Having Pets... And Lots of Them

As anybody who's been to my house knows I have and always have had many pets. I've had a lizard, rats, dogs, cats, fish, a hermit crab, horses and at one point my sister had a rabbit. As of right now we have four dogs, three cats, two horses and a rat. Two days ago the count was up by one and we had two rats. Unfortunately though, as everything and everyone does my rat Starsky passed away. I was so upset when I found him but I was also so relieved that he was just old and didn't get sick with cancer or tumors like so many rats his age do get.
Over many years I've seen several pets pass away and it never gets easier to say goodbye to them. Although it sucks I wouldn't have had it any other way. Pets to me are like an extension of the family and each pet that I've had has been special to me. While dealing with a pet's death is hard I'm glad that as a child that's something I experienced. My pets not only taught me love and responsibility but they also taught me the value of life and that it's OK to miss someone who's died and how to deal with death.
I went through the grieving process and learned how to handle it in a healthy way and I think that as I've grown up it's helped me deal with losing other loved ones. I've also noticed that even though it was extremely devastating the first time I realized a pet could die I'm glad that I learned about death from pets first because it prepared me for what I would feel when people I knew passed away. Losing my rat Starsky the other day was  a shock for me because other than typical aging he was healthy and didn't seem to be a pet that was only a few days away from his last breath. I know that he died healthy and happy though and that makes me feel better while I miss him. He was a good little buddy and I'll always miss having hm around but I know he's in a better place.