I got my first pet in 1966 when I was 19, married and living in West Philadelphia. It was a seal point Siamese cat that my husband and I bought from a pet store. We named her Kwan Yin after the Buddhist goddess of compassion-a name she never lived up to, given that she had a bit of a mean streak.
Having no children at the time, she became my child. I showered her with all the love and affection of a new