When my sis and I were kids we always wanted pets but weren’t good about caring for them. Looking back, one of our favorites was Mumpsy, the cat. We had many dogs, but the best one was Copper, a mixed collie that had once been a “star” at Paramount Studios. My dad  (who worked at the studio as a plumber) rescued him, from what he never said.

With my own family, we had many animals, more than I can actually remember. We had lots of cats and kittens. We once had a dog that the mama cat would leave to babysit the kittens. Yep, she’d haul all of her kittens out of the box and line them up next to the dog. When she came back, she’d collect them and return them to the box.

Another cat would bring me lovely gifts, usually while I was asleep. I’d awake to a dead bird, mouse or lizard next to me on the pillow. Yuk!

Probably the most unusual  pet was son’s snake, that escaped. For several weeks it was missing. I didn’t dare tell my friends or they would never have come to visit. One day while housecleaning, I tipped up a chair and there was the snake, wrapped around the bottom. 

We’ve had wonderful dogs over the years. One, a German Shepherd, Bos’n, moved with us from the beach to the mountains. Was he ever delighted to have 2 acres to protect after only a small yard on a city block. We acquired a female pitbull during that same time period who was the most placid dog I’ve ever seen. She was the best dog with children. She had a huge litter of puppies, 12 and they all lived. Finding homes for them was no problem at all.

Now that we’re older, we have two inside cats. (Except when they escape and run out.) Both these cats are neutered males and huge. Sundance looks like a Siamese (though he’s not) and his brother, Butch is dark gray and white.

Outside we have a group of feral cats (thanks to people dropping them off–an ongoing problem) that my husband feeds and waters. We’ve caught some and had them fixed–but then they disappear.

Our eldest daughter has a dog we’re fond of and have gone on motor home travels with him–a golden retriever named Archie. He probably lives one of the best lives of any dog I know. He gets taken to Pet Mart on a regular basis and is allowed to pick out a new toy of his choice. He spends time at a dog park and has many friends. Every Wednesday night he goes on a long walk with my daughter and her husband and a couple of girlfriends who are also goldens.

That’s just a smattering of our pets.  And no, none of my pets help me write.

I don’t often include pets in my mysteries though in Bears With Us, there is a large dog named Killer who is anything but and a whole slew of bears, though they certainly aren’t pets. In my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water, a friend of mine is a major character along with her two little dogs, Blondie and Chloe.

Marilyn