Me On: Having Lots of Pets

I live with a ton of animals. The list includes a small hamster named Mao (rhymes with now), a turtle whose name escapes me, about a hundred fish, a cat, and five dogs.

I love the English bulldog, Dexter. He and I are pals.

Dexter taking a dog nap.

But sometimes it's tough to keep up. We manage it; but put together, all these pets can be a handful. Dexter has chased our cat, KiKi, down the street on a few occasions. The puli's tend to start barking fests at four in the morning. KiKi brings friends back when she goes outside. In fact, KiKi's such a social cat, so far she's made friends with a raccoon or two, several birds, and two or three other cats.

I can't tell you how many times I've been woken up by a howling chorus or by Dexter opening my door to come and sleep in my bed, because he's tired of his other ones - but, through all of it, I have to say there's nothing like being surrounded by your pets. They bring humor, love and compassion into an otherwise normal household.