One much-loved and pampered schnauzer/yorkie named Henry, the greatest thing ever given to me.

Definitely cats for me - I have 2 rescue cats. I like dogs too, but have always had cats and can't imagine my life without at least one.

4 cats! We used to have 5, but one died last year. He was my soul kitty. Has anyone ever had a pet that was just something a little extra special? Don't get me wrong, I love all my cats but I had an amazing connection with the one that died that I hope to find again.

1 Dog 1 Parrot

Two dogs, both rescues a black lab, and cocker black lab cross. No more cats for me allergic.

Two much-loved tabby cats. We love and have had dogs, but now is not the time. Would like a grand-dog though. What a great idea!

Two of the most self-centered snot-nosed snobby cats that walk the earth. But we love them.

chi83 - I know what you mean about having a connection with a pet. We used to have an orange cat and had him for 20 years and I think that not only did we love him but he also genuinely loved us.

One of my running buddies brings her blonde lab running with us through the trails and is just a great dog. We are his pack and if someone is lagging behind he will run back and forth to make sure that person is ok. He prefers to run at the heel of whoever is leading the run. Do I want a dog? no, for me they are too needy but I do understand the great interaction that one can have with a dog.

Four cats!!

One beautiful, sweet Brittany, and two nice cats. And my new son-in-law's two cats, who like me only when I feed them.

Both, 2 dogs and 1 cat

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Can't imagine life without them.

I do animal rescue and have several dogs and two kitties. My dogs bring joy to my life every day and they make me laugh every day. I can't imagine not having them.

Three boxers,onelittle mutt, four kitties right now. Fifth kitty went missing last week.

2 Boston terriers; one from a breeder and the other a rescue. Great big doggies in little dog bodies :)

We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 4 fish in one large tank. We love our kiddos, and I sometimes wonder how we'd find the time for everything if we do have children.

One dog and two cats for me.

1 totally insane dog, and 1 cat who thinks he's a dog.

A goldendoodle. Had several cats over the years. One lived to be 21 1/2 years old. A wonderful, special cat, but kids and DH are allergic to them so I vowed when Jenny died, no more cats. Can't imagine being without a dog. I'd have more but DH is not the animal lover I am. Up to now, he pretty much just tolerated the dogs because of me, but he loves, loves, loves Georgy Girl.

We had 3 dogs, one at a time, while the kids were growing up. Now we just have one granddog that we borrow as much as we can. Right now we are coming to the end of a 10 day stint with her with us while her 'parents' are on a bicycle tour in Arizona.

I have a plaque on the fridge that says "Life Begins When the Kids Move Out and the Dog Dies." Borrowing one when you need the comfort of a furry body then sending it back home when they get to be more than you want can be a good thing.

Three cats

One barn cat ... that I haven't seen in almost a week, and I'm getting rather concerned about her. The feed is being partly eaten, but no appreciable reduction in the water - I have to have two bowls, bringing in yesterday's water that has frozen to warm up and be taken out in temporarily liquid form tomorrow.

Often she's on hand when I bring out the food, but often not, so she may be O.K. ... but she's getting old. Coyotes around here ... but she's been adept at self-preservation over a long period. Maybe she's slowed down too much for the margin of safety.

A substantial number (uncounted) of dust bunnies. I recommend them as pets - they're not high maintenance. But can cause problems should one be allergic to dust.

ole joyful

I am owned by 2 very spoiled indoor cats, "Baby Girl" and "Kelly" and an outside feral, named "Jake"....And right now, my grandson's "Kitty" is visiting while he's away...I feel very fortunate the fur kids allow us to live with them.....

I also know about the connection with pets...We had an orange tabby, "Clancy" who passed a few years ago and I can still "sense" him sleeping next to me at night...He was special.......

We are pet parents to one dog, Baxter, a dalmation/boxer/blue heeler mix that we rescued from the shelter. He is the light in our life, but we don't even like to take him into PetSmart. He broke my husband's pinky finger during obedience training, not 4 minutes after the trainer taught us never to wrap the leash around our hands because this big boy could break a wrist!

We are also pet parents to my father-in-law's kitty, Sebastian. When my in-law's moved into a retirement apartment, they re homed Sebastian and we bought the family home and moved in a week after we moved them into the apartment. He ran away from his new home and came back here. It took him 3 weeks to travel 15 miles, I still can't believe that he found his way here. We like to say that he came with the house. He'll be with us for the rest of his life.

We also have a couple of aquariums with geriatric tropical fish. We have had a silver dollar and an Australian rainbowfish for at least 15 years. All of the 'same-breed' fish that these two were purchased with have passed on and these guys are happy tank mates for the past 5 years. We also have one ornery yellow lab cichlid that lives in a tank in the master bath. All of the other cichlids passed years ago, he's probably 8 years old. He has lived alone since he killed a tank-mate and got put into solitary.

after my last kitty passed dh said no more, sigh...what can I say he put up with my babies for about 40 years....so the next 40 I put up with him at home, lol....

Never had a dog. I have 2 very friendly barn cats(only animals in the barn now) and a guinea pig to keep me company in the house.

pkponder - Through the years we have had both neighbours on either side of us move and fortunately not very far. Because that's what happened with their cats. For one of our neighbours we were their cats second home and he would walk the mile back down the hill to our house and just sit at the front door waiting.

