Pets & the humans who love them

[katsarecool]

I put this thread in the Health section due to the known health benefits for having pets.
Did you know having a pet can actually reduce our risk of high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and depression?

I would love for this thread to be full of stories about our pets and our love of them. Funny stories all the better.

Ashely, my only female cat. One day I decided to rearrange the books in the shelves and accidentally stacked some heavy ones on the shelf above the bottom shelf. Well I gave it a small hit and they all tumbled down on my foot causing some huge hurt! All of the cats came running to check on me when they heard my yelps of pain.

Frankie was the first responder. He made a circle around me checking for injuries and possible bleeding. Then proceeded to sit by my side with a look of anxiety written on his face. Midnight, the ole guy and leader of the pack walked right up to my face, gave me a couple of sniffs and walked away bored. Ashley so timid and shy and crossed eyed approached me timidly, with her twitching eyeballs bent close to my face to examine me. She then bit me on the tip of my nose and hauled ass in the opposite direction. Still to this day wondering what she had been thinking about and why she felt it necessary to inflict further pain. Later I laughed so hard.

Ok next?

[Cowboi]

I have a mini Dach. Her name is Scout, from the movie To Kill A Mockingbird. She is 9 years old. She has been blind for about 4 years because of cataracts in both eyes. She is my buddy!!! As long as she is at her house you would never know shes blind. Take her out of her element, and she gets very upset, and disoriented.

[katsarecool]

Aw she sounds sweet!!!! Wishing you and Scout many more happy years together...

[christie]

Just call us Schnauzer land...

Max, the 23yr old mini schnauzer. (Yes, twenty-three) who is a crotchety ole fella. Hard of hearing (or ignoring us), only about 6 teeth left, and still plays like the younguns. He never fails to bring me a baby (he leans towards stuffed ducks) and flips over on his back so I can "get belly." I surely love that lil ole man.

Scooter, the 10ish Katrina rescue, also a mini. He is our OTJ boy. He is always very busy from his perch atop the loveseat, keeping watch. He loves to jump up in your lap and give hugs. He takes his front legs and puts them on your chest and presses down. The sweetest boy evah, and because he is so damned cute, his "chatiness" is ok.

Samson, our 6 yr old giant. That's my BOY!!! I love that big ole bear. He is quite a handful at around 120lbs, and the folks in our lil town are always stopping me on walks to ask, "Whut kinda dawg is that?!?!?" He loves to play ball and is very protective of his yard and his peoples. He was also a rescue and while Jess was initially skeptical about such a big dog, I think now Hy secretly puffs up Hys chest in pride as our big ole boy is the king of the world!

Sookie is our 8-9ish giant girl and the latest addition to our pack. She was rescued from an evil place last December and out of the 57 dogs taken from this home, only one of 13 who lived. She weighed 27lbs, fully grown, when she was found in a medium sized crate with an adult shephard who had died, curled around her. Her front teeth are all ground down from trying to chew her way out of the crate, but it hasn't slowed her appetite. I drove around 10 hrs to pick her up and bring her home, and its really been amazing to watch her go from being barely able to walk to wiggle-buttin around the house and running thru the yard with her boys! She has NO idea she is as big as she is, and tries to get in your lap sitting on the couch. She now weighs in at about 79lbs and has really settled in.

In as much work as they are, I can't imagine life without any of them. They are so unique in their personalities and bring us so very much joy!

Yay for schnauzerland!!

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by christie0918

Just call us Schnauzer land...

Max, the 23yr old mini schnauzer. (Yes, twenty-three) who is a crotchety ole fella. Hard of hearing (or ignoring us), only about 6 teeth left, and still plays like the younguns. He never fails to bring me a baby (he leans towards stuffed ducks) and flips over on his back so I can "get belly." I surely love that lil ole man.

23? Wow! I've got to ask, what brand of dog food do you give him/gave him most of his life?

