Monday, October 20, 2008

Animal Junkie

My name is Patty and I'm an animal junkie. I'm not sure how I got here, but after writing yesterday's post it kind of occurred to me that I've taken in a lot of dogs over the years, and that's just the dogs. We've had many other kinds of animals too. Some of this is my kids fault, some is mine. Some is my husband who never says no to me. Except when I told him I wanted a horse. Then he said no.

Birds - cockatiel, parakeets, finches, quails and chickens
Rodents - hamster, gerbils, mice, Guinea pigs
Rabbits - both indoor pets and outside feeder rabbits
Reptiles - chameleons, frogs, turtle and I think a salamander
Fish

It all starts to blur over time. Too many pets, too many times, too many cages, too much petfood, too much poop, too many crickets and mealworms.

I think the only animals I said "no" to were ferrets, snakes and cats. Not because I don't like cats but we always had other animals that would either eat the cats or the cats would eat. I didn't want that kind of drama in the house. I can hold a snake but they are just creepy. And I had to wash ferrets a couple times at the vet clinic - they stink, wet or dry.

Even knowing all the above, it's weird that everytime I'm at the petshop, I pass the parakeets and finches and I just want to buy them. I love their chirping sounds in the winter. When I pass the kittens and puppies, I want to bring them home. So snuggly and soft. When I pass the older rescue dogs, I want to give them a happy life in our home where they can run and play with other dogs and go to the cabin. When I pass the aquariums, I want to buy fish. Lots of fish. All colors and types of fish. Maybe I should quit hanging out at petshops?

My theories about my addiction are;

1. I didn't have very many pets as a child. We had one dog. And I was allowed to have an aquarium or two. So I'm overcompensating for an animal-deprived childhood.

2. I have an inborn desire for pets. I surely didn't inherit this from my mom and dad, it must be a throwback gene to someone in my distant past. Maybe there's a zookeeper in the family history?

3. I have a control desire. All these pets are dependent on me for their food, water and well being. (I don't really think this is it, but I'm just trying to explore all the possibilities)

4. I have a saviour complex. I must save all the animals, all the sad little cats and dogs and keep my children happy. (lots of these pets came into our home because of the kids)

Please weigh in on my problem. You are my support group.

5 comments:

Aunt Krissy said...

you have an addiction to chaos!

grnqrtr said...

You must have forgot that you let me have a snake before. It was a small snake, but it definitely was a snake.

PAK ART said...

hmmmm....to tell the truth I was having a hard time remembering all of the pets. It seems like I do remember a little garden snake or something. was it green?

Anonymous said...

You definietly let Travis have a snake. You also made Travis give me the baby guppies so the snake couldn't eat them. Travis didn't like that.

PAK ART said...

Wow, I am having a lot of memory loss. I had forgotten about the guppies. You and me trying to keep the big bad Travis from feeding our precious guppies to the snake. I don't mind feeding worms and crickets to reptiles, but not the baby guppies!