- how many of you, had a couple of standard pets such as dogs or cats as children? - how many of you had close contact with more unusual species of animals as children? Yes I did have exposure to animals as a child. I've always had cats. I know I had several cats as a small child, one was given away by my parents and one found his way to a neighbor's house to live. My first "real" cat lived with me for almost 20 years; we definitely grew up together. Then I moved out of my parents house, never to have cats again because of the heartache of pet death, but adopted 2 more, then, more. I did not have more than one cat at a time and no unusual pets, until the past 15 years or so. Today I have 4 cats (for the moment), and 5 ferrets (for the moment). My husband brought our first ferrets into our home, then, well, you know...ferret math. (There's cat math too.) I am a much MUCH better pet parent as an adult than I was as a child. By the way, I was an only child growing up, my much older sister moved out of the house when I was about 5 and I have no skin kids and NEVER WILL. I will always be an animal person and enjoy the ongoing process of learning about ferrets and the friendship of other ferret parents! Per previous survey: ear piercings only, 4 tattoos, no vivid hair color anymore. I've settled down (hee hee). donna [Posted in FML issue 5268]