My husband and I spent 7 years rescuing hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, tortoises, dogs and cats.  Our current household has a small family of 2 chinchillas, 1 hamster, 1 tortoise and 2 Kittens.  I wanted a way to remember all of the little lives we rescued and spent several hours sketching different things. None of them looked good enough to me until my husband suggested I use a tree.  at the end of each branch is a love heart representing a leaf.  There are 28 different coloured hearts for the 28 different souls we shared, or still share our lives with together.  As we both had pets before we met however, I put tiny gems on the painting too, these represent the pets we had previously.  This is how the pet tree was born and I can now see their names every time I walk past the painting, it makes me smile remembering all their little personalities.