Childhood Pets

I've always loved animals. In fact when I was a kid my mother  used to call me "the little mother of all the world."

But she wasn't an animal lover, so at first the only pets I was allowed to have were fish and they weren't very snuggly or easy to train. My grandfather, who lived with us, had a Siamese Fighting Fish he trained to jump up out of the water and knock food from his fingers when he tapped on the side of the tank, but that wasn't as good as having a dog that could come, sit, etc. on command. And I couldn't pet or hug my fish even though I loved them.

Finally my mother allowed me to have a pet hamster. I named it Hamstead and, even though he never learned to do tricks, he was very snuggly.

A few years after that some neighbors who spent the summer in the cabin next to the one where we lived took in a stray cat. When it was time for them to return home, they convinced my mother to let me keep it as long as it didn't ever spend the night inside our house. It was a tomcat and I would have preferred a female that might have kittens, so I named him Susie. He was loving, cuddly, came when called, and even learned to stay away from the hamster cage. I was very happy to have him.

What kind of pets did you have when you were a kid?