[Judilyn]

On another thread I started about about how everyone came up with their screen names, which has been fun, some people started talking about their cats. I know that many of you feel as i do that our pets are really just more of our children. SOOOOOOOO
lets hear about your furry children.

Mine are

2 cats, Elijah Blue (Siamese) and Tommy (orange Tom Cat)
and Jake our very funny, cute and stinky Ferret!!

Judilyn

[aspenhall]

Aspen, our wolf....Lucky is our adopted (no kidding) Labrador Retriever....Coco is a Chocolate Lab that was our first pet...she died...My husband lumps me in with the Dogs, when he refers to his "girls" I have also jokinly refered to them as our "dog-ters" and "grand-dog-ters" to his parents!

I know there will be questions, so first off, NO Aspen is not vicious or mean, she loves kids and people...she is 86% Alaskan Timber Wolf and 42 % Alaskan Malamute. She knows some tricks, but mainly she just loves to sit on our lap and be petted.

Lucky can't hold still! My bro in law picked her up at a Wal-Mart on his way to live with us and when he moved, he couldn't keep her, so we "adopted" her...One was planned, one was an accident I always say!

I am gonna try and attach a picture of DH and Aspen...that was taken when she was about 8 mo old...Hope this Works!

BTW GOOD THREAD!!!!

[Judilyn]

She is wonderful and I am sure a treasured part of your family.

Judilyn

[Shoshana]

Okay! I'll share.

The love of my life is my almost-13-year-old black lab named Raven. I got her as a puppy when I started graduate school. We have traveled all over the US -- she guards when I sleep in the car. She is a compulsive over-eater. I finally gave up trying to train her and resorted to training myself (e.g., hiding food). She ate 17 pounds of dry dog food in one sitting. She's also had (at the same time) 18 donuts, a dozen bagels, 4 pounds of butter, even 5 pounds of frozen chicken! And a couple of extra emergency vet trips. She is truly a phenomenal dog. She loves little kids. I used to take her to an after school program and all of the little kindergarten kids would throw the ball for her. Once, an 18 month baby was throwing the tennis ball. He'd drop the ball in a bucket of water and Raven would pick it up in her mouth and drop it back in the bucket. In no time, the baby was dropping the ball from his mouth to the bucket. His mom was laughing too hard to worry about germs!

Two years ago, Raven developed heart problems and the vet told me she needed a puppy. Since she's an alpha female, I needed to find a passive male. Sable is a pound puppy too. I tell people that Sable is Raven's pet. He's Australian cattle dog/shephard mix. He's truly goofy and loves Raven. He spends a lot of time outside, guarding the yard and watching for the errant squirrel or rabbit. When he comes in, he runs right to Raven and gives her kisses. He has kept Raven young and alert in her later years.

Raven tore the ligaments behind her back leg and can't have the surgery to repair it because of her heart. So no more walks, no more fetching (her 2nd favorite activity after eating). I can't even imagine how difficult it will be when she dies. Hope this doesn't sound weird, but I really hope I have my daughter by then because it's going to be awful.

Sorry to go on and on, but I really love my dogs. (as if you couldn't tell ;-)

[Sharon]

I have 2 cats, Chorizo and Olivia. As of last weekend I've also adopted a third... a stray kitten that my son found hiding in the wheel well of a parked car. The new kitten's name is Shadow. All three are female.
I also have four baby turtles: two red-eared sliders, a map turtle, and a yellow-bellied river cooter.
The turtles don't have names. We raise them in a 55-gallon aquarium, and when they get big enough we release them in the lake and buy new ones. Newborn turtles are so cute! They are smaller than a quarter, and they have an "egg tooth", which is a sort of horn on the end of their nose, like a rhinoceros. They use it to break their way out of the egg. This egg tooth falls off when turtles are about a week old, so we try to select ones that still have it... newborn adoption, so to speak .
~ Sharon

[bajohnson]

You guys make me feel almost normal. LOL. My Mom calls our place "The Zoo". We have.....ahem....... a toy poodle"Tiffany" who runs the place and I swear is part human. She just had surgery to remove cysts on her tummy, and is 12 years old. She is my "step dog". She is the only "inside" animal right now. We have 2 outside dogs, "Frank" a Siberian husky(5) and a "adopted" Beagle named "Barney" that came with the farm we're in now. We had a Kashund named "Keesha" but we lost her this spring in a drowning accident. Heart wrenching as she was my special buddy. We also have 7 cats outside and at last count about 9 kittens. They (7) spent the winter inside, and drove my dairy farming husband crazy. He believes cats belong outside in the barns, and I think they belong inside on my lap. Makes for lively discussions, and when he doesn't think we're looking, he loves and plays with the kittens and cats.
In our house, they are people, with different personalities, and we talk for them. Is that weird? Oh well, it won't be the first time we've been called weird. I don't think I trust people that don't love animals. Oh I forgot, we have a rabbit, dwarf dutch, named "Sniffey ears"(6 yr old named her).
I read a post once about adoptees having lots of animals and found the concept interesting. Any viewpoints out there on that?
Great thread, helps us get to know each other better.
Hugs,
Beth

[Judilyn]

That's what I call my 3 pets Elijah, Tom and Jake, they are all males obviously. My husband too was raised a farm boy and ALWAYS thought that cats should be outside, until he met me. He soon learned that my cats rule the house, LOL.

I talk to my animals all the time just like they are small children. My DH has just gotten use to it. When I come home from work they (the cats)are usually right there to greet me and if they are not I go to find them, scoop them up in my arms and love on them.

I do not know if it is true that adoptees tend to have a lot of pets, I have heard that people who can not have children tend to because it is the mothering coming out in them, I wonder if that has any truth to it?????????

OH, just thought I'd add this, my dream is to one day have a Saint Bernard, I have wanted one all my life, my hubby says NO WAY, but we will see!

Judilyn

[dangerlucy]

Funny, as I was reading this and thinking of my three cats, I hear one of them sneezing in the background (must have a cold...do cats get colds?) and the other making his strange mewing sound, which means only one thing...he was shreading newspaper. So I went to stop him before typing this. He only makes that sound when he's shreading apart newspaper, it's very weird. I'm talking about Ming, a chocolate point siamese, who's 14 years old. He is the most loving siamese I've ever met! He loves to be held by the kids and he wraps his arms and legs around you like a baby, it is so cute. He's getting too old to jump up on our bed to sleep with us, so we have to pull a drawer out for him to jump in first.

Plato is an all-black cat except for a tiny little tuft of white hair on his chest. He avoids non-family members at all costs and hides when we have people over. He's not around for attention until HE wants it, and then he's climbing all over you, nuzzling your ears. He loves ears for some reason. Plato is about 13 or 14 as well. Both of these cats were my husband's so I "adopted" them when I moved in.

Then there's Benny (or Benjamin when I'm mad at him). He's my cat that I've had since he was a kitten. He's a "tuxedo" black and white cat and LOVES attention. When we have parties, he's out mingling with all the other guests, waiting for someone to pay attention to him. He's very needy! Ben is 11 years old.

I used to have two other cats for a short period, but I gave them back to my ex-husband when he moved into a place that could have cats. Five was way too much for us at one time, so when the kids ask to have a kitten, I tell them NO. I love cats, but since ours are getting up there in years, don' t think they would appreciate a new addition.