My mother has always had cats, so I grew up with them since I was 2, when my parents got our family's first pet, a Himalayan we named "Taco B" I guess because my parents liked Taco Bell, lol. He had to be put down when he was 13 because something unexplained was wrong with him and making him suffer, and the only other option would have been exploratory surgery.
A year later we got a new kitten, a Ragdoll named Button, and the following year we got another from the same breeder. The second one, Link, was a runt, and had obvious back problems among other things. Since he was tiny and didn't move around much, mom accidentally backed over him with her wheelchair one day and he died before anyone could get him to the vet.
One year later, mom had recovered from the loss enough to want to get a new kitten, again from the same breeder. That time we got a female kitten, Ruby, and now she and her big brother Button are all grown up, and will be 4 and 6 years old this year respectively. I've always liked to think of Ruby as my baby sister, since I have no human sisters, just brothers.
My dad, who has been divorced from mom since I was 12, actually got a cat himself shortly after I moved away to college. Fish and birds are the pets he generally keeps. She's an older cat, black and white like a cow, but with vivid green eyes. I don't remember if he ever decided on her name yet, lol.
Late last summer, as I was preparing to finally leave student housing and get my own apartment, I was with a friend who lives in the complex and found a cat in the parking lot. This complex actually has a fair few cats roaming about, though it's hard to say if they're strays or not. A woman saw us petting the cat, and started talking about how some people had moved away and just left him. I thought at that moment that I ought to take this cat in, and that's just what I did. At first he scarfed down food voraciously as if he hadn't eaten in ages, but he soon got better. Plus, he automatically knew what the litter box was, so that's never been a problem. He's neutered, got all his shots, and tested negative for any big diseases, so he's a lucky one. My friends and I decided his name should be Pizza Hut, so that's what his name is. He's a big, strong, tough guy now, loves to play, and fears nothing but the vaccuum cleaner. He loves cardboard boxes to death, and I even made a fort for him out of a couple. This past Christmas, I even got him a stocking. I never plan to have children, so I'd like to think of pets as such instead, since I think of them as siblings, too. I guess that makes my little sister Ruby Pizza Hut's aunt! XD
