Pets, past and present

[katiuska]

We haven't had one of these in a while, so I thought I might put up the opportunity to trade catspam share stories and pictures of our pets.


(I don't have a picture of this dog, but I always imagined that it would look something like this.)
Cacique
19??-19??

Originally owned by one of my dad's friends, forced to give away by his girlfriend, who presumably had a problem with owning hellspawn. Being a cocker spaniel Cacique was an extraordinarily beautiful dog, but he had some discipline problems that led to incidents such as tearing up furniture and biting my brother in the face with no provocation. Cacique was eventually returned to his original owner for these reasons... I don't really remember him, but his infamy has remained in family tales. They moved to Florida, where they got him a mate, but she met an untimely demise at the jaws of an alligator; Cacique of course survived to crotchety old age. We always assumed the alligator was afraid of him.



Sunny
1988-1996

Registered name Bassland Acres Sundowner*, a purebred Labrador. My Dad obtained Sunny through a co-worker undergoing a bitter divorce, who preferred to give the dog away rather than let his wife keep him. Sunny was a sweet dog, but not especially obedient, and was notorious for sneaking food when no one was watching and escaping out the door whenever there was an opportunity (usually returning at 1am, and after visiting the nearby pond). He hated thunderstorms but would happily try to chase firecrackers whenever we shot them off in the backyard. Unfortunately, his immune system was compromised under circumstances we still don't understand; my brother spent the last night downstairs with him, and he passed away shortly after we left that morning. We still believe we got the best end of the deal.



Tommy
1991-2008

Tommy was taken home one evening from one of my Dad's friends whose cat had recently had kittens. I was enamored. Over the years, Tommy was an excellent friend and companion, taking a spot on my comforter and coming to get me if I was taking too long to get to bed. He enjoyed exploring the outdoors and would happily tag along like a dog while we were out on walks. Loved salty foods and cheese. Purred loudly and frequently.

He suffered from arthritis and hyperthyroidism in his later years, but could not be slowed down or stopped from hunting or thwarting my mom's attempts to confine him to certain areas while they were trying to sell the house. Tommy died at the age of 17 with my parents keeping him company.



Rusty
2001-

Rusty was given to my brother when the neighbors of one of his friends asked if he could give the kitten at home. He hoped one of other friends could take him, but when it turned out she couldn't, he called my mother and asked her how much love she had in her heart. Rusty's quite a bit more timid than his elder and not as sociable, but he'll often share couches or beds (even if he doesn't usually get in your lap). Likes melon and grains.



(*So named because he was born at Bassland Acres at sundown. We always wondered why he specifically should have had this name, given that it presumably would have applied equally to any other puppies in his litter, though I suppose single births aren't impossible. Or else they were born at large intervals, and there were other dogs named Bassland Acres Afternooner and Bassland Acres Midnighter. Actually, that'd be pretty sweet.)

[Green Spanner]

I have a strange story about my stepmom's dog, a Keeshond called Murphy (no pictures I'm afraid).

My dad's lived in the States since '97, and being from English stock loves a good, strong ale (like all true Englishmen should). He owns a coffee table that's quite low down, and one time, he put his beer down on it whilst he went and did other things.

When he came back, the glass was on the floor, and the beer was nowhere to be found.

Murphy, by some truly amazing coincidence was drunk. Staggering around, leaning on people, only missing some slurred barks to make it a full house.

The next morning, he had his head under the bed and refused to come out. The dog was hungover.

The strangest thing? This happened a second time a few months later.

I think my dad may have learned not to put his beer on that table without supervision.

[katiuska]

The worst thing my dad ever did was take the dog out in the bed of the truck, assuming he'd have some intuitive understanding of what not to do in a moving vehicle. ...He didn't. Fortunately, he only suffered a few minor scrapes, and Dad never put him in the bed again without harnessing the shit out of it first.

[Sir Pinkleton]

I don't have any pictures of my pets, yet, but I might get some later. I'll work from present to past, it'll work easier.

The most recent pet we got was Bruno, a half Labrador, half Rottweiler. He's not even a year old, and my step-dad got it for my mom while she was recuperating from her neck surgery. I don't really see the logic in this, as we already have 2 cats and I've been told that we keep running off of the pennies of our paychecks. Anyway, he really likes to bite things. He hasn't really bitten furniture, but he's bitten and attempted to rip his new bed, and he's bitten people's ankle's. Also, he is still in the process of being potty trained. we've gotten to the point where he (mostly) goes to the front door, waits, and then pees/poos there, but I guess he's not old enough to know how to bark? Only thing saving him from real punishment is his turn-head-and-stare look, which is adorable.

