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I've had 3 dogs, 6 cats, a few hermit crabs, 4 rats, a hamster, and a chicken die.

My chocolate lab, Copper, was a 2-year old pound rescue that I had when I was 2. She was the most loyal, protective dog I've ever had. She died of natural causes at age 14.

Ace was some kind of rat terrier mutt that we found hiding out in our shed without a collar and no signs of being previously owned. We took him in, gave him a much-needed bath and a proper dinner. It only took him a couple of days to start acting like he was the best thing to grace our pathetic existences. A few years after that, the neighborhood psychopath drove by and shot damn near every dog he could find that wasn't his own. He ended up killing the neighbor's basset hound and seriously wounding our Ace. He recovered for a while and seemed to be doing well, but then he began to get weaker. We took him in to the vet and they said that his body was destroying his red blood cells faster than he could produce them, even a blood transfusion wasn't enough to sustain him, so we had to put him down.

After Ace, we got a black miniature schnauzer named Maggie. She was a rather spoiled, controlling dog (typical schnauzer). We had her for about 5 years before she developed the same anemic disease that killed Ace. When we took her in to be put down, I stayed with her and held her as the vet administered the injection. It really hit me hard after feeling her life slip away in my arms. I could never forget it.

Of the cats, the most notable death would have to be my very first cat, Misty. She was black, very friendly, and loved to eat. All of our cats were outdoors because my dad is allergic. Every year, we had to lock her away in a room on Halloween due to the superstitious mor(m)ons in our community. One morning, a neighbor let his two rottweilers roam around town unsupervised and they came by our place and literally tore Misty apart.

All of my rats lived somewhat brief lives and I loved every single one of them. Ralph was my very first rat that I had when I was about 7 or 8 years old. He developed a malignant tumor in his neck and had to be put down. My next rat was an albino by the name of Tom. I got him in early 2010 and he only lived for about a month. I think he may have been sick since he was born because he never did seem too peppy like rats normally are. Shortly after Tom, I got another pair of rats. One was black-hooded (Harry) and the other blond (Draco). Despite being of the same litter, they started to fight after about a year, so I had to separate them. I had to leave them under my parents' care while I was gone to South Korea for my job and Draco ended up getting weaker to the point that he could hardly move, so he had to be put down. He lived for 2 years. Harry lived about 6 months longer before he became crippled and went blind. Once he started to waste away, I put him out of his misery.

My chicken was quite special to me. Her name was Hawkeye and she was a brown araucana that would lay almost a dark olive colored egg, like a cross between green and brown. She was so friendly and used to human contact that she wouldn't fuss when picked up (she actually enjoyed it). After about 5 years, she went blind in one eye, but she could still get around just fine. A year later, the other eye went blind. She would come to the sound of my voice whenever I would call to her, hoping for some extra food. She ultimately died of old age. Of all the chickens my family has had over the years, Hawkeye was my favorite.

Off-topic: it's been just over 8 months since I last made a post!