Hiya all,
I just figured I would post this for the heck of it. If you want to give
your opinion, whether you liked it or not, go on ahead. If you hated it,
you can tell me, I guess. It won't really bother me, as long as you say
why you hate it. Okay?
Animal Companions
By: Raven Scorpio
I never really considered myself an "only child," simply for the reason
that I always had animals to keep me company. I had dogs, cats, lizards,
hamsters, snakes and fish, almost any animal that can be a house pet.
From before I was born, my parents had two cats, Heather and
Loretta-Lynn. My parents had these two cats since they were kittens and
they were as different as night and day. Heather was all white with a
few black splotches and Lynn-Lynn, (she was called for short) was black
with white splotches on her body.
My parents had gotten Loretta first. She was found stranded and alone.
She was discovered in the furnace room of a large apartment my parents
lived in. The caretaker, who had found her, asked my parents if they
wanted her, and of course, they said yes. Loretta had been beaten and
abused before my parents had gotten her. Whenever my father had put on
his work boots Loretta would always run away, implying that perhaps she
had been kicked a lot by her previous owner who left her before he moved.
However, after a few weeks of my parents caring for her, the man who
left her, came back, wanting her. The man had went to the caretaker and
simply replied that the abuser would not get her back. So, the man left,
unhappily.
As for Heather, she was bought at a pet store. When my parents took her
to my mother's house their dog came out of the house and as soon as
Heather saw the Angel, the German Shepherd, she clawed her way up my
dad's arm, leaving him all scratched up.
When I was brought home after a month or so of being at the hospital, my
parents had to keep a close eye on me, because the kittens could have
possibly gotten jealous of me.
Whenever I was put into a baby swing, I would cry, quite loudly, and
those two curious kittens would sit there in front of the swing and watch
me, all red faced and fussy. Maybe they thought I was a pain in the
rear, though perhaps to them, in a way, I was. I had invaded their
territory by being the newcomer into "their" home, yet the accepted me,
and loved me unconditionally.
As I got older Loretta discovered a fun game, that brought her pleasure,
or so I suppose, simply for the fact that she would constantly do it.
She sat on a chair, as I would run by, (I was probably abtou two years
old) and she would whack me with her paw. Both of the kittens were
de-clawed soon after they were both bought and found, so it did not hurt
to be hit by either one of them.
As I grew up, so did the kittens and they became full grown cats.
Wherever my parents and I moved, they moved with us, and we loved them as
much, if not more than they loved us.
When I was around the age of five, I discovered that Heather, the
younger of the two cats, loved to be tucked up into a sheet or comforter,
anything warm and comfortable. So, being as young as I was, I wanted to
see what would happen if I laid down and then tucked Heather up next to
me, to keep her warm, thinking she'd enjoy it. Sure enough, just as I
though, she loved it. I have a few pictures of her and I together,
snuggled up close.
In the year 1989, my parents had taken Heather to the vet, because she
was not doing so well, she had been sick often and was not acting the way
a healthy seven year old cat should. It turned out that she had a liver
problem and was in a lot of pain. The vet suggested that it was best for
Heather to be "put to sleep." It was hard for me, as a six-year-old; to
understand why I would never see my cat again, considering I had grown up
with her through my entire existence until that time. Though, eventually
I got used to the fact that I would never see my cat again.
My other cat, Loretta, did notice that she did not have her playmate
anymore, and did seem to be quite upset at that fact, though she too, got
over it, and didn't mind much about being an only pet.
Sure, from the time Heather was put down, I had other animals: fish,
chameleons, snakes, a hamster, a salamander and other such animals,
though however, none seemed to be really loving towards me the way
Heather had been. Heather and I were close since I was young, and when
she was put to sleep, it was hard for me. Loretta never really liked me
much, or at least that is the way I perceived things. She used to hiss
at me and hit me too; maybe that was her way of telling me, "Hey, I love
you!"
When I reached the fifth grade, I had wanted to get a puppy, because
they were cute and cuddly and weren't independent, like cats. Half way
through the fifth grade school year, my parents surprised me with a
little Rottweiler puppy. Many of my parent's friends were at the
apartment when I came home from school to see the pup running around. I
instantly fell in love with her. She was the cutest, smallest puppy I
had ever seen, and she was perfect. My mother named her, on her AKC
papers: "Brynn's Precious Alli." However, everyone called her Alli for
short.
Loretta never liked Alli at all. She was the "owner" of the apartment
and did not want any other animals hanging around. Loretta did tolerate
Alli; though not without consequence. When Alli would try to sniff her,
she would get a muzzle full of paw. Loretta liked to whack Alli in the
face with her paw, whenever Alli tried to become friendly with her. She
was one stubborn cat.
When we moved, Loretta had to sleep in my room. So at night, in the
winter, to keep herself warm, she would jump up on my bed and lay at the
foot of my bed, between my feet, and curl up there and fall asleep. I
would say that was one of the closest times Loretta and I were, my whole
entire life with her.
After we moved, again, finally into a house, Loretta's health started to
deteriorate. She started to become very frail and weak. She would not
eat and became morose. Her bones stuck out and she was very sad looking.
My parents and I could not understand what was wrong with her. At this
time, I was a young teenager at the age of fourteen and Alli was only
three, while as for Loretta, she was up in her years. She was close to
her late teens, and that was old for a cat to live.
Loretta had the same symptoms as Heather had, and I was afraid I was
going to lose Loretta too. That really scared me, because I had known
her my entire existence and I did love her, whether she loved me or not.
One night, I took Loretta from the den and brought her into the computer
room with me, while I was on the Internet. I got talking with a man who
had some animals of his own and I was telling him about my cat, and how
she was just lying on my lap and not moving, something she had never done
before.
I remember the words the man had said to me, as if he said them a few
moments ago. His exact words were, "Maybe she knows it's her last
rodeo." When he said those words, I started crying more than I had been,
because that day my mother had said the next day, Loretta would be put to
sleep, because my mother was afraid she wouldn't live another night.
Every time I think of those words, I start to get misty eyed, because he
was right. In a way, Loretta did know it was her last time with me, at
least while she was alive.
The day before I had said I wanted to go with them, to hold her as she
fell asleep forever, then when they were about to take her that fateful
day, I couldn't bring myself to go. I was too upset.
Before my parents took her, I gave her one last kiss on her head and ran
my hand down her spiny back and whispered in her ear, "I love you,
Lynn-Lynn and always will." My mother wrapped her up in a dark blue
towel and off they drove to the vet's office.
When they returned home, I was in my room on my bed, crying. My mother
walked in and told me that as the vet gave her the injection, he was
petting her and stroking her, even after she was gone. My mother had
told me she had walked out of the room as the vet gave Loretta the
needle, but my father stood there, watching. After my mother told me, I
hugged her as I was crying and then noticed she was teary eyed.
Ever since then, I have been afraid to get close to animals. Simply
because I just know that some day they will die, and I will be left to
still be here, while they are in heaven waiting for me, for the day I
join them again.
Now, I only have one animal, Alli. I know that one day she will be gone
and that upsets me, because she is like a sister to me, although she is
an animal. She is now six years old. By the time, I turn twenty, Alli
will be ten, and she will be up in her years, because a dog's life span
is short. They only live for about fifteen years or so.
Something my mother always told me to remember when it comes to pets,
would be when a pet dies don't ever forget them, always keep them in your
heart and think of all the fun times you and the pet spent together.
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