[GhostUser]

What was your first companion animal? Can you describe the circumstances leading to it (i.e. how'd it happen)?

Mine was a mistake. She was a fluffy white kitten that my godmother picked up from a woman whose cat gave birth regularly. I was maybe three years old, obviously much too young to care for a critter or to appreciate what it meant to care for one. We named her "Blanchette" and although she was delivered on my birthday, she became "mine" and my older sister's.

Within a month, my family discovered that I had severe allergies to cats. I broke out in terrible hives / a rash all over my body, and that was the end of Blanchette.

The last animal my family took in, with two budgies and a couple of goldfish inbetween, was a purebred Pom who'd been abandoned after a young child had dropped her and she'd broken her two front legs. I was around 10-11 and she spent four years with us until progressively worsening seizures took her life.

Here's a scanned photo.

 

[GhostUser]

There was sticky stuff on the photo that went unnoticed when it was scanned. It shows up on the dishwasher. Ooops!

 

[Skylark]

Tsila,

I never would have noticed the sticky stuff if you hadn''t mentioned it. I'd have just thought you needed to wash off the outside of the dishwasher.

My first companion animal was my dog Desi, whom I still have. He's 10 years old.

 

[GhostUser]

The first one that I remember was a parakette named Charlie. I loved that bird. I think I was 7 or so when he passed away. I remember lifting up the little blanket off of his cage and he was laying on the bottom. I wanted to bury him but it was winter and the ground was froze. Mom said she would put him in the garage till the spring. When spring came around I went looking in the garage for him and couldn't find him. I never asked my mom about him. I remember thinking that since he was outside he could fly to heaven. Maybe that's why I didn't ask my mom what happened to him

 

[LadyFaile]

heh, my bf gets a kick out of this story.. when we had budgies and the first one died, we looked for a small enough box to bury her in. the only one we could find was a takeout box from dinner the night before. a KFC box! my bf thinks that's hilarious. anyway the box was put out in the garage cause she died at night, i was told we'd bury her the next day, but they kept putting it off and i think my mom ended up just tossing the box into the garbage

but my first pet was actually a cat who i barely remember. he was an all white male cat who would take off for days at a time, come back to eat and take off again. when he was home he wanted to be left alone and if you tried to pet him he'd get mean and bite. i was little at the time, so my parents didn't want him around me i guess. they got rid of him and told me he ran away.

 

[Skylark]

Why didn't you take the box back to the KFC and demand a refund?

 

[GhostUser]

The first I recall was a cat named Riley. He was a huge orange striped cat. He was outdoors much of the time. I, too, was too young to appreciate him. I recall going to the woods with my dad and brother to bury him when he died. At the woods my dad found a tree and brought it home. It was very young and about 6 feet tall or less then but now it stands in front of the house and must be 30 feet at least now. That, when I think of it, could be a memorial for Riley. Must have been 40 years ago.

 

[LadyFaile]

Quote:

Originally posted by skylark

Why didn't you take the box back to the KFC and demand a refund?

um there are too many things wrong with that. i said my bf thought it was funny but at the time none of us thought of it that way. it was just a deceased pet in a box.

 

[Skylark]

I know, LF. I was being morbid.