Pet Conversations...

Ludwig Venter

Retired Moderator
Retired Moderator ⚒️
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
8,209
Reaction score
5
Location
South Africa
Have you ever noticed, that whenever you run out of conversation with total strangers, you just mention one of your past (or present) pets, how the dialogue just livens up??....(talking about the weather just dries up too soon)

Most all people have a special story (or several)about that one (or several) companion(s) which made an impact on their lives.....

I am very much an animal person and consequently have numerous tales about my experiences with the best (most loyal) friends I've ever had.... I invite you to share your brief encounters with a special comrade... Let's talk pets!

(I will chuck in one of my stories every so often)
 
Smudge & Biscuit.

She is my baby.

I have had cats all my life, and when i found out i was pregnant, everyone nagged at me and kev to get rid of our two cats, Toby and Baby. So we did, much to my extreme upset.

Then we lost our home and we had to move in with my mom. I had Mia, and suffered with severe post natal depression, and was so unhappy all the time. So Kev suggested we go and get a kitten.

We didnt have a car at the time, and so we had to get a bus, train, taxi, train and bus home! Smudge cost me £40 and travel cost around the same!

The lady we got her off said she was a stunning little mouser-to-be and will be very good! and my gosh she was right! Smudge ALWAYS brings back "presents" that she is very reluctant to give up!

the RSPCA hate me in the summer as i'm always ringing as she has brought back ANOTHER baby bird!

but she is my saviour. She made me feel so happy, if i felt sad, i would fuss her, and she would purr, and i would twist her ears between my fingers like i was curling hair. when she was little, she used to suckle her paw as if she was suckilng her mom! it drives kev nuts as he hates the sound!

She has been with us for 3 years, and she did have a "brother" that we got for her, called Biscuit as he was a ginger nut! Biscuit used to attack my hands when they hung over the bed, and he then would sleep at our feet.

Biscuit was very close to Mia. He used to climb in her pushchair with her!

Sadly, in our last house, he was ran over, and hadn't long been hit by the car. Kev and I had got home from looking at adopting a third cat, and Biscuit wasn't in the house, which was very unusual (theyre usually in through the catflap)so i went out calling, but i had a very nasty feeling. i looked by our back wall, and he was lying there, still warm, by the gap he went home through. i was devestated, and i sobbed my heart out as we took him to the vets.

we had Biscuit cremated, and still have his ashes pride of place on our mantle.

Smudge however, pined for him. took ages for her to be happy again. they used to sleep together in the washing basket, bath, anywhere.

Since Biscuit, Smudge has never been a sociable cat with other feline friends. But, she is still my saviour.

if you poke her when she sleeps, she will furble, and look at you purring. i still love to twist her ears, and play with her trousers!

Even though Smudge is only 3, she has arthritis in her back legs as she was a jumper! She used to jump out of top windows, and my mom's balcony! due to this, she has constant stiffness, and suffers alot with water infections too. For some reason her fur goes tatty if she doesnt get kitten biscuits, and loses weight, but the vet says she may just need a high protein diet, which is fine from kitten biscuits.

to this day, i HATE letting my cats out, especially Smudge. I now live on a main road, so only let them out at night when the roads are quieter. But Smudge plays chicken with cars. She literally stands in the middle of the road, amking cars stop or go round her! i stand there panicking, pacing and cursing!

anyway, my little lady herself, Smudge

DSC_0418.jpg


DSC_0416.jpg


DSC_0955.jpg


DSC_0956.jpg


DSC_0952.jpg


i dont have any pics of biscuit, as theyre all printed in a photoalbum. if i can find them, i'll scan them in

i do have others; but will give people a chance to show theirs!
 
Oh dear Ludwig, you've asked for it now! I can talk for hours about my cats much to the dismay of anyone listening.
laugh.gif


I'll just start with a brief introduction.

This is Dinah
Dinahclose.jpg


He's my buddy, follows me all over the house, comes when he's called and will let me carry him upside down, sideways, anyway I like really as long as I'm holding him.

