I think it is more about getting the right pet, not just another pet.

My cat Easu was killed when I was 14 years old, I was 26 before I got another one, Piaget. Actually, he got me more than I got him. Lil bugger jumped right in my car and sat in the passenger seat waiting to be taken home. He was freezing and starving and I guess he knew he couldn't survive without a person at his beck and call.

My dog Jorge passed just over a year ago. And we lost my mom's dog Gus a year and a half before that. I'm not sure I'll ever get another dog. Jorge means more to me than most people. I'm not sure that I could ever really love another dog, especially if I'm trying to. I've never tried to love a pet before, all of my pets have found me when I wasn't really looking.

Jorge followed me everywhere at my grandmother's house, escaped the kennel and waited outside for me every morning until my dad realized that the dog was going to follow me 200 miles back home. I think I wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for that dog. My cat was killed after I had surgery for my shattered knee shattered my knee, a week before my birthday. For months I had almost no contact with anyone, and I didn't want it. The amazing part is, the dog was the only one who could get near me without hurting my leg. Everyone else bumped it, the other dog ran right into it. Jorge never ever even brushed my knee, even when he was sitting less than half an inch from me. One day I fell, trying to get up and in the wheelchair on my own, and he ran and got my mom outside, going to the sliding door and using his paws to push it open, and going across the street where mom was talking to a neighboor. When she got there, I had passed out from the pain.

The only bad thing about Jorge was that it was a pain to get him to take medicine. He could always get the pill out of the treat.

The only other pet that was really mine was Esau. When I was little I used to go to daycare at this lady's house. Her cat had kittens, and one of the kittens liked to hide in my shoes (no shoes in the house). WHen the lady asked us if we wanted a cat, Mom said we could get a girl cat, but the day we went to get the girl kitten, no one could find her. We looked and looked and looked, and we finally gave up. When we left, Esau was sitting in my shoes, and he came home with us instead. He was my constant companion for 6 years, got along with my mom's pets, and everyone he ever met.

its sad, i still cry when i think about him
i love Piaget now, but he isn't anything like Esau
i expect to still cry for Jorge, I had him longer and his passing is more recent, but I didn't think i could still cry for my cat.