[optimus_prime]

i searched chefelf for a pet thread, but didnt see any..so i figured id make one.

so this is a thread to discuss your pet. pets that you currently have, or pets that you used to own.

cat, dog, bird, fish, snake, rat, hamster, gerbil, horse, goat, worm, ferret, turtle, lizard, gecko, iguana, ..it doesnt matter.

hell, it really doesnt matter...it can even be a pet rock, or even one of those blasted tamagochi virtual pets. as long as its something you at least tried to half-ass nuture and spend time with.

as for me, ..i live in an apartment with my girlfriend and for the longest time we have had three cats: a persian, a calico and a grey tabby.

now because i have such a heart, i brought home a stray kitten from work,..with the strict understanding that we would soon try to find this cute kitten a good home. well, my girl fell in love with that kitten,...that was about 3 months ago...

so, as you have already done the math..we have FOUR cats in our home now!!!!. i swear, if we had just one more cat,.they would all get together and form Voltron and kick my ass out of the house!.

anyways, these are my pets,.what kind of pets do you have?

[Egfu]

I have to admit I've never had a pet in my entire life. The closest thing to that would be a hamster my sister had when I was a little kid. I'm not from a poor family or anything so we could've easily afforded a pet, but none of us ever really wanted one.

I know what would be the optimal pet for me, though: a Venus flytrap! Uh, if that counts. But seriously, is there anything cooler than a carnivorous plant?

This post has been edited by Egfu: 09 May 2007 - 07:34 AM

[Sailor Abbey]

what kind of pets do you have?

6 Siberian Huskies
1 Boxer
27 Cats (mostly rescues)
1 Horse (Arab/Quarter)
1 Redtail Boa
1 Ball Python
1 Finch
2 Ringneck Doves
1 Bearded Dragon
1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula

I posted a pic of some of my kitties in the gallery.

This post has been edited by Sailor Abbey: 09 May 2007 - 10:39 AM

[Slade]

I've had anole chameleons, one kickass green iguana, a doberman who was very nice but died when I was wee, one amazing homeless dog that just wandered onto my grandmother's property whilst we were in West Virginia which we still have. We've had three cats, one was properly owned, the other two just kinda wandered onto our doorstep and we took them in, though at completely different times. I've had a cool guinea pig, a very beautiful but mean budgie (parakeet). My sister had a hamster which was killed by one of our cats, quite possibly because I left the cage open after I was playing with it. I'd forgotten about that. I was very young when it happened, but damn it, now I feel awful again.

[sesame_street_hustler]

6 Siberian Huskies
1 Boxer
27 Cats (mostly rescues)
1 Horse (Arab/Quarter)
1 Redtail Boa
1 Ball Python
1 Finch
2 Ringneck Doves
1 Bearded Dragon
1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula

......."and a partridge in a pear tree??"

[Spoon Poetic]

I feel so... sheltered... I've had one beautiful, amazingly intelligent Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) that I got when I was 8ish and he died just this last year.

...Oh, and I've uh, had some plants? Do those count? I named them and everything...

[Despondent]

Best dog in the whole wide world, a 6 yr old beagle mix named Louis. Someone called him the forum mascot at one time.
Every Day I Thank God for returning him to me after his 27 day survival adventure in NOV/DEC of 2005.

I also have a 2 yr old PB Beagle named Stuckey who is quite the scamp.

[Jane Sherwood]

Quick! Who remembers how many cats Amber Nicole had? She may have a new rival for the title of Crazy Cat Lady!

I've had five pets in my life:

Fluffy: she was a tiny little white yappy-type dog...I can't remember what kind, though, some kind of mix...I think she was put down when I was seven because she was so old. I can't remember any point in my life where she wasn't blind, deaf, or covered with fleas. Can't remember much about her at all really...

Sandy: a golden retriever; she was about the sweetest dog you could ever hope to meet. She had to be put down when I was eleven before we moved to Louisiana...she couldn't even stand up on her own by then.

Mixie: my cat. She showed up at our door when I was three and she was one, and then refused to leave. My dad tried throwing water at her (didn't work) and then tried to sick Sandy on her, but they only sat on the porch and stared at each other. We never really knew what mix of breeds she was (I called her "Mixie" because of this, and since she came to me when I said it out-loud the name stuck). I just lost her last summer...she stopped eating, started losing bladder control, and just got sicker and sicker (we found out later from a vet that her kidneys must have been shutting down). My mom let her outside one night, saying she was glad to get her out of the house because she tired of Mixie peeing all over the place...and I knew the moment she was out the door that I'd never see her again; she ran away to die that night. I loved that cat - she was my oldest and dearest friend.

And wow is this getting depressing. Let's focus on the living pets now!

