Kids and Pet Relationships

I can remember my first pet like it was yesterday. We always seemed to have cats and the first were 'Tom' and 'Jerry'. These two brothers could not be more different. They came from a litter of kittens my Aunt's cat had. Their cat erroneously named 'Charlie' was a beautiful white Persian. All the kittens were given away except the two we took which was not too bad because we lived across the back lane from her so she often came to visit.

Once they knew she was pregnant, her name changed to 'Charlene'. and we all had a good laugh about that. Our two were domestic short hairs, black and grey markings with intense dark eyes. The names we dubbed them came from the cartoons we kids were watching back then about a cat and a mouse. Those years, cats were allowed to free roam somewhat so we learned the hard way about why that was not a great idea.

Jerry came down with Distemper, a deadly cat ailment from being around other cats and my Tom ended up with Pneumonia. But we had them for many years prior to this happening. I was able to play with them and so did my brothers. The one closest to me was Tom because he seemed to like me and my constant petting and because he listened to all my woes. That meant a lot to me.

It was like he understood I was in pain and just wanted to be there for me. Years later I recognized that he and the other pets to come had this inborn sense of what we needed and did connect with our emotions and general mood.. That is a great service they provide for kids. In a world populated by adults, this is an invaluable service and I know that happens a lot. I hope you will allow your kids to have pets. A furry friend who does not judge is hard to come by.