It's a zoo!

I have always loved animals. Luckily I met a guy who is also a fan of animals and together we have owned quite a menagerie.

Our first place together was an apartment. It allowed cats so we immediately went out and bought a cute orange kitten. After a few months we realized that he was probably lonely during the day so we got him a black kitten as a friend. A year later I absolutely fell in love with a gray and white kitten at the local humane society, so he came home with us too!

We didn't limit ourselves to cats, however. We owned quite a few mice and bred them for fun. We also owned a few guinea pigs and bred them as well. Let me tell you, guinea pig babies are THE cutest things on the face of this earth! Rabbits, ferrets, parakeets, a cockatiel, an iguana and some tropical fish were also inhabitants of our apartment.

When we moved to a condo we bought a dog and a few years later we rescued another dog from the humane society. Over the years our animal group has decreased in size. We still have 3 cats but we ended up putting one of our dogs down. The rest of our animals either passed or were given to new loving homes.

Instilling a love and respect for animals is a major goal for me as a mother to my child. So far Charla is still learning how to be gentle and she has this odd habit of screaming as loud as she can (for fun) whenever she sees a cat. Unfortunately this is quite frequently since we have 3 of them! As Charla gets older I believe the animals will teach her about love, empathy and responsibility. All good qualities I want for my daughter.