Maybe Not Causation, But Maybe A Connection

Shrink: So tell me about your relationship with your first pet.

Patient: What? I can barely remember my first pet. It was a cat, I think. Little, gray, that's all I can recall.

Shrink. Interesting. And do you have a pet now?

Patient: Yeah, I have a couple of fish. I named them Sarah & Stefano.

Shrink: Fish? What kind of fish are they?

Patient: Cichlids. Peacock Cichlids, both of them. Stefano is a beautiful example of the species.

Shrink: Why did you chose to keep fish? Do you live in a small apartment?

Patient: Huh? No, no I own a house. I like aquariums, they are very peaceful, relaxing. And the fish are beautiful, very bold color, especially on Stefano.

Shrink: Did you have an aquarium as a child?

Patient: No, my parents weren't too keen on pets of any kind, actually, never thought to even ask them if I could have an aquarium.

Shrink: Yet you stated your first pet was a small gray cat.

Patient: Yeah, well, that was like a secret pet. The cat was feral, lived in the scrub that grew on the hillside our house was on. I think I first saw it when it was drinking water out of a swallow pan that had been left out in the backyard. I started leaving food for it after I saw it in hopes it would let me pet it. Never did let me pet it now that I think about it.

Shrink: Interesting. And now you have two fish as pets...that you can't pet.

Patient: Huh. Yeah, never thought about it like that, but yeah.