Critters

There are a lot of critters in our house. No, not the kind that require an exterminator - the kind that require expensive food and timely maintenance.

Shortly after Boo was born, we sadly had to put to sleep two of our three beloved cats within weeks of each other. We had lived with and loved these cats their entire lives, and sending them off to kitty heaven was pure hell on us.

But as the parents of a newborn, we soon adjusted to our one cat, one litterbox household, and we vowed not to adopt another animal until Boo was old enough to take care of it. That is, until the goldfish incident of 2007. Boo won ONE at a local carnival. She brought it home, so proud of this lousy, 10 cent feeder fish.

Here are the sequence of events as best I can recall...

• One crappy little feeder fish needed a friend, and that friend needed friends.


• Tiny fishbowl, upgrade to 2 gallon aquarium (feeder fish dies), upgrade to 5 gallon aquarium


• Hey, fish are fun!


• Purchase of 45 gallon corner tank from craigslist and 16+ tropical fish.


• Happy birthday, Hubby - I bought you an eel!


• Wow, wouldn't it be great to get another tank? A BIGGER tank???


• Purchase of 75 gallon tank from craigslist and, I dunno, 40+ tropical fish.


• Boo needs her own kitty. Let's get her one! Welcome home from the shelter, Fluffy. You just hit the kitty jackpot. Too bad the other cat hates your guts.


• Fish die, they are flushed, replacement fish are purchased not to mention heaters, filtration systems, rocks, fake plants, etc.


• Old cat still hates rambunctious new kitty. Let's get a kitten for new kitty.


• Welcome home, little kitten. You've just hit the kitten jackpot.


• New kitty + little kitten = LOVE. Old cat gets to live happily ever after.


• Um, let's get a bigger tank!!! Bye bye 75 gallons, hello, beautiful 110 gallon, big boy tank.


• Fish die, they are flushed, replacement fish are brought in. (Haven't we done this before?)


• Now we have a hamster. Her name is Tootie.

Let's see, that equals three cats, one hamster, one eel, and approximately 257 fish.