I think has been my favorite thread in the forum. I love the fuzzy animals!
Currently we have 6 cats and one bird (she's a bad-ass bird). We just moved from a big house to a small townhome and of course, we ended up adopting a local stray kitten who is currently terrorizing the older cats, so the house is REALLY crowded. But, like a lot of folks, we will not have children, so we do pets. Makes my mother-in-law crazy.
We did have dogs, but the last one died about a year before we moved (and we knew we were moving, so...). The younger cats miss her. She was not so sure about them. It was fairly funny watching a 50+ lb dog be terrified of an 8 pound cat.
I've had several birds, but Sweetie is the most unusual. She's a ring necked parakeet, one of the meanest of the parrotlets, and not usually kept as a pet. She belonged to my dad, part of his personal bird sanctuary, but she was so mean that when he died I knew I couldn't place her with a new home. As it happened, she completely loved ME -- me, and nobody else but me. I'm her 3rd owner, so it's just weird that she waited that long to bond to anyone. We think she's around 15 years old now. She goes completely cluckipated when I talk to her, and I'm the only one who can really handle her. She bites hunks out of everyone else, including the cats. And she's TINY. Just tiny and fierce. Also, VERY LOUD. She has to live on the enclosed front porch because she starts squawking and you cannot hear anything in the house.
So, grand total of pets
6 dogs
7 birds
assorted fish (we are thinking about a new aquarium, for Kitty TV, but haven't done it yet).
12 cats
We have a history of adopting sick, unwanted animals and caring for them through their last days, too -- four of those so far. Not a duty I want, really, but I cannot easily turn my back on an animal in need.
I hope we can move back to a regular house in a few years, so I can get another dog. I love Goldens, but I'm thinking about a Corgi next time.