Katrina wants a pet. She's told me wistfully a number of times that she wants a cat or a dog. My answer is always the same: "Papa's allergic to cats and dogs, sweetie. They make him sick. We can't have a cat or a dog." Truth be told, neither Jon nor I are interested in having a pet, anyway, so his very real reaction to cats and dogs is also rather convenient.
About a week ago, she said to us, "Is Papa allergic to bunnies?" (Two of her preschool classmates have pet rabbits.) Jon and I looked at each other, and then he said that he was allergic to anything with fur. "Papa allergic to fishies?" No, I said, Papa was not allergic to fish. (We inherited fish with the ornamental ponds in our back yard.)
Yesterday, walking home from the playground, Katrina said, "Do pigs have fur?"
"No, pigs don't have fur," I said.
"Papa not 'lergic to piggies?"
"No..." I saw where this was going.
"I want a piggie for a pet," she said.
Yikes.
5 comments:
In defense of bunnies and feeling a little sorry for Katrina....I'm super highly allergic to cats as you know and my rabbits never bothered me at all. It's the dander (i.e. "spit") - not the fur. A nice floppy bunny is a great pet and can be housebroken and even put on a leash! I'm with you Katrina!!!
We had pigs when I was a kid - I don't know if you remember that. We got a new pair of piglets each fall, three years in a row. They were lots of fun. Of course, we did end up eating them when they got good & big...
I just knew that you'd have to comment on the bunnies, Chris! I feel a little sorry for Katrina, too, but not enough to commit to a pet just yet.
Dave, I don't remember you having pigs, but I do remember the chickens. Your hen house was an exotic, just-scary-enough-to-be-interesting place to me as a kid. But it was not as scary as watching you guys swing from the ceiling of the barn and drop down onto the hay.
I'm a youngster. I don't remember any pigs or chickens or cousins jumping from rafters - maybe it was all too traumatic and I blocked it all out. But, I did date a pig farmer's son, and pigs are VERY cute. Smelly, but cute. You could at least get a little pot-belly pig, couldn't you? I feel a bit deprived never having had a pet... you should not deprive Katrina of the same.
Um, the problem with a little pot-bellied pig is that it grows into a BIG pot-bellied pig. We don't even have grass in our yard!
Oh, and Chris, I saw how Katrina and her friends held and handled the bunny. The moms there were like, "No! don't squeeze the bunny! Hold it gently! No, don't fight over it! Gently! Gently! OK, time to put the bunny back in its cage! No, don't poke your fingers through the cage! Let the bunny alone now!"
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