Years ago, a starving black kitten showed up in my back yard the day before Halloween. Of course I let him stay, and over the next few days, I was able to befriend him. He had a badly infected left eye that needed treatment, so when he finally let me pet/examine him, I bedded him down in the garage, scheduled a vet appointment ,and gave him as much cat food as he could handle.

He ended up becoming one of my housecats, but still seemed to remember what starvation felt like. If I ever was late with a meal, he would paw at the door that led to the garage. I guess he figured that if he could get in there again, the Infinite Cat Food Fairy would come and bless him, and he could have all the food he wanted!

Henri is the smaller of my two voids, and she's a delicate little lady but very much into everything. Henri slams doors for attention. She gets behind an open door and stands up, pushing and "walking" it closed. She's trapped Loverboy in closed rooms several times. I think the most annoying is when she slams my glass shower door!

My cat Gretel tries blackmail: if she doesn't get her way, she threatens to pee in the kitchen area while howling loudly to get my attention.
Since she HAS peed there in the past, I take it seriously. I try to find out what she wants but if it's not possible (like me dropping everything and going to bed to keep her warm or making the rain stop Western Australia winter), then the battle of wills is ON!
She may be just a little bit spoilt ... but I did win the "Bring in the live rodents to play with in the air conditioning battle" (Western Australian summer). Not before a rat and then a mouse were mislaid. She got the rat later but we never did catch the mouse.

I have a Tuxedo cat named Mortimer. He likes to hide and ambush the other cats. We scold him, but sometimes it's just too hilarious to seriously scold. We have those little cloth cat houses that look like pineapples. He will climb under the padding inside of it, to where it's pretty obvious that something is in there, but you can't see him, and then reach out and swat at other cats.

In another instance, we had a plastic see-through tarp lying on the floor. He LOVES getting under blankets to ambush other cats, so he hides under the see-through tarp. I tell him, "Morty, buddy... No cat is going to fall for that." RIGHT after I say this, along comes Paw Paws, my more 'robust' grey cat. He sniffs at the tarp and Morty reaches out and gets him. I'm not sure which is worse, that Mortimer thought it would work, or that it actually did work on Paws.

Female cat comes to get me when her brother doesn't let her eat because she knows he won't dare bully her when I'm around. Also, they both fart on you, which is pure, evil, biological warfare.

One of my dogs (sadly now at the Bridge) worked out how to open the fridge by turning his head and gripping the door. He would go in and help himself to whatever was there. He was pretty damned clever.

Finishing high school and escaping the a b u s e.

Playing drums, taking up guitar. Taking my dog for walks

A parrot 🦜😊

I had functional depression. I used to work like hell, but acted normally and made people laugh to raise their spirit. So everybody thought I was funny and cool. Inside, I was screaming and nobody seemed to notice. I tried to talk to some people but they all brushed me off.
Volunteering helped for a while, but I fell into savior's complex, draining myself (and my resources) to help others.

Then a got a baby parrot. (I love birds and always wanted a pet parrot). I had to put aside all my struggles, because when a colorful ball of feathers wants something NOW (food water, treats, attention), there's no way you can ignore it 😄.

Looking back now, the little feathered dude saved my life. Step by step, I started putting things in order in my life. Gave up alcohol, went to gym, lost weight, got into therapy. Paid all my debts including my apartment's mortgage. Got promoted so I can spend more time at home.

And while my family or "friends" don't seem interested in these struggles, the little guy is always waiting for me at home, showing his pure joy and affection. Thank you, Mango.