become more trusting now, & will even approach men/boys on his own without fear of being abused. Once in a while, someone still scares him but not like it was when we first brought him home. He's a great companion. Although he shares some similarities, his personality is completely different than my former dog. He's also not the type to run off...stays close to us at all times. My hubby says he's the smartest dog he's ever had....beyond that, we never compare him to our former dogs.

To answer the OP, yes, we have one dog. He's the one in my avatar. He's spoiled rotten, & happily at that! He has no cares in the world now. All his needs are met. I do love animals, some more than others. During my life I've had birds, turtles, fish, cats, & of course dogs. Dogs are my favorite. Another fave is horses, but I've never had one of my own.

Tomboy

a cat (european shorthair)
a horse (thoroughbred), not indoors, can see him from my window though
4 cichlid fish (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)
30 support fish (Nannostomus marginatus) <-- most of them homebred *proud*
20 vacuum cleaner fish (Ancistrus dolichopterus) <-- too many, stop breeding already! one of them is albino, a young one

I tried to breed food for the fish, but resulted in alot of musquitos so I stopped that.

When I was a teenager, I had a crayfish.
I built him a house from Legos so that he could choose to either sit in the house submersed or on top of the roof if he wanted out of the water in the plastic sledge basin in my bedroom.
He would only eat fresh red musquito larvae.
He changed skin once and I thought he had died (the shell looks just like the complete crayfish).
When I picked up the lego house from the basin and discovered the real and alive lobster, we both were shocked.

Feral? You mean, like, a cat that grew up in the wild, and you adopted it? Or do you just mean mixed-breed?

Because I do have some friends who have adopted feral cats. They are very quiet house guests who spend most of their time hiding and staying away from the humans. They're not snuggly and most of the time won't let you touch them; but they can still be good (if distant) companions. Many ferals who can no longer live outside (usually because of some medical issue spotted by whoever is feeding, neutering, and maintaining the feral colony) will be adopted by someone; but they generally will not become house pets. Those ferals who do tend to have been dumped as kittens.

Anyway, I have two cats. Tiny used to be a scraggly stray, and at first I thought he must be feral, but he let me touch him within a week and warmed up within months, so I think he must have been dumped as a kitten. He's grown to be a very perceptive, rather large cat who can read me even better than I can read him. He even helps me remember things sometimes because he knows my routine better than I do. Christy was originally a foster from a shelter. When I first started fostering, she was five years old; now she's eight, and that age plus her nervous temperament makes her practically unadoptable; so last spring, I adopted her for good. Two years of fostering pretty much told me she wasn't going to find anybody else. Both cats are certified as emotional support animals, which means that they benefit me as a person with a disability and that they are allowed into no-pets housing as long as I pay for any damage they do (which, so far, has been exactly zero).

tomboy, fallen angel, thank you for rescuing stray animals that would've died without you.
feral cats can be very loving. my feral cat (was born in a shelter, though, so maybe you can say he's not completely feral but more "a mixture", is terribly loving. my brother and his wife and three girls adoped a real feral cat, a white, yellow and gray female. she loves them and lets them carry and cuddle her and sits on their laps. i've known some other real feral that were very loving, not to strangers, but to their humans.

Feline, thanks. But specifically, we adopted our dog from a no kill rescue organization. He would have been safe there until a home was found for him. There are other dogs there who have not been adopted yet, & have been kept for a very long time. Had I the money & space needed, I'd rescue every abused animal I could who needed a good home. I do recommend everyone adopt either from a rescue or a shelter. There's far too many homeless/unloved animals out there. People too, but that's another issue.

I have a ball python.

I LOVE animals!! I had 2 dogs, but one ran away in November 2008, and the other one died last June 2010 at almost age 16. I had 7 cats but not all at the same time. My biggest mistake was giving one of my cats (my favorite one) to my little cousin who`s cat died. I miss that cat more than anything and I want him back but I couldn`t do that!