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List: My Pets
Jan. 29th, 2012 06:00 pmTechnically it's my Do Nothing But Read Day, but I didn't want to forget a list and have to start all over again. So... I'm doing something other than reading for a few minutes...
Day 11 List: My Pets
Day 11 List: My Pets
- Puss- She was around before I was born, and she made the trip from Papua New Guinea to the United States with us. She wasn't my favorite cat, because she wasn't cuddley and sweet. In fact, she could be mean if you were a kid and bothering her. But she wasn't a bad cat and she would even sit on your lap if she decided you were worthy :-)
- Liklik- I called him my big brother, because he used to sit on my mommy's tummy when she was pregnant with me. He wasn't the smartest tool in the shed (used to pee in his food dish) and was the runt in the litter, so my parents chose a name that means "Little One". He was 17-20lbs for most of his life though--not at all little. He was the most loveable, sweet kitty ever. Somewhat cluless at times, but always eager for some snuggling. He lived to be 20, I think. Certainly 19.
- Jessie- My parents got our first dog from the pound when I was around pre-school age. I remember being scared of her and sitting on top of the table so she couldn't get to me the first night. But then I realize she was amazing and we were good friends for the few years before she died (kidney or liver... I can't actually remember which it was). She was the smartest dog I have ever known. You only had to tell her once to do something and she'd do it. You only had to tell her once to not do something (like not go into a room that was carpeted) and she would never, ever do it. She was loyal and clever and fun-loving.
- Chris- My first hamster! He was a teddy bear hamster and so very, very cute. He loved his wheel and chew blocks especially. He was very calm and mellow and loved sitting on my shoulder or in my hand as much as running around in his cage. He was actually extremely patient and calm--the only hamster I had who would let me put a little santa hat on him for a photo. LOL
- Charlotte-I don't seem to have a photo of her on my computer/scanned in, sorry. But she looked a lot like Chris, only her brown was slightly lighter. Her favorite position was up in her nest, head hanging down into her tube as if someone might sneak up it and surprise her as she slept. She was an escape artist. Once she even escaped her cage and let Chris out of his overnight! She didn't have babies, though. We're not sure if she just didn't get pregnant that night or if chewing all the way through a lamp cord during an escape the following week was to blame. She had some disease during the last week or so of her life, which wasn't good. We actually drove her to a special vet to get her checked out, but there wasn't anything they could do for her. Poor little one.
- Kelly- A nicer golden retriever there will never be. But she was really pretty stupid and would chew holes in walls if left alone for too long. She LOVED being with people. And if she was with people, those people had to be touching her. She would come over to where you were sitting and put her heavy paw on your leg and just beam with happiness if you stroked her paw or pet her head (but especially the paw rub). She died when she was young (5 years old?) of cancer. She had one of her front legs amputated and hung on happily another 7 or 8 months after that, but then the cancer came back and we had to put her down.
- Sandy- I got Sandy from my best friends for my 8th birthday. Sandy was a sweet hamster--very active and super furry! Loved to explore the cage and all its crazy configurations. Sandy loved the hamster ball and running around my bedroom in it.
- Dusty- I acquired my friend's hamster, Dusty, when she moved to Germany. I was starting to outgrow hamsters and, I must admit (guiltily), my mom took care of Dusty whenever I was too lazy to clean the cage. I don't have a photo of him scanned in either. He looked a lot like Sandy (above) but was less golden/brown/tan and a little more gray in his fur.
- 2000 Worms- One of my high school best friends and I wanted to do a science fair project together and my uncle had a copy of Worms Eat My Garbage. Before we knew it, I had two bins of red wiggler worms (1,000 worms in each bin) in my house for 3 years. This is the only photo I have of them scanned in. We took one of the bins to an Earth Day festival and taught kids & adults about Vermicomposting.
- Maxwell- Y'all know my Maxwell Demon. He wandered into my apartment building during a thunderstorm, crying and hiding behind the door. I postered the area, but there were no takers. So I got him. He's my sweet pumpkin poodle kitty :-)
- Benji- My parents' cat (the first pet they had since losing Liklik years before). He was pretty feral (didn't know how to be petted) and he had broken his ankle/foot as a little kitten and it healed wrong. He shattered it years later and had to have surgery. Also, he's diabetic, but in remission thanks to a change in his diet *knocks wood* He demands attention, loves smelling people's breath, doesn't know when to stop playing with other cats (doesn't take HISS!!!! for an answer) and pretends to limp whenever he wants food.
- Angel- My parents' cat, acquired from a foster family. She has the loudest purr of any cat ever, loves squeezing into baskets to sleep (even when they're far too small for her; she has spacial relation problems), drools when she's happy, and is a huge attention whore. When the other cats come to you, demanding food, she comes to you demanding petting.My sister nicknamed her Beaner. She's the head of all the cats in the house.
- Butterscotch-My parents' cat, who jumped into our townhouse backyard and onto my mother's lap every time she was in the backyard gardening/sitting. Basically, he decided to come live with us. He's part maine coon so he's huge and has adorably tufted ears. He's the lowest rung on the social ladder here at the house and he never meows. He's quiet and stays out of the way all day, but he loves going out on the porch and LOVES all of the attention he gets, whenever he gets it. He really just liked coming to my mom or to me on the couch to get petted. One of the cats scratched his eye, requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation. His eye will always have a cloudy portion now, but he doesn't let it bother him.
- Sugar- My parents' cat, who was a neighborhood stray but the people feeding her refused to take her to the vet for shots/etc, so we got her. She's deaf and has some sort of tachycardia with accessory pathway, which means every so often she hunkers down and can't move for a day or two because her hair and breathing are racing out of control. During that time she usually drools and pees herself, won't eat, won't react if you pet her, and gets too warm or too hot every other second. It seems that it passes after a day or so, usually after she throws up a hairball, and then she's fine again. The medicine we give her for it makes her super sleepy sometimes, but she's one of our most active cats otherwise (especially if you have string; she is nuts for string dangling in the air). She thinks she's the head of the house and the other cats think she's brave or weird because she doesn't react to doorbells, fireworks, vacuum cleaners, etc. (she can't hear them; she's deaf). My favorite thing is when she sits on her tail.
- Simon- My parents' dog, Simon is a cairn terrier (like Toto in the Wizard of Oz, only a little bigger than Toto was; it would take a bigger picnic basket to fit him). He's a good boy, even though he looks down on me in the pecking order and growls at me when he thinks I want to steal his chewies (which I don't want to do, I assure you). He's very playful and loves a routine. Up in the morning for breakfast and walkies. Sleep until Mom gets up. Lunch biscuits at noon and walkies. Dinner at 5pm and walkies. Walk at 8, then another at 10, and then he takes his stuffed llama up to bed with him where he sleeps in his kennel soundlessly until morning. He doesn't get the concept of fetch (he's not a retriever), but he LOVES chasing things and running.
