RevGals Friday Five—Dogs or Cats or What?

I belong to a blog ring—RevGalBlogPals—and on Fridays we do a fin meme called “The Friday Five,” which calls for the writer to list and discuss five items with a common theme (or not!). 

Today, the topic is pets. 

So here I go. 

     

1. Are you a DOG or a CAT person? Or OTHER?

Like my taste in music, it depends on my mood. I love having a cat that will cuddle into my lap while I am reading or watching a movie; for the quiet, at-home times of winter and rainy days, you just can’t beat a cat (they don’t need a walk, for one thing). On the other hand, when it comes to being able to take them along for a hike or a visit or just running errands, dogs rule. As a single person living alone, I also liked the protection factor of a dog (any dog; I once read a statistic that said the majority of burglars would avoid a house with a dog, just because of the noise factor; I have no idea if it’s true or not, but it was comforting to me). Living in a third floor walk-up right now (in a secure building), a dog is not really in the picture.
2. Who were the pets of your childhood and what were they like?

We had only one dog—a Basenji named Kita (which means “dog” in Ibo, the Nigerian tribe which bred Basenjis). Cats—we had tons. At one point in my childhood, we had Kita, four cats (Sam, Quicksilver, Kiki and Shrimpy), a pigeon (Pidgy) that one of my older sisters had rescued from a psych department experiment, and a tank of fish. We named the plachostoma fish “Plachy.”
3. What pets do you have now?

My best kitty-buddy, Dylan. He’s a bob-tail rescue, with a little beard like a real bob-cat, but he’s a tuxedo kitty. He’s affectionate and smart, and is just enough company but not obnoxious—i.e., he does not want to sleep in the bed with me.
4. Have you ever had any unusual pets in your household or visit your home?

Just Pidgy, and she’s not that unusual (and yes, we know Pidgy was she; laid an egg once).
5. What have you learned from your pets? Give one recent example, if possible.

When I asked to have a play session (aka “interview”) with Dylan at the Humane Society, the workers were pleased. Because he has a bob-tail (not natural, he met with some kind of accident as a kitten) and is black, the workers were afraid he would have a difficult time being adopted. He likes  people, is playful and intelligent and a cuddler—but apparently people found him—especially his lack of a tail—off-putting. It is just a reminder to me that each cat (person) has value, even if we can’t see it ourselves; and also that even if no-one else seems to value us, we are each gifted and valued creatures of God.
BONUS: Pictures or anything else related to animals you love.

This is Dylan with his favourite toy--the "worm on a stick."

Morgan, the best dog ever....my Corgi pal.

I don't have any digital photos of Kita, but this is a Basenji, with the typical tilted-head and wrinkled brow pose!