[betenoire]

I have four cats. In order of when they moved in, they are:

Clyde and Charlotte - I got them when I was living in Vancouver in 2002. The woman who lived in the townhouse next to where I worked got evicted and left many of her pets behind. We never got the actual numbers because we couldn't catch them all - but both cats and dogs in her house were up in the double-digits. They were both around 2.5-3 months old, so I took them both and a friend of mine took their mother. I wasn't in a position to take on an adult at that time because I still had Mo at that time (he has since passed away) who was also a rescue and was aggressive with other adult cats, but I knew him to be friendly with kittens (for some reason.)

Clyde is gigantic, weighing in at nearly 20 pounds. He's not FAT however, he's just huge. I have never seen such large feet on a cat, and he is incredibly long. He chirps rather than meows, so I suspect that he is part Maine Coon. He is VERY talkative and a real lover - seriously. He loves love.

Charlotte is a diva. She has a naturally snotty voice (for a cat) and if you pet her she will often groom the area that you had pet afterward - I think she thinks I am dirty. She ignores me all day, but once I am in bed she asks to snuggle. She likes to be held like a teddy bear until I fall asleep.

Eliot is the only cat I have ever had who wasn't rescued from somewhere. A friend of mine (who lived in Michigan at that time) had a cat who had kittens and she posted the pictures on facebook - it was all over from there. I MADE Nick take me to Michigan to pick Eliot up once he was old enough. He is Clyde's best friend, and still (although he is nearly 3 years old now) tries to nurse on Clyde's belly. He likes foil balls, is very tolerant of my desire to put hats on him, and usually lays across my lap when I am on the computer.

Elphaba is just over 3 years old and has been with me for 2 years now. The woman who used to have her had a nasty habit of going out of town for WEEKS at a time and leaving Elphaba locked out on the balcony. It was summertime and hot and she had no food and water (aside from the food and water I would climb up on a chair to give to her) and there was so much feces on that balcony that you could smell it from quite a distance away. One night I decided that feeding her wasn't good enough - so I got up on the balcony and "stole" her. She was really thin and scared and sickly, so I got her to the vet and got her healthy and kept her. She is still not quite over her "I don't know when I will be fed next" impulse and breaks into my garbage can on occasion - but I forgive her. She's very friendly and no matter what I am doing or where in the apartment I am, she is always right by my side.

[christie]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

23? Wow! I've got to ask, what brand of dog food do you give him/gave him most of his life?

In as much as its gonna make ppl cringe, all our pups favor cheap stuff. Store brand of the "Kibbles & Bits".

Max will pick thru and find the "white bites" (I have no idea what flavor they are) while Scooter has this really silly game of taking one piece at a time, running to the LR to eat it and then going back for another piece. It takes him hours to eat one meal.

Since Max has lost most of his teeth, we have added more of the soft, burger looking food. We call it "sprinkles" and you haven't seen excitement until you see him doing his lil sprinkle dance when he hears the cellophane wrapper.

We have tried most of the expensive, "healthier" foods and well, our dogs just don't like them. Taste of the Wild, Science Diet, Royal Canin... might as well been Alpo. Gravy Train is one of their favs, but with schnauzer beards, it was nixed pretty quickly because they LOVE to use the back of Jess' pants legs to wipe their beards! LOL

If you really wanna know the secret, Jess is probably a better authority. We lost our black lab, Shelby, just a year ago, and she was 19. Jess knows how to grow 'em old!

[Oiler41]

We have five:

Monty, the Eyeore of the family is a recue boy; he is by far the most sensitive and tender-hearted dog I've ever seen. He is a mixed breed of pointer, perhaps lab and maybe something else. He goes out in the driveway every day and brings the newspaper in. He has been agility trained but doesn't do much of that anymore as he is getting up in his years. He is a sweetheart but can sound like a monster if he needs to.

