The wonderful world of pets I'm a pet kind of girl. My family has always had them. For a while, we had two dogs, a cat, and fish. The fish I can do without. Maybe I'm just insensitive, but I don't find that they really added to my quality of life. The mammals, on the other hand, provide constant amusement, frequent comfort, and only occasional stress/frustration/anger. Dogs and cats certainly differ in how they perform these functions. Consider the dog and cat in my household at present. Prika, the dog, plays with herself. By that I mean she plays fetch with herself. It's hard to imagine until you see her throw the toy in the air and race across the room to catch it. She also plays soccer with herself by chasing the ball around with her nose, barking because she can't fit it in her mouth. KC, the cat, on the other hand, plays with the dog, although not as often as she used to now that she's old. She still can be seen staring across the room, directly at the dog, with the intent, I'm sure, of driving the dog stark raving mad. You see, the dog can't retalliate because she's tried to take on the cat before and failed miserably. Our cat may be old, but she hasn't lost her fighting skills. Dogs in particular understand things about life and living it that people could stand to learn. Like showing their love and devotion for their pack, the value of fresh air and exercise and how to take a nap. Come to think of it, people do understand these things as children, but they get lost somewhere along the way. Maybe that's the real purpose of having a dog as a pet, to remind you of the important things "real life" drives out of your memory. Sadly, the Boy is allergic to animals so, should I ever move in with him, we probably won't have any. Maybe someday, when I have a house of my own with a big yard (land-grabbing North American that I am), we can have a big dog named Rex or Jake. I think that would be very satisfying. |