That's one big reason I have not had pet since 2014. When Topaz dies, it was tough to get over the loss, especially for my daughters. I thought that I would give some years of break. Now, I feel that I have enough responsibilities at present and I can't do justice to a pet. But I am very much inclined to have one in my retirement years. They keep you busy and a will to live for someone.No, I never owned a pet. Here, we live in an appartment and because of lack of space here we don't want to keep a pet.