Pinkie Lee, the red-head; She is the herder and also a mixed breed rescue girl. She can cut corners like nobody's business! She doesn't like big trucks, motorcycles or bicycles and can turn into devil dog when she sees them. She is a sweetheart to those she loves. In fair weather, you will find her outside in the backyard keeping watch on everything. Not sure of her mix, but she looks a bit like a Corgi or similar type herding dog.

Lucie, the tough one of the family. Lucie is a Schnauzer rescue dog. She will eat damn near anything including a wide variety of vegetables. She loves to play ball and go for rides in the car. She keeps everyone else in line,,but don't tell Monty that. Lucie has lost a great deal of her hearing, but she knows hand-signals. She is in charge, whether the rest of the family knows it or not.

Miss Daisy, one of the miniature long-haired dachshund sisters. Although she is a mini, she grew almost to the size of a full-sized dachshund. She is by far the most hard-headed one of the lot. She is the hunter and has, unfortunately, already caught a dove in the backyard. Sometimes her food bowl is her life and she will hover over it and growl, even when no other fur child is even close to her. She may be a hoarder, lol.

And finally, Shadow, the other mini dachshund. She is a mini, coming in at about 12 pounds. Her mantra, "I'm tiny and I'm cute,,what's not to love?". She tries to keep up with her larger sibling, but she just isn't as rough and tumble as Miss Daisy is. She likes to be completely covered up when she gets in her bed. She will lay in her bed downstairs and just bite the side of the bed and hold it in her mouth. Not really sure what is up with that.

So, that is our fur kid family! We love them all dearly and they love us. Our life would be less rich if it weren't for all of them. They are a source of fun, love and humor all the time. Sometimes they get grouchy with each other, but at the end of the day we are one big happy family!

Glynn

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by Oiler41

And finally, Shadow, the other mini dachshund. She is a mini, coming in at about 12 pounds. Her mantra, "I'm tiny and I'm cute,,what's not to love?". She tries to keep up with her larger sibling, but she just isn't as rough and tumble as Miss Daisy is. She likes to be completely covered up when she gets in her bed. She will lay in her bed downstairs and just bite the side of the bed and hold it in her mouth. Not really sure what is up with that.

Awww...we have a mini named Shadow too, about the same size. He's my son's dog and has attachment issues. Right now he's sharing a chair with Rooster as he plays his computer games. He sleeps with him too, under the covers, every night....and will persistently wiggle his way under any afghan, blanket, etc. on the couch with you as well.

We also have two cats....Mabel (aka the Princess), a black long-haired beauty with a laser pointer obsession, and Banshee (aka big mouth or brat), who is the loudest meowing cat ever born. He's short haired, sort of butterscotch colored, and has a kink in his tail where it was broken before we got him. He's the king of attitude... and also the only cat I've ever known who's happy to be carried around belly up like a baby.

We used to have many more animals before our move to FL...two rabbits, one who died of old age, and the other given to a woman who had other rabbits and did education and petting zoo stuff for kids...a rowdy Collie named Lily, who was given to a friend (she was honestly more dog than we could handle, and the friend and she adore each other....last pic I saw of her was posted on his facebook page, with her in his bed, under the covers, head on his pillow, drooling )...and two other cats - Bree, who vanished in NY the day we moved and hasn't been seen by neighbors since, and Soyen, a half Siamese who never was even remotely social, and went over a tall fence as soon as we arrived and is now living wild in several hundred acres of scrub preserve near our old apartment.....we saw him several times and he looks good, but would take off when we tried to get him.

It feels odd to have only 3 critters after having 8....but Scoote and the Rooster are conspiring, and I'm guessing that two more kittens may be headed our way.

[suebee]

I've got a whole gaggle of critters. They let me sleep in their bed - or at least one corner of it. Most are rescues of one sort or another. Some from shelters, some I had to pay a ransom for. They've kinda taken over my life. But that's okay. I love each and every one of them, and they seem to tolerate me pretty well too.

