All of these let me to wonder why dogs, cats, horses, and other animals that are common pets don't live that long. Some horses live to about 30 years but dogs and cats never live that long. 12 to 16 years is normal for dogs and cats with a few reaching 20.
So why is it that our most beloved pets are short lived animals. Thinking back over my own pets I remembered that the longest I had a dog and a cat live was 16 years. I had a horse that made it to what the vet guessed was 30 but he was 20 when I got him.
I did some more thinking and realized that there had been a considerable number of dogs and cats in my life as well as quite a few birds and horses. That thought caused me to think that if these pets had longer lives would I have had as many as I have had. Another words if a dog lived to 30 years would I have only had one or two instead of the 12 dogs that I have had? If a cat could live to 30 years would I have had the 25 purr critters I have had?
Hummmmmm. I really can't answer those questions.
I know I have had more dogs and cats than the average person has but I don't think having a shorter life would have made a whole lot of difference in my case but I do think it would make a difference with a lot of people. Not everyone wants to have a half dozen dogs in the house at once. Or --say--ten cats. I don't think I would want that many at once either.
Thinking of the pets I have had I usually did have at least 2 dogs most of the time. But I don't think I ever had more than 3 at once at any time. Although I only have one at this time. The same can be said for my sisters and most of my friends. Usually 2 or 3 dogs at a time. Most of my dogs were 13 or 14 when we lost them but a lab/collie cross I had was 17.
As far as the cats are concerned I remembered I did have 7 of them for a number of years. And, yes, I agree that was too many. Another time I did have 6, and I have 4 at this time. I have know people that have had as many as 10 cats at once. I don't recommend it. Most of my cats made it to 13 or 14 years but one made it to 16. I know of 3 that are that old and still going strong.
And horses. That seems to be another critter that you can't just have one of. I started with one and got another soon. My highest count was 6 at once, but I have noticed that horse people just can't say 'no' when there is a horse needing a home. Many friends have as much as a dozen or so of the hay burners. I do still have 4 horses but they live with my son now. I miss them all the time and much preferred when I could walk out the door and visit with them even if it did mean having to feed them twice a day and clean pens and stalls. I have known several horses that lived 30 years and one that was 37.
Not to be forgotten are the bird people. The first pet I can remember having was a parakeet. I think I was 2 years old when my parents got him for me. I had several parakeets and a canary while growing up. I got a parakeet for my son when he was about 4. We already had some zebra finches. During the next several years we had quite a few finches, canaries, and parakeets. I never got into the larger birds but have known a lot of people that have had then. A favorite older friend was a true bird lover having many in her lifetime. The longest I had a bird live was about 10 years.
Of course there are those that prefer reptiles. I let my son have several lizards, and a couple of box turtles. I drew the line at a snake. Thank goodness he never asked for one. He did have a good friend that had a large collection of snakes.
And then there are the fish. When I was about 8 my dad got a fish aquarium that we had for a few years. My sister had a small aquarium while we were in collage. My son asked for one when he was about 5 so I let him have one but he lost interest in just a few months. I, on the other hand, kept the aquarium going for over 20 years. It was only a 10 gallon aquarium tank so I was limited on how many I could have at a time. Many fresh water fish that people have in aquariums don't live more than a few years at most. I had guppies, mollies, swordtails, angel fish, zebra fish, and others. The 2 I remember the most were a pair of some sort of Plecostomus that I got when we first got the tank. These are fish that are some sort of sucker fish and eat a lot of the algae that grows in a tank. One of them lived about 10 years and the other was 19 when it died. I have heard that there are other fish that have very long lives if cared for properly.
I think all parents should introduce their children to animals as much as is possible. Since I dad was in the Air Force we moved a lot so a parakeet was our best choice of pet for many years. When dad retired from the Air Force when I was 13 we got a dog and then a cat. My husband and I had 2 cats and 2 dogs when our son was born. We always seemed to have houseful of pets when raising our son. I am a firm believer that children learn a lot of love, responsibility, respect when they have pets in the home.
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