Roxie, our 10-y/o Cocker Spaniel. We acquired her in 2009, after euthanizing our 14-y/o German Shepherd Keisha and after the death of our 11-y/o Norwegian Elkhound Shadow. I don't have any pics of these two on my laptop, nor of the six cats we had from 1991-2005. RIP Smokey, Rosey, Tag-A-Long, Gizmo, Tiger, and Fluffy.
Cheyenne, 3-y/o our 'German Rott Bull Chow'....she came to live with us a year ago when the daughter saw her at the local shelter.
Amelia, the baby bunny the cat brought home in 2009. We 'rescued' her and kept her for about two weeks, before returning her to the backyard.
Lucky, my black lab whom we rescued from the neighbor in 2000. She survived being threatened with euthanasia by said neighbor; being run over by another neighbor's truck; and once we moved to our current home, slipped off her chain and took many runs around the neighborhood. In 2010, she was losing bladder control, and after many treatments with medication, said a tearful goodbye to her right before my oldest son's graduation.
Mikey, the rat. Son K insisted he wanted a couple of domesticated rats in April 2008, and they provided us with hours of entertainment! Here they are one day when we turned them loose on the porch. Mikey decided to try to get into the toy truck....
Pinky investigated the cat's food.....
And since I never got footage of the 'Pinky/Mikey/Oreo Comedy Hour', here is our cat Oreo tolerating Pinky trying to play with him!
And how many cats would tolerate being read to?
Youngling found Oreo in the park on New Years Eve 2008, and brought him home. He was a tiny, barely weaned kitten who quickly won everyone over with his calm demeanor, and even let the rats 'beat up' on him. We didn't think he knew he was a cat until a year later, when he began bringing home 'presents' for us on the front porch....various mice, birds, and even a baby bunny!
So the grand total from 1991-2012:
Dogs: 5
Cats: 7
Rats: 2
Bunny: 1
And I would be remiss in not mentioning kitty Simon, who tried to adopt us, but we ended up giving him to some friends. Unfortunately, two days later, the most agressive of J's dogs took a dislike to the tiny kitten and he is now buried in her back yard. The dog who instigated the senseless attack was euthanized six months later. I still tear up whenever I think of both Simon and Lucky pup.
But on a lighter note, it's never a dull moment around here! Roxie gets me up every morning at 6 (earlier if no one lets her outside at bedtime) and Oreo is usually ready to come inside for his breakfast. So they have a system, and it gets me out of bed in the mornings, even on Thursdays after being at karaoke until 2am!
14 comments:
LOVE the picture of your son reading to the cat! That just makes me smile!
LOL:) Oreo knows who his 'human' is...Daughter tried to claim him, but he only lets Youngling carry him around on his shoulders; 'dance' with him; 'read' to him; even lets himself be carried like a baby! No one else can do all that:)
Every one leaves their mark, don't they? We have a zoo, too, and we'e stayed home for Christmas two years running because Astro the Rott/Shepherd, now nearly 15, doesn't do well when we as well as my brother and sis in law who live downstairs are gone at the same time.Even if the neighbors are willing to come over and play video games to keep him company.
Love your animals. Rats, really? We have mice in our field next to hour and thank goodness a barn cat somewhere that takes care of that problem.
Plus, I thought that cats were human? LOL
Marika
Oh I love the kitty! That's how our cocker Alex sits, totally like a human. Your pups are sweet too. Good for you rescuing so many furkids!
@Kate: We were fortunate that my mom's house is dog-friendly; they doggy-sit for a friend, so Dad cut a pet door in the one leading to the garage, plus put up a temporary fence. It was tough getting Lucky to use it, but she finally got the hang of it! And Rox and Cheyenne soon had their own system; Rox would open it and Chy would follow. And of course, the youngling would always 'show' them how to go through it! Oreo's the easiest during short absences from home: Fix him a large bowl of food and plenty of fresh water and fresh sandbox, and he's a happy cat for two days.
@Marika: Rats passed away in the summer of '10; and I had a hard time overcoming their objections, because at one time in HS, I raised 4 hamsters. And domesticated rats don't live long, so we okay'd it. And I sooooo wish I'd gotten video of Oreo 'investigating' the cage and the two rats hitting him on the nose! I was laughing too hard and forgot my camera had a 'video' capabilities!
@Kelsey: I think the only pet we've ever bought was Cheyenne...and the daughter used her birthday money in order to rescue her. Shadow was placed in our care in 1996 'just for a few weeks until I get my own place...' ('few weeks' turned into 10.5 years); Keisha was a stray I picked up, thinking she was the neighbor's...ooops, not!; and the stray cat I adopted in 1991 presented me with four kittens three months later!
My oldest bought the 2 rats, and the other kittens were strays, so the 'Shelter For Dysfunctional Felines/Canines' lives on!
Quite a little zoo you got there Molly. I love that you've adopted all these animals. I always wanted an animal to adopt me but its never happened. So I went out and adopted two. My furry sweeties, Imogen and Cordelia. My life wouldn't be complete without them. I'm sure you feel the same way about all of ours.
My DD loves to carry the cats around, but they don't like that at all. They don't even like us picking them up. If they climb into our laps, that's different. They will sleep with us, too, but they don't want to be picked up. LOL
Love the animals. We had a lot when I was a child. At one point, we had 17 cats. Yes, that was a lot of kitties, but we found good homes for them. :)
Marci
@Willa: It's not just animals who adopt me; I have half the neighborhood kids calling me 'Aunt Kenzie'! Sometimes I have to remind them "You have a refrigerator in your other home..." LOL:)
And when I'm skyping with my College Kid, I'm 'Mom' to anyone within earshot....
@Marci: That's the way with cats; if you want to give them attention, they disdain it. But when they want it? It's hard to refuse a cat who's batting at your book with a paw, flipping his tail in your face, and purring non-stop! Of course, Tag had a tendency to NIP if someone was ignoring him....
And 17 cats? Yikes....we thought we had too many with 5!
My husband and I are huge animal lovers domestic or not. Thanks for the wonderful pictures, especially the one of the cat being read to. Grin.
@Sandy: Wasn't that awesome? And that was before Youngling could officially read:)
Lots of pets, Molly! Besides having dogs all these years, we've had gerbils.
One gerbil bit me and I had to get a tetanus shot. Dogs never bit me!
Mom refused to let us have gerbils; they reminded her too much of mice.
One of my favorite memories of my hamsters is of Twinkle licking the cheese sauce from Mom's finger. She was okay with it, and even remarked, 'How cute!' when Twinkle decided he wanted more than a lick and bit her.
Mom screamed and threw her hand back; Twinkle sailed head over feet across the kitchen, landing unhurt on the carpet:) Fortunately, the cat was outside or otherwise occupied. No tetanus shot required:)
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