(Sa)Brina: a black lab, catahoula, I-don't-know-what mix. She'll bark her head off at the slightest thump or anyone she sees within sixty feet of her territory, never hesitate to hit you up for food, and believes there's nothing more unfair than giving the cat any attention whatsoever. She's usually rather psychotic and hyper, but lately she's just been lying around the house. She’s bored out of her skull because there's absolutely nothing to do here, or she's just getting old - she'll be ten in November.

Tom: our first and only male pet with the oh-so-very-original name my mother gave him. He showed up much in the same way Mixie did...only much louder. He appeared around our porch one night and just started yowling for hours on end every night. He was just a skinny little thing so we started giving him food (which he would attack with relish), and you know what happens when you starting feed stray animals. We waited a couple of months to actually adopt him because there was a bit of confusion over whether he was a stray, or the same yellow cat that some people down the street had tried (and failed) to take in. Tom's been with us since about...2001-ish, I think. He's now quite plump, will purr long and loud over just about anything, and is extraordinarily affectionate with just about anyone he meets. AND he TALKS. All the time.

I also had two goldfish - both named Quincy for some reason - when I was twelve, but...they both committed suicide. It's hard to form an emotional bond with fish...




...This turned into a very long post.

[Chyld]

At the moment, we just have the one cat, Amy. She can often be found asleep, or sitting in my lap if I'm home. Sometimes, she sits on my shoulders as I walk around and do stuff. She's very silly. There's pictures of her doing this, you just gotta know where to look.

She was one of a litter of four that our last cat, Charlie, had. Charlie, however, decided to see what the busy road we live on is like, and the road won. Amy had three brothers. Socks (who I really liked, and who we sold right away), Fluffy (who my longest and best friend took, and who promptly died of a punctured lung), and Tiger (who we were going to keep with Amy, but decided to make like his mother). Amy tried too, but got away with a broken nose.

Years and years ago, we have a big fluffy black cat called Suzie, who also had a litter. We kept one of those two, a skinny thing called Henry, who I remember was frightened of... well... everything. But she died years ago, and he died not long after we moved into the house we live in now.

We've also had quite a few hamsters: Nermal, Scratch, Edmund, Zippy. Two died, two escaped. Not alot to say, they were cute.

Some fish too. Not much to say, like Jane said, they were just fish.

One day, I intend to own:
- A ginger Maine Coone tom cat (big, fluffy, and ginger!)
- A tortioseshell cat (my lady likes them)
- An American Curl cat (partly because of the ears, partly because I'm a big Achewood fan-nerd)
- Some dogs of various sorts. Not my thing, really, but the missus loves them.
- A Fresian stallion, who will be called Shaft if I have my way (Wiki it if you need to, you'll get the joke)
- A talking duck. With a top hat. Called Gertrude.

[looktothesky]

At my house we have two West Highland Whites (Westies) named Ernest and McDuff. They're getting kind of old, though.

I have a few cats, but they live with my grandma now (as the dog's would terrify them here), and they consist of a ginger tabby named Josie, and a calico shorthair named Tigger (aka the Pirate).

This post has been edited by looktothesky: 09 May 2007 - 06:56 PM

[Despondent]

Damn, Jane. Way to bring me down.

Ok, I'm better now.

[Sailor Abbey]

- A Fresian stallion, who will be called Shaft if I have my way (Wiki it if you need to, you'll get the joke)

Oh my god me too. I was looking into breeding them a while back but its a huge pain to find certified breeding stock. I think I'll just settle for having a few in the pasture one day. I'm going to name mine Roan Inish though.

[Sailor Abbey]

I know this isn’t about a pet, but it seemed the best place to post this:


I woke up in the middle of the night last night to this extremely high-pitched squeaking noise. As soon as I heard it, I knew what it was cause it had happened once before. I immediately started shouting to the kitties in the dark “DON’T TOUCH IT! DON’T TOUCH IT!” I turned on the light and jumped out of bed, and there, bouncing around on the floor aimlessly, was a bat.

He must have come in through the window, which is kinda creepy cause the window was only inches from my head and only opened just as much. Don’t get me wrong - I love bats, but I don’t love waking up to flapping or things crawling on my face, so I’m glad it didn’t go down that way.

I hope he’s alright. I caught him in a shirt and he was so CUTE! Then I put him outside. I just worry the cats would get him or that it might have rabies. Bats are notorious for having rabies. Now that I think of it, I should probably go check on him and make sure he made it out of the tree.

[Jane Sherwood]

(*GASP*)

BAT!

[Deepsycher]

As I am allergic to cats I had to give my last cat away. I think the cat felt devasted as for choosing my house and settling in instantly for some years. If only I could find a good way to bath them.