[cuddlyfemme]

I have 4 cats
Tabitha my 10 year old rescue Tabby
Samantha (Sam) my 9 year old chocolate point Applehead Siamese
Max my 8 year old blue point Applehead Siamese
Goldie my 2 year old Tabby mix (not sure what she's mixed with). I was Goldie's foster mom then adopted her

This is a great idea for a thread! Thanks for starting it

[Legendryder]

I gots Bob. Bob is a punk of the highest order. Bob is a chihuahua, so he is a barking, growling, bed hogging little monster. And my best friend. Punk ass.

[ravfem]

Kiba turned 2 in August. His mom is an American Pit Bull Terrier (Old Family Red Nose) and his dad is assumed to be some other sort of terrier, probably schnauzer, because Kiba has a beard. A gray one. Between his beard and his laid back disposition, people assume he's an old man.





We spotted him at an adoption drive when he was 6 months old. He wasn't allowed inside the building with the other dogs because he is a bullie mix.

He was sitting quietly, watching everyone. Took 2 weeks from that day til he got to come home, due to the rescue organization's very good, intense adoption process. She had pics of his mom & his 11 litter-mates at their first home; mom was chained outside, skin & bones. The rescue woman talked the owner into giving her all of them.

i tried desperately to get my house mate to adopt his mom, but she put her foot down at one.

Kiba is the easiest dog to train i've ever had (i grew up with dogs, he's my first Bullie). i love him dearly.

And i want a cat so bad i can't stand it! i keep telling Rlin i'm gonna steal one of hers (Rufus) because he obviously loves me & wants to come home with me.

[Rook]

My brother has a "red" Siberian Husky, very smart...sometimes-cough-..At first, I was very worried about how Enik would react towards my Ferrets {They were here first}, my worries were laid to rest when I returned from Dialysis one evening, apparently I forgot to secure their cage..
She was waddling by all proud of carrying one of my Socks, and since He tends to be the ringleader, I was expecting to find him getting ready to pounce her...
I found him...cornering the dog.
That was..a sight to behold...a big ass siberian husky, lookin at me with a "please get him away get him away he's scaring me!!" glance, his front paws kinda taking turns touching the ground gingerly, almost as if he were trying to shoo him away....
I did grab TehToh though {ya never know} and gave 'em all treats, put the "evil twins" back in their dwelling...

Mathilda was a recent addition, she's a Rescue, to the unfamiliar person, she would be difficult to identify and distinguish from the other.
They look like fraternal twins, and when she's pissie she'll resemble him in tantrums.
I gave her the name for 2 reasons, a nod to the movies My relatives love {Matilda*danny devito* + The Professional *Jean Reno*}, and to the Song we kept singing.."Waltzing Mathilda", oddly enough whenever we sang it she'd stare blankly then squirm.
When she wants you to let her go {gently} she'll start "praying", folding her front paws together, pushing outward, squirming like you're torturing her, and yawns..a lot....Which btw, reveals very impressive Fangs..
She sometimes has a naive "duh" glance, but I've learned that's pure unadultered b.s., when she doesnt see im there, I've seen her true colors..She can be a little bully, and she loves wrestling with her toys, and they are HER toys, Tehtoh cant touch 'em...she will literally grab it, and waddle away with it...

Tehtoh, I gave him the name from Nausicaa of the Valley, he lives up to his name, however, I'm the only one in this House he hasn't sunk his Fangs into...yet..
He's also a Rescue..
I'm careful, when he's hyper and playful, I have felt the pinch of his rather sharp ...pointy...big..."Vampire" fangs...
Just a Pinch, though, he knows better.
I do warn anyone and everyone who seems to think they're immune, one of my brothers friends ignored my warning, while they were cleaning her finger, I showed her Tehtohs vet records, and smiled saying "I did warn u"..
Once he knows u, and likes u, he's a big pudgy ball of love..
He tends to be a cautious curious explorer, but..
When he finds something, and he knows{they're smart} he shouldn't have it and I'm approaching {ex: dog kibble, dog squeaky toy}, most of the time, he doesn't run..nah...it looks like he flies off in the opposite direction, which is quite a sight...A large Ferret, runnin' like a bat outta hell, holding on to a toy that is almost as big as him...
Unless I'm in a rush, it always makes me laugh..
When he returns from wherever he stashed his treasure {he rarely eats what he finds}, he has a Smug satisfied strut and a glance that can only mean "fuck you, it's mine !"

