Looking back as a young child, did you have a pet that was your constant companion?

Not really. We had pets, but I didn't consider them anything like constant companions.

No.

No, I had a cat, but "constant companion"...no

Not really

No, apart from a goldfish, I didn't acquire any pet until I was 17 years old, when my late grandmother's sandy mongrel Charlie, a former stray from Spain, moved in with us. He was a sweet and gentle-natured if mischievous animal who died in 1986. I still think of him.

Yes. He was an imaginary dog named Sam. He was my constant companion.

My dog, Lucky.

This is more true now... one of our cats is often with me. He's sleeping 2 feet from me right now.

Well...I'm not a young child, but I guess you meant: "Looking back to when you were a young child...".

We got a dog when I was five and it was still alive when I moved out at the age of nineteen. It was my occasional companion, but nothing remotely resembling "constant". It slept in the laundry room, I slept in my bedroom. I went to school, it stayed home in the yard. When I was out playing with my friends, sometimes I would take it along, mostly when I was younger and when the weather was warmer and we were playing outside. When I was sitting around watching TV, it would probably be in the same room.

When I was eleven, we got a cat and it was probably more of a companion when I was doing stuff around the house.

> No, apart from a goldfish...

Ah yes, a boy and his goldfish...that makes a funny image!

I had gerbils growing up and I had a hamster and mice as well

Not really. As a young child we had a dog but it was my older brother's. He had pirhana and fed them goldfish. It made me cry so he gave me one. His name was Marvin and I loved him very much until my baby brother poured soda in the bowl. Then that dog Mariah gave me a kitten, waited until I had named it, gone to the store and but the stuff for it, then came back and took it away. She was a f'ing sociopath and took delight in the whole thing. I had Patches for a whole 2 days. I even slept with her on the floor because my dad said she couldn't sleep in the bed. It wasn't until I was a teen that I got a dog and was my best friend.

Yes my dog Jody. She and I were inseparable!

Wow.... my crazy ass sister in law is always giving away my nephews pets. She calls me one day for advise "He seems to like you" she says and she's all mad. "He won't stop crying about his cat" she says to me "YOU talk to him!" and she's all pissy. I'm like, "Uh. what do you want me to say to the poor kid.... YOU GAVE HIS CAT AWAY.... YOU GAVE HIS CAT AWAY.... Of course he's crying!" You know what the freak says? "Well he should get used to disappointments, life isn't easy" What a freak of a mother that poor sweet kid has. That was the third pet of his she gave away by the way.

What a witch!

Not really when I was a child. We did have a family pet though.

My dogs I have now are around me all the time and go places I go. They will sit on the dock and take turns riding the sea-doo/jet-ski with me. They love it!

i agree whole heartedly. she sounds like my mother when i was a child. ugh (she hates animals)

I got a cat when I was 8 and she lives with my mum now. Most of our family members have got one of her children.

We always had several growing up.

I could never understand people who aren't 'animal people'. I really don't get it. When I look at my dogs I think 'What isn't there to love?' I have adored every pet I've had, from fish, to a mouse to a dag and a cat.

To give an idea of how my ''mother'' (cough) has no compassion for any such creature, be it furry or feathered or what have you, when i was a child, well one of our kittens was on the step, somehow it's leg got caught in the door & she slammed it, while telling her what she had done (and trying to console the poor crying kitten) she shouts: DAMN THING SHOULDINT BE IN MY FUDGEIN WAY! and walks to the car without a glance back. Oh yea, everybody should have a mom that great. (rolls eyes)

Yeah, kinda makes you wonder what feelings she has for her children.

Some time ago I lived in an apartment above a couple with a 2 year daughter. They fought all the time. I mean physical and they would bring it out into the hall and stairs. It was very distressing. I called the police more than once. So did other neighbors. I was working at my first nursing job. One night I came home and the end of an evening shift with my Burger King food. As I pass their door I hear the young woman yelling 'You killed her! She's dying!' over and over. My brain freaked but I said to myself 'I didn't hear anything.' Of course I set my food down in my apartment and went back down. I'm just picturing what this guy could have done to the little. I knocked on the door and woman answers. She is wearing a white robe and is holding a kitten. Blood is all over her robe. She said something to me but I ignored her. I just took the kitten and left. It had blood coming from it's nose and mouth, it's eyes were bulging out and it was breathing erratcally. What happened to the kitten? The little girl was eating spaghetti os on the couch. The kitten got on the couch and started eating out of the bowl. The man's answer? He threw the kitten against the wall.

Yes, and its name was Suzy.

He wasn't much of a companion! Pretty unsociable actually, and then one day, he became rather unwell, and...

Yep, my horse, Gus.

Oh my god! That rotten sonofadog The poor child. & yes, to anserw the question, my ''mother'' (cough) didint give 2 squirts of piss about her kids either. They say how you treat animals is a good indicator of how you will treat your kids. makes sense....

Did the kitten survive by the way?

Nope.

Yes, but had problems with seizures and had to take medication. The rest of the story-

I took the kitten upstairs, put it in a basket on a towel and called a vet. It was about midnight so the vet had to wake up and meet us. I went back downstairs and knocked on the door. She answered. I made eye contact with the guy standing behnd her. He looked afraid of me for some reason. I was still wearing my nursing uniform so I was actually in 'nurse mode' which has always been different than my regular personality. I wasn't afraid of him one iota. He was a big guy and I'm a little woman, still he ducked around the corner rather than let me look in his eyes any longer. Coward. I told the woman that I was taking the kitten to the vet now. If she wanted to keep it she had to come with me and pay for it. If she didn't want the kitten it was mine and I'd pay for its care. When I came back down the dude had hopped in his car and left. She was throwing clothes in a suitcase. On our way to the vet she kept going on and on about how she's been secretly saving money to leave this guy and stuff like that. I knew for a fact that he babysat that little girl while she worked. I brought up the obvious, that if he could do this to a kitten he could do it to a baby girl. She cried and went on and on. I rolled my eyes the whole time because I knew the cycle. I knew the chances of her getting back together with him were high. I made sure the vet knew what happened to the kitten. He said the same thing I did to her. Yes, they did get back together.

Who got the kitten in the end? (please say it was you...)

No the woman kept it. The couple moved out not too long after.

Not really. I loved our cat, but I don't think it liked me as much. It used to wait for me at the end of the hallway and scratch me when I walked past.

...started swimming upside down?

People like that shouldint be allowed NEAR animals or children (shakes head in disgust)

Not really... we always had pets, but none of them were only mine or my constant companion.

Her name was Princess.

The only pets I had as a kid were guppies & goldfish. My mom was allergic to both cats & dogs. Guppies & goldfish aren't very good companions.

Yes, all my pets have been constant companions. I'm a total animal nut.

I'm currently critterless and don't want to start thinking of all my pets waiting for me at The Rainbow Bridge, so that's all I will say about that.

Yes, a dog named Brownie.

Yes, Lucky . My doggy that daddy hit with his big F-350

No, but's because I didn't have any pets until I was 9-10 years old. My grandfather didn't get along with dogs & was allergic to cats, so my sister & I didn't get our first pet until he passed away in 1961.