I guess I should explain these next two in pair. First, there was Nivek (or Kevin backwards. No one but me refers to him by this name anymore), a black cat. My brother got him for Christmas from a friend. Sometime near the beginning, he started darting outside, and returning one day later. then 2 days, then 3... and then he disappeared. One night we heard coyote's barking and fighting something a night or two after the fact, and you can guess out assumptions. He was gone a total of 6 months before a neighbor caught him in her garage. Apparently he had been running back and forth through her field (she's the one who ones a plot of land next to our more modern suburban cul-de-sac). A month before this, we got a new cat (I think it was another present from my parents to my brother), and she was named Sophia. I can't really explain her fur, but it's brown, speckled with black and other browns, and she's beautiful. She and Nivek didn't really get along at first: Nivek had gotten skittish from his ventures outside, and felt threatened by her. She was just a kitten at the time, so she just innocently followed him around. Now though, they get along fine, and we let them outside from time to time. I once caught them bumping noses together, and I don't know what that means, but it was cute too. They both ignore/run away from Bruno. Nivek is my "little panther", and he cuddles on my lap sometimes. Sophia still looks like a kitten, even though she's a few years old now.

Before that we had a... Lopsa opsoo? That's totally the wrong spelling, but someone here probably knows what I'm taking about. I forget her name. ^^;
Honestly, we didn't pay attention to her enough, and that's why she pooped in the house. That, and the constant need for us to bring her in for haircuts, and we decided to bring her back to the pound.

Before that, we had Einstein. A big, black, half Lab half I forget, but nothing too far off from Bruno, which is why my stepdad picked Bruno. My mom loved him, and apparently he was born the same day as my brother. He was there with us when we still had our large plot of land, and so he had a fenced in tree area aaall to himself. He played with his friend, a white lab, from our family's friend's house on occasion, like the 4th of July. My mom loved him, so she was hurt the most when he got old. He smelt really bad, and had arthritis which his medications only partly helped I guess. He got really old. last real memory of him I had was on a Christmas. We had him inside, away from the cold, but his bladder control was another problem. he peed in the house, and we ushered him outside to finish, as he was still peeing. He spelt "Joy" on the carpet. I never really got attached to him, strangely.

Before Einstein is talking waaay into childhood, so I'll keep it brief (not that I haven't written an essay already). We had loads of cats. we had lots, because they were all outside. the only ones we still have are a mostly white and somewhat brown named Snowball. She was a half-wild cat, and so never really liked humans. She's opened up to my dad, who now owns her in his Utah home, and she exhibits odd behavior, like running up to him to grab his attention, then stepping a few steps away, and falling to the floor to be petted. Because we only see my dad on holiday visits, she's only gotten used to us enough to hang around maybe twice, when we stayed a long period over Summer. Then there's Caramel, an orange cat, who might be as old if not older than Einstein was. He was always the rebel, tipping over our trashcans when we were the least bit late in feeding the cats, having multiple litters with multiple cats. We all still love him a lot, though he shows a little less vigor nowadays.

Other than that, we once had 2 sheep that died mysteriously, and a bunch of chickens (with terrorizing roosters). [/rant]

[G.I.R.]

This is my dog, Mal(Malcom Reynolds). He is an Alaskan Malamute that I found through a rescue organization where I live. He's a great dog. Very intelligent, loves to play and has taken to swimming this past summer. He's a great dog and I love having him around. It hasn't been quite a year just yet, but he is also acclimating to my family as well. My younger sister has a toy poodle and it's quite hilarious to see the two of them side by side or playing.

[EVILNess]

I'd show you my dog, but you would accuse me of mistreating him. He looks so poor, plus I don't have a camera. (My God, he is an ugly little dog.)

I honestly didn't choose him, he chose me. I woke up one day and he was in my bed sleeping there (still not sure how he got in the house.). I went around looking for this puppy's owner (He couldn't have been more than 8 weeks old) and found no one. He was half starved and missing the hair on his back and tail (It never grew back) but I've had him for 8 years and he is the most spoiled dog you will ever see.

[Axl]

Animal thread hell yeah.


So we've got Bule Bule, who is a young lady cat whom I found in a neighbor's backyard as a month-old kitten. Because of this, she has the need to always butt into anything people are doing. The slightly dog-level neediness makes her endearing though. Likes to actually play around and shit, tries to get the bigger cat to do cat things with her - usually gets bitten.


Then there's Kronchis, who is rad. He is a surly-ass cat who has been taking names since day one. Apparently he got picked up off the street, but started wrecking too much shit with the other cats in the household. So he came over to my abode so I could train him to focus that anger - onto my arm, which is now covered in scars. He's now 4 years old, and decidedly less angry at the world. Serves as a Uncle Buck figure to the smaller cat.

[Hanuman]

I think you can divide pets into 3 divisions:
Pets that are like a cool screensaver
Pets that are like a friend
Pets that are like a friend you work with

As much as I love cats or dogs, I couldn't imagine owning one... as for the cool screensaver pets, I've had some before and I might get a jellyfish(extremely expensive) or a praying mantis if I ever settle down, but generally the 3rd option is more appealing... having a pet that's livestock seems more like growing a plant, allows you to grow your own food and clothing, which to me seems like a really cool thing to do.

