A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2003 ANIMALS???

When I was a kid we had a dog (mut), a cat (calico) and a bird (cockatiel). What a fun house. They all got along well. When the dog died at a ripe old age the bird died the next day. Wierd. The cat outlasted them by many years to the wise old age of 17...but with no teeth in the end.

Now I am "all grown up", married, no kids...and have just gotten a kitten!!! She is now 6 months old. She is a devon rex, so there is no problem with hair. My husband has a devon (which my mother-in-law keeps now) and normally has cat allergies, but has no problem with the devon breed. Ours is a chocolate point, so, that is like siamese coloring, brown with all the tips a darker brown. Her fur is short and wavy. I named her Isabel. She is sooooooo wonderful. She loves to be where ever we are, where the action is. She is amazingly playful...fetches, jumps about two or three feet into the air to catch toys, plays peek-a-boo and greets us when we come home with little "beep" like meows. I have always been a cat fan, but I can't imagine having any other kind of cat now. Check out some pictures on the web...if you haven't seen a devon before, it will knock your socks off...or at least give you a good laugh. First glance is...comical. Now, she looks perfectly normal to me. (Hint: really big ears...)

Well, that is fun to share about pets...I take every opportunity to brag about her.
~Muskrat

Out here on the farm we have:

Twenty-some registered Belgian draft horses - names would take too long.
Black and white Australian shepherd in barn - Sassie.
3 black and white cats in barn - Friendly, Patches, Tess.
We had another black and white animal in the barn a couple weeks ago. Everybody had to have a bath in tomato juice before that episode was over.

Cairn terrier in house - Katie
Long hair cat in/out house - Millie

Well, here at Poverty Place, we've got: Chilly, the overactive Chow/Schnauzer; Dolly, the laid back, easygoing, sweet, Lhasa/Poo; Loki, the macho-man hunter cat (and big baby); Old Man, the feral cat outdoors who allows me to put out food for him, and occasionally lets me get as close as 2-3 ft from him, but I doubt will ever let me get closer; 8 tropical fish in the 55 gal aquarium (no names, just "the fish") and a pond full of more than 100 fancy goldfish and shubunkins, along with Mr. Pl*co for algae control.
All of the "fur babies" were rescues, and are now completely spoiled rotten! The pond started originally with 10 fish, you can figure out what they've been doing!
I've always been an animal lover, it's a good thing I live in the city, if I lived in the country there's no telling what animals I'd have!!


Nikkal

Muskrat, the Devons are adorable! I went to this site to take a peek:

http://www.devonrex.com

I think I want one..

Ah, Devons are fantastic...! Glad you took a look! She is absolutely precious!
~Muskrat

My Betta Story
By Jillie

Once, there was a grandma (whose name has been changed to protect my innocence; we'll call her Jillie), who kept granddaughter's special birthday betta in the special betta tank on the bathroom counter (you know, the little tank with the mermaid and plastic waterfall? Yeah, that's the one..the one with no lid).

One morning, Jillie awoke to find the tank empty and blue and purple scales on the soap dish. Looking further, there were scales down the side of the sink leading to a huffing and puffing "Violet" stretched accross the chrome sink stopper. Quick! rinse the facial-quality Caress off the fish! Get him back in the tank! Whew!

Ah, he's swimming. He'll be alright.


Oh, he's listing a little to port.


Uh, looks like he's floating to the top.


((flush))


Bummer.


Granddaughter is at a sleepover so there's time to make a plan.



"I'll go to Petco & get another betta the same color. She'll never know." Thinks Jillie. Off to Petco. Sidekick says, "She's gonna know that's not Violet. She's not stupid. IT"S A DIFFERENT COLOR!!!"
"Well," says Jillie, "I can tell her that there's this color-enhancing betta food I just got...."
Sidekick: "You can't lie to that child. She looks up to you. She'll see right through you." (thinking awhile)..."Tell her that they change color when they get older!"


Right.

Jillie goes to bed that night, snug and confident that she saved the day... and her skin.


Next morning...


Turquoise scales on the soap.


Turquoise scales in the sink.


Crispy betta chip on the chrome sink stopper.





Granddaughter comes home and sadly says she notices the empty birthday betta tank. "Awwe, come shopping with me and I'll explain," says grandma. Granddaughter gets the unvarnished truth; the whole story comes out as we're walking through Home Depot. By the time it's over, granddaughter is laughing and her tears are dry.

Whew.

Now we make plans to go to Petco and buy another betta. "Can I have a hamster, instead?" "No, Darling, you're allergic, remember?"

"Oh," she says, glancing at the Home Depot garden accessories..."Well, then, can I have this five-foot inflatable garden snake instead??" she asks, beaming.


"Sure, Sweetheart, it's yours."


The End.

Jillie,
That was a scream!!!
I've heard they are jumpers!!!

Must be something in your bathroom
they wanted to fight with!!

I had a similar story with our "first fish"

Our oldest was handed a gold fish at the fair, someone just walked over to him as he stared at the game,
at first we thought that was so nice, but now we're in fish heaven with all the stuff and still wanting more... isn't that just about how everyone starts???
But the first time I was cleaning his vase,
*didn't even have a tank* and I took it into
the bathroom for easier cleaning and set it on
the side of the sink, and had the second thing to put fish into, and got a strainer from the kitchen because we didn't have a net yet....