Personally, I think u can tell them apart, if you pay attention..the 2 best ways is to pick them up..
She's "plump" but soft and almost fragile to hold..
He's..heavy, thick and his fur is less plush, and much bigger..
Her head is narrow, like an Arrow, He has a "bull" skull, wide...
That and he'll cuddle you to Death, unless he's bored and see's something he wants to explore...
Her? She'll give u maybe 10...15 seconds of quiet snuggle...
Then the "praying" starts...

Yes, my ferrets throw tantrums.
Yes, they're spoiled rotten..
They also define "party animal"..When theyre happy they Hop around, a lot..sometimes they'll roll and Hop, and pounce each other, and make funny noises{I'm told}..
Sometimes their Tail will "Poof", I make sure it's cuz theyre happy...
Only 2 reasons a tail will poof, very hyper & happy...very scared & pissed off.

For my mother's birthday, I got her 2 peachfaced lovebirds.
Merlin and Ygraine..
I'm still figuring out how she knows their "sex", but, as long as theyre happy, and she's happy, I'm happy...

[Jude]

You said:
Yes, my ferrets throw tantrums.
Yes, they're spoiled rotten..
They also define "party animal"..When theyre happy they Hop around, a lot..sometimes they'll roll and Hop, and pounce each other, and make funny noises{I'm told}..
Sometimes their Tail will "Poof", I make sure it's cuz theyre happy...
Only 2 reasons a tail will poof, very hyper & happy...very scared & pissed off.

______________________
Curious. My adult daughter has two ferrets which are not really house trained. She claims they are, of course, but any available corner appears to be a "toilet" and she just places a kitty litter box in all four corners of their room. They miss it as often as hitting the spot. Just wondering if you've had a different experience and actually have house trained ferrets in tow. They've had ferrets forever and have actually had to always have an entire room adapted as "the ferret room" because they choose not to cage them. I enjoy playing with them -- at HER house.

Judith

[LipstickLola]

3 dogs, 2 cats, 3 horses, all 'rescued', all loved beyond measure!

[theoddz]

I have two kids, but they don't have fur!!!

As most folks here know, I have a pair of White's Tree Frogs and I'm totally head over heels in adoration of them!!

Here's Myra (my big girl) and little Ivan, the songster and daredevil of the two.

Who'd have thunk that such simple little lives could hold so much love??

~Theo~ .....proud Dad.

[Lynn]

We have five cats and a dog. All are rescues.

Cupid is our oldest kitty. He's 14, with kidney disease and a chronic peeing problem. We are having some difficulty dealing with this, I admit. Samantha and Zoe are one sibling group, and Mickey and Miley are the other kitty sibs. We love them all. They're an endless source of enjoyment for us. All indoor cats and all from shelters.

Freeway is our old man. He's a 12 year old border collie/lab mix. Looks like a brown border collie with the utter sweetness of a soft lab. He was malnourished and neglected for years by a kindly older person who couldn't take care of him properly. He's a bit old for his time--with diabetes, arthritis, and cataracts with almost full blindness. He doesn't know how to play with toys, but he loves to ride in the car. He doesn't bark, but he smiles a lot and actually answers "yes" (I swear) when we ask if he wants to go for a ride. He still dances like a puppy when he goes in the car or when he is able to get us to let him out by staring at us.

[girl_dee]

recently went from a 5 pound chihuaha to a 7 large dog pack..

I sleep well at night...

[Glenn]

10 cats
1 Coyote
5 Racoons
Deer-?
Birds-?
1 Possum