As a child, we had a family cat die shortly after giving birth to a litter of five kittens. We had to bottle feed the little ones and nurture them. Since then I have almost always had animal companionship in my life. Some of the years that I was not paired with an animal, I was able to watch other people's pets, so I have always appreciated the friendship that comes with it. I am currently on a work furlough, and picking up some small odd jobs, but have a lot of flexibility. I regularly run, walk, bike, etc., so my energy level is appropriate to care for an active animal, or just chill with an older or slower animal- I probably prefer the latter, actually. We have a fenced yard and access to some nice parks and other areas nearby. We currently have no pets, so yours will be the only one to focus energy upon.