For the other neighbour the cat would walk back and sit at the front of the driveway, again just waiting for someone to come home. In both instances I just called the old neighbours and they would come and get their cats and eventually they figured out that their home had been moved on them and they did settle in to it.

But 15 miles - wow, that's quite a trip. I'm glad you kept him.

blfenton, we love Sebastian, he is a great cat! Very entertaining and loving!

Only dust bunnies for now. Our dog passed in 1993. We have had gerbils and newts when the kids were still at home. Since then we have had bunnies. All have now passed. The last one just a few months ago. We keep thinking about a small dog, but we travel a lot, so have not yet decided we are ready for one.

At one point, we had 3 cats, 2 dogs and 1 bird. We said as they passed, we would not replace them. In 2011, we lost our last cat (18 1/2). The bird (appropriately named Bird, cockatiel, now 24) was really depressed with no cat as he's always had a cat in his life. When we decided it was time for another cat, we were selected by Parker (grey, now 3 years old) to be his family. We added Duke (tuxedo, now 1) 2 years later. It took Parker a few days to adjust but the cats are like brothers. Bird is happy with his complete cat family. Here's a picture from about April 14 (Duke was 6 months old; they are both the same size now) when I caught them sleeping on the floor.

Chi83, I hear you; I've had cats most of my life and there are some special bonds. Out of all the cats I've ever been owned by, Parker is by far the most special. He has a strong connection to both me and my husband; almost like he's all the cats we've ever owned all wrapped up into one. He's super smart.

chi, I totally hear you. I have one cat that is the love of my life and I will never get over dying. He's so so special.

dee, your picture is now my desktop. What lovely furries!

Love all the pics. :)

yup, chi, my first cat was the special one and she and I were completely bonded. She was a long-time stray, completely beat up, who found me when she was estimated to be 3 years old and I had her for 18 1/2 years. She was smart!!!

Dees, that picture is adorable!! They look so happy.

This is the picture I use on my Facebook page.....they look so darned innocent.....

You know they are not.

Such great pics! gibby, your cats are very pretty, but I simply love your comforter or duvet cover. It's exactly the look I've been trying to find!

Oh man, Dees, those little faces are just precious! I can't believe you got them together and still for that picture!!

Two cats and two dogs - all dearly loved.

I'm very much a cat person. Right now we have two; we have had as many as four. India doesn't appear to care that much for either of us, but Magic LOVES his mommy. We don't have kids, so Magic is like a child to us. He is a very sweet boy!!

Our only grand'child' living the goof life at (and on) grandma's while her parents are away. She is a lap dog to the 'nth degree.

I have both and love them almost equally! (I secretly love cats a bit more!). Des, I found you on another posting about dolls. When you get a chance, go check out my question on them. I've researched the type of doll you asked about and I also collect them.

I love both cats and dogs, but currently have only cats - four of them. Here is our youngest.

I lost my beloved Nellie at 21 in July, but I still have her daughter, Annie who is her doppelganger. Also I have Henry , a grey tabby who's 8 and Phoebe 14 , the Russian blue who I'm worried about. Add to them Wally the rescued dachshund who is around 8 and Ziggy a Boston terrier mix. I have 15 large koi and and hive of bees. (plus a betta fish)

We've got one little dog we found injured and dumped on the side of the road and a cat we got from a rescue. The dog has become like another child and is happy and personable and loved by everyone. It's taken the cat a few years to come around. She's sweet, but really shy and isn't a lap kitty. She likes my two boys and dh best. She's gotten better and and lets me pet her once in a while if I behave myself.

One dog, a Dachshund, right now who is 14. We had 2 dogs before, a Jack Russel mix who lived to be 14.5 and Chihuahua mix who lived to be 18.5 and talk about a dog from He!!. We got them within a year of each other. After that experience we decided that we would not have more than one at time so that dog would get our full attention. Growing up I had dogs and cats, barn yard animals, snakes and turtles and tropical fish. When I was first married we had a canary, because that is all the landlord would allow. I loved to hear it sing first thing in the morning.

Here is a picture of Elvira, our current dog.

Cats/dogs/fish at the moment. Have had multiple miscellaneous pets all my life and can't imagine a life without them.

Achoo, achoo, achoo! Please excuse me if I don't stop by!

Two dogs.

Two cats and one dog. But two of the three (dog and one cat) are elderly. I consider them on "borrowed time". They get plenty of food teats and hugs!

donna, that kitten is adorable!!!

This is an old topic, but I might as well add mine. I have horses, donkeys, a mule, koi, goldfish, cats, dogs, a raccoon (still) and several possums I am raising, including a couple of non releasables. I prefer cats over dogs....but a dog is essential here. This is my rescue horse, Bane....looking better after getting over being sick for almost 3 mo. after I got him.

You are right, Moni....they sure do tie you down. I don't like to leave even for a day. I am going on a two day trail ride with a friend next month and even with my husband taking care of them, I hate to go. Fortunately, I don't really want to go anywhere anyway, so I am happy to stay home. The preparation to leave, even for a couple of days....is so tiresome and I worry about them while I am gone, that to me, it is just not worth it. I wouldn't even go on this ride, but my best friend from high school has been bugging me to do it for a few years now, so going to go and get it over with. Like that will make her quit bugging me to do it again....maybe once a year I can manage it.