i'd say i love all my family equally. but i'm a firm believer that the animals i adopt into the home deserve as much care and love as any family member, be they blood relation or not. i see no difference between my love for my biological family, my human adoptive family or my animal family. maybe i'm a little odd this way. i've certainly been told i'm wrong for being that way. i've been told my pets should not come before family or chosen lovers. but my animals are my family. i feel the same pain when they pass, the same pride when they make an accomplishment of some sort. they are certainly much like children as they rely on me for everything and take me for granted just as often as my human son. i will accept that they are different in that they will never leave home or be more then a young child. but that does not make parents love or view their disabled children any less that face the same limits.
so i guess for me, that would not have been that difficult a question to answer. however, the reason she was asking was most likely cause she was digging for some affection and may be feeling a bit replaced or on the back burner to your rats. i've felt like that with my mother and her dogs before too. but then i grew up a bit and came into the thinking i have now. its not that she loved them more, but that they needed more of her attention as they were always going to be young children. that doesn't mean i'm not still a little jealous of them though at times. it would be nice if mom didn't start to suddenly baby talk to one of her dogs while i'm trying to have a serious discussion with her.... :roll: if this is what is going on with your sister, try to include her more with your rat time. show her the true joy of being a mom to such small and wonderful animals. she'll have some more time with you and you'll still have time with your rats (and i'm sure they would love having two bodies to climb over and tickle more often then just having the one to pester).
