How "into" animals is your family? Do they love animals or tolerate them or flat out dislike them? Do they go all out for pampering or do they just not get it?
My mom is a total pet person. She grew up with animals. Her family had several consecutive Boston Terriers, all of whom were named Buttons) and they also had several chickens despite living in the city (rescues from Easter baskets) and a collie named Lassie (is Tosca biting her paw? ), two pet squirrels rescued after they fell from a tree, and a cage of white mice.
She does have some strange ideas . . . When she heard that I got two MALE kittens she cast dire prophecies about how they would grow so big and strong that they would vault over my head when I opened the door and escape. (Um, what?) She's always prefered female animals to male ones. Perhaps this is why she keeps calling Remy, my "daintier" male cat (her favorite, the one who's always rubbing up to her) "she" and "her." ^_~ I also caught her playing peekaboo with Remy exactly like you would a baby.
My dad grew up on a farm and had a very pragmatic approach towards animals when I first started begging for a dog. He thought only small dogs were "pet" dogs, that dogs were happiest outside all the time with a dog house, and that people shouldn't have dogs in the city because they would be unhappy "shut in" the yard.
Of course, when I finally got a dog she was a large dog who lived in the house. He's more of a pet person now than he used to be. He ended up being very fond of my dog and he's great with my parents' current cat (who is difficult at the best of time!) who loves to sleep on his stomach.
Here's my dad with one of my cats as a kitten:
My mom is a total pet person. She grew up with animals. Her family had several consecutive Boston Terriers, all of whom were named Buttons) and they also had several chickens despite living in the city (rescues from Easter baskets) and a collie named Lassie (is Tosca biting her paw? ), two pet squirrels rescued after they fell from a tree, and a cage of white mice.
She does have some strange ideas . . . When she heard that I got two MALE kittens she cast dire prophecies about how they would grow so big and strong that they would vault over my head when I opened the door and escape. (Um, what?) She's always prefered female animals to male ones. Perhaps this is why she keeps calling Remy, my "daintier" male cat (her favorite, the one who's always rubbing up to her) "she" and "her." ^_~ I also caught her playing peekaboo with Remy exactly like you would a baby.
My dad grew up on a farm and had a very pragmatic approach towards animals when I first started begging for a dog. He thought only small dogs were "pet" dogs, that dogs were happiest outside all the time with a dog house, and that people shouldn't have dogs in the city because they would be unhappy "shut in" the yard.
Of course, when I finally got a dog she was a large dog who lived in the house. He's more of a pet person now than he used to be. He ended up being very fond of my dog and he's great with my parents' current cat (who is difficult at the best of time!) who loves to sleep on his stomach.
Here's my dad with one of my cats as a kitten: