Really I got him for my son, we had lost our 2 dogs and cats due to old age,and we did not want any pets for 4 years, I drove out of State to find the right Shi-Tzu, a boy, and boy! he has stolen our souls and hearts,he is like a 3 year old human, he keeps his toys in baskets and knows when one is missing.
He is my 4 legged grandson. Animals are God gifts to humans, they are our eyes, ears, they find us when lost, rescue when we are in trouble,comapinos and fellow soldiers to humans, and they ask for so little, as they say," the more I know about humans the more I love animals: specially when one reads about cruelty.

Story is very amazing, i will tell in my spare time

i received a free aqarium and went to buy some googly eyed black moore gold fish.. the fish were cheap but everything else came to $100???

i bought a rat for $4 instead. it was the only white one with red eyes and it was hiding in the corner like me.. i bought her and she kept me happy for 3 years before she passed.. i miss her in my pocket

The first bird I came into contact with was a cockatiel called charlie, he was owned by my aunt and uncle, but my aunt got ill and couldn't look after him so I did. He was so sweet, he could say "Good boy charlie" if you said it to him first but did have a little bit of a vicious streak when you put your hand in his cage. He would happily sit on my finger out of his cage but if i came into his territory my hand suffered a great deal of pain. I can still see a couple of the scars. It really didn't matter to me though, he was a lovely old bird who lived for about 15 years, I only had him for about 2 of those 15 years but I was really attached to him.

This might take a bit, so get yourself comfortable!
I currently have three cats and a Blue/Gold Macaw. The Macaw is named Lucy (she had a brother named Linus, who was adopted by another kind soul) and I've had her for 27 years. While Lucy is technically my bird, she usually prefers the company of women, my wife in this case. There was another woman 20+ years ago, but that is another story for another day. Suffice it to say that Lucy LOVES my wife and lights up any time she is in the same room. I'm good enough to feed Lucy, but I'm good enough to get bitten every now and then as well. Lucy gets jealous when my wife and I are talking and she isn't included and will screech loudly until she is either picked up, or her cage is covered. After 27 years, the yelling is pretty well ingrained into her personality.
My 3 cats are Pete, a black cat I sort of inherited from a cousin, is 18. He is deaf but still pretty spry and he keeps the other cats in order since he has front claws (the other two don't). Moose, who was originally named Jumping Jack (she is a girl) is about 13 and is grey and white. She is a big cat and is solid muscle and weighs a ton, although she isn't fat...just solid. She is my wife's cat and spends most of her time curled up against her. She is pretty vocal and affectionate. The newest addition to our tribe is Archie, a buff colored male who is just over a year old. He has added a ton of energy to the household and is beginning to settle down and getting more affectionate...young cats seem to take a while to settle down and get used to being "affectionate". There is simply too much to look at, chase, and explore! He has put on a lot of weight since we adopted him last August and I worry he will get fat as he inhales his food then finishes off the other two cat's meals. He is furry and comical...he will be a sweet cat in his years ahead!
On a sadder note, Archie was a replacement for our two yellow cats that we lost last year, Thor and Cleo. Thor was Moose's playmate and he was about 7 months younger than Moose, who took care of him when he was a tiny kitten. Thor was my daughter's cat and bonded tightly with her. As she grew up, they were best of friends and inseparable. Thor developed an auto immune disorder which caused severe anemia and he passed away in January of 2011. Cleo was my little girl and came to us as a stray. She was skinny, not a lot of fur, and she was living outside during the winter in Western Pa. I had seen her in our yard picking at scraps of food and started to leave food out for her. She would shy away and meow at me, and eventually she came close enough for me to touch her. As soon as my hand touched her, she meowed and rubbed against me like we were friends for years. We took her in and she blossomed into the sweetest and most friendly cat I have ever had. Her hair grew in thickly and she was simply beautiful. She bonded with me mostly and would sleep next to me every night. A month after Thor passed, we noticed Cleo was breathing a little harder than normal. A trip to the vet revealed that she had a mass in her chest area and her organs were being squeezed. Over the next few months Cleo declined and she had difficulty eating and her breathing was getting more difficult. On April 19th she passed away, leaving a huge hole in our hearts. 6 months went by until we decided that we needed another yellow cat to fill the void, which is where Archie came in. Strangely, with his color of thick fur and his "filling out" from good eating, he looks almost identical to Cleo and my wife sometimes will call him Cleo without realizing it.
I was never a cat person until I inherited a big gray cat from Florida. Ashley was big, furry, very soft, and very handsome. He was all gray except for his chin and a spot on his chest, and the front of his paws. He looked like he was wearing a tuxedo and was VERY affectionate and vocal. He followed me around like a dog and lived to sleep against me or my wife. Ashley was about 12 when he developed failing kidneys and he passed away in January of 1998. His departure opened the door for Moose and Thor to join us as kittens.
So there is my story, starting from the present and working my way backwards. All of my cats were special and I miss the departed ones dearly. Pets are like antibiotics for the soul, they heal you when you really need them and keep things working properly in the times in between.