A first pet is like a first love…

Others may come, but you never forget the first furry faces you fell for.

You probably remember the major milestones in your life like your first kiss and your first proper job. What about your first pet?

You might relate to memories like this:

“Stoffel was an overweight Pomeranian who often pooped in obscure places.”

“Max couldn’t help himself! You opened a packet of biltong within 10 miles of him, and he was all over you!”

“Cleo used to curl up into a ball of fur and sleep in an underwear drawer.”

“Lilly always jumped over the fence to get a treat from the neighbours.”

 

Here are genuine first pet stories from BuzzFeed:

 

Punto - the Nervous Doggo

"My family had a dog and two cats when I was born (winners, all!) but the first authentically NEW pet in my life was an Airedale terrier puppy named Punto. On the day we went to pick him up, we knew which one he was because of the ribbon around his neck. It was purple, a noble colour. He was very small and curly, and peed on my mom's lap on the way home, which we all optimistically interpreted as an expression of his deep sense of comfort and belonging. We named him in honour of a previous fox terrier my mom had had as a kid. He grew up to be fairly large and unfailingly sweet. He was once tied by his leash to the leg a garden chair, at some point tried to get up and run after a tennis ball or something and was TERRIFIED to find that the chair was CHASING HIM. From that point on, he was always nervous around furniture, thunderstorms, and arguments. I loved him with all my heart." —Rachel Sanders

 

Two Cats for Christmas

"My parents told me and my brother we were getting a surprise Christmas present and hinted strongly that it was going to be going to see a play. My brother and I both dressed up in our little suits for the theatre, and we drove to the 'play.' My parents had us put on blindfolds, apparently so we wouldn't know what play we were seeing until the last minute. Why I believed all this, I have no idea, but I did and was thus very surprised when I took off my blindfold to discover that we had in fact arrived at an animal shelter, where we met brother cats subsequently named Hodge and Alan, who would become my pride and joy and the lights of my life for the next 18 years. That one belongs right up there with the happiest days of my life." —Jack Shepherd

 

The “Floating” Turtle

"My parents didn't want to have a dog as long as we lived in an apartment. Much to their disappointment, my first word was 'dog.' They tried to avoid getting one by getting me other pets. When I was about 4 I had a turtle named Manuelita that lived in a fish tank during the week and we would take with us on weekend road trips. Manuelita was really smart; she would tap her head against the fish tank when she wanted to be walked. I remember my mom tying a red balloon to the turtle and letting her explore the 'wild.'" —Conz Preti

 

Do you have a special first pet story to share with us? Please send us a message on Facebook. We’ll share it with the rest of the dotsure.co.za family.

 

RIP fur-balls of the past. Your paw prints are FUR-ever printed in our hearts.

 

xoxo

 

P.S. Want more real stories? We’ve got one from a dotsure.co.za clients here.