Besides cats and dogs, what animals did you grow up with?
By writersedge
@writersedge (22563)
United States
March 9, 2008 9:35pm CST
I only grew up with cats and dogs. Many people grow up with an entire monagerie. This is interesting. How does a person grow up with almost their own zoo? We had all we could do to take care of ourselves and the animal or two that we had plus work and do chores. How did you do it? Although we did have pigs for awhile and cows, but we just fed them twice a day and they were pretty much on their own.
9 responses
@cortjo73 (6498)
• United States
11 Mar 08
Throughout the years I had some rabbits, some domestic rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, dwarf hamsters and, some mice. The dogs were more my mom's responsibility but, I had to feed my other littler pets and keep their cages clean. I never usually had more than one or two at a time as one was usually mine and the other one of my siblings. Occasionally we would be mistaken and get one female mouse and one male mouse and end up with babies.
Now I have 3 cats and a dog and the hubby and I share responsibility.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
Thank you very much, nice job and explanations.
I've never had rabbits or small creatures as pets. Are they hard to care for?
Yes, putting two sexes together gets you babies almost every time, unless they're fixed. Thanks
@cortjo73 (6498)
• United States
11 Mar 08
The rabbits were a little harder to take care of because they are little poop machines. Rats and mice weren't too hard to take care of. And, as far as putting the boy with the girl, the unfortunate thing was that we would ask for all females but the stores would give us a boy and a girl. I don't know if they just didn't know their genders when they sold them to us or if they did it on purpose. But, LOL, that is what happened! LOL!
@steffyhoney (706)
• United States
11 Mar 08
Growing up I mainly grew up with just cats and dogs. However my 4 year old daughter has so far grown up with dogs, cats, cows, horses, chickens, goats, ducks, sheep, pig, and I think that about sums it up. Where her dad did own he wanted all these animals. She got attacked by the rooster once, and bitten in the butt by the pig. The rooster gave her a black eye and the pig did some nasty damage to her butt. I hated having so many animals and you always had to watch them around her she couldnt even play without the rooster chasing her. Im glad I dont have to deal with them anymore.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I think the rooster, the pig, and I would have tangoed. My family didn't have the pigs and cows until we were all teens or preteens. Only the pony was mean, shetland pony grabbed me by my hair and swung me around. Dad sold him to make glue/leather/dog food because he wasn't useful as a pony. That pony was so mean, he scared a thousand pound stear and was mean to everything/everybody. But our pigs were fine, just babies in spring and teens by fall when we ended up with them for the freezer. But other than that pony, our animals were very sweet. The stear used to lick my face. The pigs ate out of my hand.
@steffyhoney (706)
• United States
11 Mar 08
Yea the pig didnt actually mean to bite her I dont think. She was really young then like 2ish. She was feeding her out of her hand and as the pig was going for it she turned and the pig bit her butt. The rooster however did mean it and I was so mad at that thing. Everytime I seen it I just wanted to stomp on it. It would chase everyone, except me lol. I guess he learned his lesson when I kicked it half way across the field. (I wouldnt have if it was attacking my child just for people to know lol)
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
10 Mar 08
We did have goldfish and I had a canary one time while my sister had a parakeet.. But they were not as fun as the dogs..lol
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
11 Mar 08
hahaha, so that is why the canary ducked when I threw a ball at it..J/K...lol
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I know, you just can't take that goldfish or parakeet out for a walk and they don't play catch worth beans either. Smile
1 person likes this
@megumiart (3771)
• United States
10 Mar 08
Growing up the only actual pets I ever had were dogs or cats, but twe lived on a lake at one point, and there was lots of wildlife literally in our backyard; ducks, racoons and a family of opposums. :]
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I love wildlife, but those raccoons are little devils. They ate bushels of my grapes! Thanks
@di1159 (1580)
• United States
10 Mar 08
Hello! I remember when I was very small, my father used to have a small chicken coop in the backyard, all hens and 1 big rooster. I was terrified of him because he would chase me around the yard which I went out to play. I also vividly remember chasing them down one time when a hurricane was heading our way and we needed to put them into a safe area. Needless to say, no one caught the rooster, yet he managed to find a safe spot cause the next day, he was strolling through the downed trees and debris. I'm still a bit scared of roosters to this day!
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
My Mom would agree with you. I wanted chickens and she said we couldn't have any because they were mean.
Thank you for the story, so the big old mean rooster survived the hurricane, tough little dude, huh?
@julievy (593)
• United States
10 Mar 08
We were on a farm so we had dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, cows and rabbits. My job was to feed the dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits. My older brother took care of the bigger animals like the pigs and cows.
Most of theres were working animals (like the dogs and cats) and the rest were sold for food. We were pretty much discouraged from getting too friendly with the animals that were planned for dinner....
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I can see a farm, but I know people with 10 pets and live in a city.
Are rabbits hard to take care of? I think they taste very good.
Yes, I really liked the pigs and some of the cows, it's hard to think about eating Joe. Thanks and take care.
@cwilson26 (2735)
• United States
10 Mar 08
I grew up with chickens, cats and dogs. When I was little we lived on my grandparents property so that is how I grew up with chickens. I used to help clean them after my grandpa would kill them. Looking back I cannot believe I did that because I won't even kill a chicken now. Since my hubby and I have been together we have had chickens, a pig, a goat and lots of cats and dogs. Oh and 2 rabbits too. Right now we have 5 dogs and 5 cats. I don't want anymore pigs but I would love to have chickens again for the fresh eggs. :)
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I grew up with pigs, but not chickens, goats, or rabbits. What are they like?
@jennysp8 (855)
• United States
10 Mar 08
Growing up I lived with dogs, cats, birds, chickens, ducks, a turkey, and at one point a goat. My grandparents had and still have horses and they lived right next door so it was pretty crazy.
But we had lots of room so those animals are pretty easy to take care of...
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I only know about dogs, cats, pigs, and angus cows. What are the ducks, turkey and goat like?