Well, when I scooped this rather energetic gold fish out of the vase, he used the strainer as a
spring board and did a dive right into the sink,
I screamed for my husband(and I have tenants up stairs, and didn't want to alarm her, she's an EMT>didn't want her running down stairs in her jammies, but, I was screamin' and yelled for him a couple of more times, the fish went down the sink, QUICK!!!
well, he did get up, and looked at me, like you let him have it??? *it was really him* but he got the tools out, unscrewed it, I got a bucket, and that bugger is still alive.!!!!!
I thought, OMG, I've killed my sons first pet! (But luckily he's a surviver, you should see him now, he's HUGE!!!)
Then we got another fish a couple of days later, at the same fair, and we let him win one this time. It was a brown one.
Did the water change on this one too, still no tank and I thought, well, I didn't want to have that happen again with the fish, so I did it right on the dinning room table and good gosh, the same thing happened with the brown one, used it as a spring board and out he went flying....
Scooped him up off the table but he was never the same after that and got composted a few days later.
Needless to say, we got a real tank and a real net and have had wonderful tank cleanings....
so far.
Those betta's are fiesty though aren't they.
I love mine.
Beautiful colors....
Weezie

What a funny story! Ah, colateral damage!

Jillie and Weezie... you guys are just too much...I loved your stories! Especially, turquoise scales on the soap....

Awwwe, thanks, gardengal. Isn't life just the biggest, grandest joy, ever?? Aren't we, all of us, so rich with these stories?

I must take this time to send all of you, here, in this forum of gardening friendship, the deepest wishes for holiday love and
happiness....

Well lets see I am now back to 5 cats and sitting my nieces 2 guinea pigs at the moment!

Meeka is a big fat grey and white lazy kitty with a major attitude. Wants to be petted...but only a few times then watch out! Absolutely cannot pet her stomach....but it is sooooo soft looking! She will get ya if you do!LOL 13lbs

Pico is the black and white kitty just like on my button and yes lays in the cactus as well. He is my shadow.....everywhere I go he is right behind.13lbs

Pookie is a tabby with different shades of brown. She is a major talker and loud. When she wants in....the whole neighborhood knows it! 11 lbs.

Baby is a whopping 16 lbs of pure muscle. He is soooo long and big. He is my lover! When he sleeps he stretchs completely out and is a bed hog. He opens all my blinds in the morning, bangs all the cupboard doors just to hear them bang over and over again, loves to hang out on top of the computer corner unit or on top of the curio cabinet, and if you dare leave open the bathroom door you will wind up with shredded toilet paper all over the house in the morning. He is also the one who knocked over the 5 gallon fish tank into the scoopable catlitter pan....and broke a lamp into a catrillion pieces while on vacation.

Doobie is a little 6 month old mostly grey kitten. My daughter Christina opened the door on Halloween night to a meooooow ...write "sucker" on my forehead.... we now have another little kitty. Think a better name for him is Spaz.LOL :rolleyes: He likes to be with you every second....so yes he is sitting on my lap right now!

And at the moment I have the two guinea pigs Molly and Freckles. Sometimes I watch my sisters Black Lab named Sheena.

Sometimes it is like a zoo around here but wouldn't have it any other way! Animal lover all the way!

Awwwe, Cat, they sound darling. What a big family you have!

Years ago, my ex-hub raised Basenji's; sociopathic animals, who, after kissing up and being all waggy, would wait until your back was turned and then go poop in your shoes. They will hold a grudge for weeks over some doggie slight and then wait for the right moment to do you a good one. I remember getting ready to fold a basket of clean laundry & an unsavory surprise rolled out of one of the pillow cases :p Eewwwwe!
It takes a very special, patient soul to be an owner.....
NOT ME!!!!!

You know Jillie (knock on wood) I have never had a problem with that. In fact the 2 indoor/outdoor cats hold it until I let them out. Now keep in mind these are cats and not dogs. Only mess I get once in awhile is when one eats toooo fast (like piggy Meeka) then upchucks on the wood floor. We only have one carpet in this house and no messes there SO FAR!!! (Knock on wood). The only problem is HAIR EVERYWHERE!!!!! Ha Ha who needs a blanket anyway when you have cats either laying on you (like all 5 on my bed) or loose cat hair blankets. I am constantly cleaning and vaccuming, but hey this catlover will do what is necessary. Now if I could just keep Baby from repeatedly banging all the cupboards I would have it made....oh and if they would all use the toilet and flush after it would be alright with me!LOL

Those basenji's (sp) are hyper dogs! If one decided to do that in my shoe they would be dragging around a shoe outside that was permanently attached....if you know what I mean! :p

Catlover to the extreme

Hey Catlover~

And I thought my Amber was the only cat who bangs on doors - LOL! Her doors of choice are the bathroom doors under the sink, and it has to be between 5-6 in the morning!!! At first I thought there might be a mouse or something coming up along the sink pipes - we did have this problem when we lived in a townhouse in Reno. :p But I kept getting up to investigate and couldn't find anything. I guess it's just a trait more common than I thought. Now if she would only do this during the waking hours I wouldn't mind so much...

Her sister, Roxie, likes to scratch loudly (and she was declawed!!!) on my daughter's bedroom door EVERY MORNING beginning at 4:30 - I keep asking my daughter to leave the door ajar, but she conveniently forgets each night, and doesn't seem to hear the scratching either.

I just bought my daughter a digital camera on black Friday - it is waaaaaaaaaay overdue... and I am having so much fun playing with it! As soon as I figure out how to post pictures here, I'll put some of my sister cats on.

Anyone have pictures of their loveys that they can post?

Lynne

One of my cats at my parents house,
used to sit behind you in a chair
and give you a back rub,
(he would knead your back with his paws)
it was so funny,
the look on his face was like he
was having an *rgasism!!
Just dreamie eyes, and he'd purrrrr!
His name was Desmond, "Mondo" for short.

Weezie