we have a foster-cat right now. She’s a stray who did not fare well at the shelter, so she needed to live in a house (w/o any other pets) until someone adopted her.
My wife came with three cats. I’m not crazy about cats, but I really love my wife. One cat ran away, one had to be put down last summer, one took a premature and unexpected one-way trip to kitty heaven this past December. My wife was very attached to the last cat and that is why we got the foster cat. She missed having a cat around, but wasn’t ready to get a new cat after the sudden death of the previous cat.
When I was 14, my mother got my brother and me a wonderful dog that changed my whole life.