CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- You can tell a lot about pet owners from how they keep their home, by the amount of cat hair on the furniture or by the telltale smell of animal "accidents" that linger long after they've been blotted, scrubbed and doused with chemicals.

"Most pet owners are one of two types," veterinarian Jon Warner said with a shrug. "Either you sweep up every day or you just kind of let it go."

Warner isn't the kind to let there be much of a mess. Despite the number of pets in his home, the 30-year-old vet's house seemed especially clean.

The wood floors were swept. The countertops were clear of pet prints and clumps of hair, and the air carried no dominating scent -- no potpourri, no perfume, no hint of deodorizing citrus.

The only evidence of pets in the house was the dogs and cats ambling around the furniture of his quiet South Hills home.

You can also tell a lot about a pet owner by his pets. Warner, a veterinarian at Good Shepherd Veterinary Hospital in Kanawha City, has six. Three are cats: Stretch, a one-eyed gray; Ed, a gray tabby who gets around on three legs; and longhaired Kiki, who resembles a puffball. And there are two dogs: a skittish coonhound named Blue who tends to bark at strangers; and Black Francis (named for an indie rocker), a lap dog that is also missing a leg. Upstairs, Warner keeps a bird named Paco, which he's had since he was a student at WVU.

Paco, he said, was his first pet and the only one in the bunch that wasn't a stray of some sort.

"I feel like I'm married to him," he said wearily.

Taking in stray animals is kind of an occupational hazard, Warner explained. "A lot of vets do it."

Warner's dogs and the cats are all rescue animals he's picked up from one place or another over the years.

Stretch was a cat he took in while he was in veterinary school at Ohio State. The stray developed a tumor in his eye. Warner removed it.

Francis the three-legged dog came to Warner while he was working at a vet's office. Hit by a car, Warner said, the dog had irreparable nerve damage. The leg was useless, but it was really the least of his injuries.

"He had a broken face," Warner said. "It was a really weird break, too."

Care and treatment for Francis was far too much for his original owner. The dog required multiple surgeries, none of which guaranteed survival. The owner's only other option was euthanasia.

Warner offered to take the dog in.

"I rebuilt his face," he said. "I wired his jaw and wasn't sure how that was going to go, but he started eating soon after and that was a good sign."

Francis appeared to be the unofficial favorite in Warner's menagerie.

"Everybody should have a three-legged dog," he said and patted the mutt affectionately.

Warner said he doesn't have anything against purebred animals, but strays are just as lovable.

"Many of our clients at Good Shepherd are bred animals," he said. "That's fine, but there are a lot of pets, good pets, at the local animal shelter that need homes."

Warner said he became a veterinarian not because he loves animals or because it was something he wanted to do since he was a child.

"Those are the usual answers," he said. "The lady who owns Good Shepherd knew she wanted to be a veterinarian when she was like 4 years old. She even knew what she wanted to name her hospital when she was a kid."

Warner respected that.

"But not me," he laughed. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a racecar driver. When I saw the movie 'Top Gun,' I wanted to be a jet pilot."

Still, growing up on a farm in Elkview, Warner said animals always fascinated him, but he loved science. He loved the adventure of discovery and the challenging of putting things together. Around his home there are examples of that.

In a hobby room, there's a worktable covered with radio-controlled car and airplane parts and tools. He has a 1961 Volkswagen van in his garage he's been tinkering with and trying to restore since he was a teenager.

He's also been doing work around the house. Several months back he added a rock wall. A utility room appears incomplete.

Warner likes to stay busy.

"I have a lot of hobbies," he said, but they all seem to relate. He's always fixing something or trying to make it better.

Medicine is the same thing for him, though he said practicing medicine on people never really appealed to him. Being a veterinarian appeals to him because of the variety.

"You never know what's going to come through the door."

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.