emma loves pets

as a child

growing up i look fondly on how we always had animals in the house. as a baby my mom had two cats that were close friends. i was born towards their senior years but i do have some memories of them. they liked to stand up and place their front paws on each other's front paws, kind of like a cat tower. it was very cute. they were both very friendly to me even though i was a baby. i think this is where my love of cats started as these two were kind of welcoming me into their home in a way. this would also be my first experience with loss as both would pass away from old age rather closely together. i was too young to understand the significance of loss at the time, though i do remember the process of them getting older and passing away. my mom always speaks fondly of these two cats and has told me she's had many cats throughout her life. though she has a wonderful dog now, i think me and my mom love animals in general. she really helped me foster that love as a child

hop along the path of love

the first animal i really took to as a child was a pet rabbit. as any child would i named him whiskers. whiskers was a dwarf, so a smaller rabbit. he was quite friendly, and loved to run around the house. he loved salt licks and these yougurt drops we had found for rodents. he was content with pellet food but would never turn down a treat! i had read early on that rabbits live longer when they are in an environment that is low stress. i was determined to make sure whiskers had this. i looked after him as best as any child can, being sure to play with him and give him plenty of pets. we had managed to litter train whiskers, so that when he was out of his living area he would use a small litter box made for rodents if he needed to. at the time, my grandma was still alive, and whiskers was always curious about her. always stopping to say hello at the couch she would often sit at watching tv. whiskers would live to be 9 years old! i had certainly lived up to my promise of giving him a good life. i would say goodbye to him at the age of 18, and i cried like any person who loved their animal. it was time to say goodbye to him and i just could feel all the memories that we shareed together. i sometimes wonder if i'll see all my pets again one day. it is a nice thought i like to keep around when ever i worry about what is next after life. seeing all my pets again would mean so much

the love language of birds

at one point we had two parakeets. this is where my love of knowledge would really combine with my love of animals. i was buying every book i could about parakeets. learning all about them. i played with them, learned how to handle them, how to care for them. they were wonderful little birds. each with their own wonderful personality. they often liked to chase each other on the floor playing what seemed to be a game of tag. i remember my grandma quite enjoyed watching them chase each other around. we promised her we'd keep their wings clipped as she had memories of a child of a rather troublemaker type bird a family member had the flew around the house. but she loved these two, and so did my mom and i. parakeets don't live forever though, and it would be time eventually to say goodbye to them as well. this was a unique experience for me. the two of them rewarded every effort to grow closer to them with love and new sides of their personality would appear as a result

love on four paws

the final pet i want to talk about is my current pet. his name is baxter and he is a domestic shorthair cat. he is currently 9 years old. this cat and i have formed a bond so wonderful. i worked hard to get to know him on his terms, and he has rewarded me with the love and affection only a loving pet could show. he often follows me all around the house, curious to see what i'm doing. he loves when i sit with him while he eats, often purring while crunching his food. he loves cardboard boxes, and has one in my room to sleep in while i work on the computer. he occasionally cuddles with me in bed when it is time for sleep. this is the best type of sleep for me, to have this purring, warm, loving creature laying on my chest slowly getting sleepier. sometimes he is still there in the morning, and greets me with a soft meow as i open my eyes for the day. baxter and i have been through so much together. jobs, relationships, sickness, health, ups, downs. he's been there for it all. he is my closest friend it feels like sometimes. it is so wonderful to be truly understood by this cat, and to truly understand him as well. i look forward to many more years with baxter, and i think he thinks the same