[Doc ock rokc]

My first dog was actually my brothers and He was older then me. He named him Bowser (this is before he even discovered Mario brothers so...) Bowser was a grand dog. He knew how to take care of children and was always nice and polite. When he got older he went blind and deaf but gained the ablity to say what he wanted OK his vocabulary consisted of "out," "food" and "now" but still was a amazing feat. He was intelegent kind and loving...but we had to put him down because he was suffering. He lived 14 years before his death

reba-Was the family's first cat And needless to say she grew up with cat pride. She was lazy allways acted high and mighty but never could resist my dad (who had a mild allergy to her) . She later became my first pet because my sister refused to do anything to take care of her cat and I had ended up doing it. Reba was a mean old cat but if you just ignored her she would demand your attention and pets (and could never resist playing with X-mas ornaments) MY dad gave her away the day after we put Bowser to sleep because the cat tore up his mattress in rebellion

Rico
This is a rather strange dog. He came into our life in the middle of his when my mom found him at a shelter. Unlike all the other dogs who where jumpy and excited to see a human he just sat there and stared strait at her. When she stopped to see if she could get a reaction out of him He walked off to grab a ball that was hidden under the dog bed and put it in her hand. She adopted him on the spot (reason:loved smart dogs). Rico didn't have a name but he responded to anything with a R in the beginning. My sis was obsessing about some Disney show and he got named Rico as a result (I don't know ether) he loved the name and grew up to be fat and happy. Rico was the Houdini of the neighborhood He escaped so much that the dog catchers just gave up on chasing him. He would always come back. when i was young he would tackle me to the gound and lick me when ever i came home. and as always bring a ball to my mom. We always suspected him to be a police dog because he would Check people that he thought was suspicious and prowl the house in the dead of night. other wise he was just a lazy bear of a dog that you couldn't hate. He died in my arms of heart failure giving me one last lick before he died...

Hershey
My Dog. MINE! She is a ugly to the point of cute little dog that my mom got for me because she wanted me to have a dog. Hershey and I got along in a flash as she did with rico and bowser. She learned skills from those devils and made a few of her own. She is currently the oldest dog and thinks she's queen because of it bullying my sisters puppy around she loves to be petted and is right now trying to block my screen with her big brown...puppy dog eye...NO! I WONT BE HYPNOTIZED BY THOSE AGAIN!

Pluto
The Newest member of our family Pluto is a yorky with ears that are almost half the size he is. He is a scared little thing in a world of giants and our little figher who will fight any dog that craps bigger then he is. (which the big dogs think is hilarious) he acts like a cat sometimes and loves to Play play play. He and hersh figured out how to open the power windows last year and he always wants to show it off. His ears and hair are the most expressive things i have ever seen.

[katiuska]

Originally Posted by Axl

Animal thread hell yeah.


So we've got Bule Bule, who is a young lady cat whom I found in a neighbor's backyard as a month-old kitten. Because of this, she has the need to always butt into anything people are doing. The slightly dog-level neediness makes her endearing though. Likes to actually play around and shit, tries to get the bigger cat to do cat things with her - usually gets bitten.


Then there's Kronchis, who is rad. He is a surly-ass cat who has been taking names since day one. Apparently he got picked up off the street, but started wrecking too much shit with the other cats in the household. So he came over to my abode so I could train him to focus that anger - onto my arm, which is now covered in scars. He's now 4 years old, and decidedly less angry at the world. Serves as a Uncle Buck figure to the smaller cat.

You've got a lot of yawning cats there.

Tom and Rusty liked to fight it out; at first there was some strife because 10 years is a significant age difference and Tom didn't really appreciate being pounced on, but eventually it just became part of how they got along. I kinda wish I'd gotten a picture of them curled up in the winter, because that was adorable. I did manage to capture a video of them fighting, though.

Originally Posted by Lev

I think you can divide pets into 3 divisions:
Pets that are like a cool screensaver
Pets that are like a friend
Pets that are like a friend you work with

As much as I love cats or dogs, I couldn't imagine owning one... as for the cool screensaver pets, I've had some before and I might get a jellyfish(extremely expensive) or a praying mantis if I ever settle down, but generally the 3rd option is more appealing... having a pet that's livestock seems more like growing a plant, allows you to grow your own food and clothing, which to me seems like a really cool thing to do.

I totally forgot about my dad's fish. They were fun, but eventually I decided it was less depressing not to pay attention to what was happening. Protip: goldfish can grow to gigantic proportions and devour everything else in your tank. Some of my extended family has had livestock, but that ended when one of them got attached to one of the pigs. The best thing was visiting my uncle's ranch while he was hosted someone else's llama--like, you'd just be sitting outside talking and all of a sudden this bigass llama would go galloping past in the background. It was surreal.

I think this thread is still missing a few pictures, so I might as well throw some more in while I'm at it.


Tom, waiting to be let outside, where he could explore/hunt/go door to door soliciting treats. When one set of neighbors lived next door, they also had a cat name Odette. According to the wife, Tommy would often go visit and sit on the porch and they'd meow at each other from opposite sides of the door and stuff.


Rusty sleeping under my dresser.


This is one of my brother's cats, Zoe, who is a cute little monster. She tears through houses like you don't know what.