“A man’s best friend,” is typically a dog, but students from Archbishop Riordan High School disagree with this common phrase.
Through their companionship with their pets, such as cats, birds, or even reptiles, the love for these animal companions is both unique and unconditional.
It’s morning. The birds are chirping, the sunlight ever so slightly lights up the bedroom, and there is not one, not two, not three, but four cats laying on your bed!
This is reality for Riley Guajardo ’26, who is the proud and marvelous owner of four felines named Poncho, Lefty, Rico, and Selkie. Poncho is a grey and white cat, who can be described by Guajardo as, “big and lazy, but he is very lovey.”
Lefty is a black cat with some white splotches–who is quite the mysterious fellow as he often goes out at night, even getting into cat fights. But, he is still a cute and adoring cat when he’s home.
Rico, the only brown cat out of the bunch, is a sweet and adventurous feline, but, “only likes to cuddle with my dad,” noted Guajardo.
Selkie is a grey cat, with a similar slothful personality to Poncho, but just a bit less affectionate. Selkie’s main defining feature is his long, very fluffy fur, which makes him stand out from all of Guajardo’s other cats.
One of the fun things about these four cats is that they, “always race to the food bowls,” Guajardo remarked.
At the end of the day–whether they may have a lazy personality, mysterious persona, unique fur color, or a luxurious, extravagant, and fluffy coat–all share one, key defining characteristic: their companionship with their owner.
Senior Marcus Appleby may have the most unconventional pets, being the proud owner of a dog, a bird, a snake, and an iguana.
With such a variety of species from reptiles to dogs, the animals do bond together. George, who can be accompanied by Han, is truly a friendly guy, as he’s “very cooperative [with the other pets] because I think he knows he would get in trouble if he did anything. Also, if he tried to fight our iguana, he would definitely lose,” commented Appleby.
Companionship is more than just bonds between animals, and Appleby’s love for his pets really exemplifies that. With so many pets, he finds that when he’s, “-bored, I’ll just play with my pets, but mostly my dog and snake since I like my dog a lot, and the snake is mine.”
A loud, mean, but affectionate duo resides with senior Jay Mata-Lee–a duo named Dulex and Karl.
The pair are both 5-year-old Budgerigars–also known as common parakeets–with Dulex having blue, grey, and white feathers, and Karl having mostly white and some blue feathers.
The pair are often seen cleaning each other’s feathers, also known as preening, which is a sign of trust between birds as they help each other clean feathers they themselves cannot clean. Mata-Lee remarked, “I got the two birds separately, but when Dulex started showing signs of being lonely, I also adopted Karl. They’re loud and usually sleep together on the same perch and when one comes to land on me the other one almost always follows so they can harass me together.”
These birds are not only a bonded pair, but also lovely companions to have in day-to-day life. They often land on top of Mata-Lee’s shoulder, hand, and even on top of her head as she watches movies or does schoolwork.
“They like being near me and start making a fuss if I move away from them or leave the room,” she expressed.
Besides being loud, mean, and sometimes affectionate, the two birds are truly special to have.
“My birds are special to me because they are very vocal. If it’s too cold or hot in my room, they’ll make enough noise to let me know. When I oversleep and miss my alarm, they also make a lot of noise,” Mata-Lee noted.