He's 9 now, I've had him since he was 5 weeks old. My grandmother's neighbors came home with two 4 week old kittens. Their mom wasn't interested in them so tossed them outside, they were being fed dog food and rarely got water. The kids (with no guidance from their parents) abused the poor kittens, throwing them into the busy street to see if they could make it back and even broke one kitten's tail (Dinah). My grandmother was afraid to call animal control because she thought the neighbors would find out. A week after the kitties arrived my Mom and I went over to see my grandmother, when she told us about the kittens Mom and I decided we had to do something about it. So, after it got dark we went over and called the kitties til they came to us and took them home. We already had two cats so Mom decided we'd take them to the vet, make sure they were healthy and then take them to the animal shelter. Since we got them on the weekend, we had a couple days with them before taking them to the vet. One was jet black and the other was a gray tabby. I immeadiately bonded with them and talked my mom into at least letting me name them, of course with the agreement that I wouldn't be keeping them. Mom and I had a brief argument over what sex they were, with her declaring they were both girls. I decided to name the tabby Tigger and the black one Dinah after Alice's cat in Alice in Wonderland. On Monday, we took them to the vet to discover they were both boys.
laugh.gif
Dinah was already responding to his name, so I decided to keep calling him that, it's not like we were going to keep them, right?! The poor guys were so covered with fleas they were anemic and were severely underweight. Tigger was bigger at 2.5 lbs and Dinah only weighed in at 2 along with his broken tail(he's still a petite little guy). So, we kept them for a couple of weeks and fattened them up and Dinah's tail healed. After they were healthy, we dropped them off at the animal shelter and I cried. I finally managed to convince my Mom that we had to go get them a couple of days before they would have been euthanized.

So fast forward 3 years, we had lost the two older cats (one to diabetes and one to old age), one of Mom's friends had a cat that just had a litter so Mom asked me if I'd like one. Well of course I did, I picked the runt of the litter with the scrappy little attitude, who has grown to be the biggest of the bunch. He's on a diet now, but I think he's about 17lbs, the vet says he should weigh around 15 so he's still a big boy. So, here's my Bailey.

BaileyBig.jpg


He's pure cat, only wants attention when he's hungry and is obsessed with hair bands. He's a good boy though and I enjoy everytime he lets me pet him.

I moved out of Mom's house 4 years ago taking Bailey and Dinah with me. Mom kept Tigger (as he got older he became intolerant of other male cats) and she got a female kitty of her own. Sadly Mom died last January, before she died she asked me to take Tigger and China Blue (the female cat), but unfortunately my apartment only allowed two pets. So, China went to a friend of Mom's (the same one I got Bailey from) and Tigger went to Mom's boyfriend. As far as I know they are both happy and well adjusted.

And, as some of you know, I recently moved from Kansas to Wyoming, 9 hours on the road was SO much fun with two cats.
wacko.gif
We're all happy in the new house though, all that extra room, I rarely see Bailey unless he's hungry or lonely, Dinah I couldn't lose if I tried. ha ha

Well, I did warn you, I only intended to introduce the cats and here I've written a dissertation.

So I'll end with a pic of the two of them, if you look closely at their paws and heads you'll notice the size difference. All the pics are over a year old, so I'll try to get some new ones and post them at some point. -Dawn
0430pair.jpg
 
Even though Smudge is only 3, she has arthritis in her back legs as she was

My current dog, Meghan is just 8 yrs old, but very "bow legged" because of arthritis.... We try to as much as possible encourage her ("it" - spayed) to walk little distances (talking about the length of the room)to get that bit of excercise, but the 6m walk could take up to 3 minutes.

In my SPCA days, we used to recommend that people make a decision about the future of the animal when it gets to this stage, & now, being confronted with it "head on", I am sorry, there is just no ways...

My daughter, a vet, operated on the one leg to see if she could fix it (operation costing R8000... which is around 670BP) to no avail....

To get her weight off the front legs, (which is worst affected) she has taught herself to sit upright as below..... I really feel sorry for her and she is so loyal...The main objective in her life being to wait for me to come home from work every day....

Latest002.jpg


Latest003-1.jpg


BTW..If you want to know what breed she is :lol: I think the mother was Maltese Poodle, and the father came from a good neighberhood..... At the SPCA, we used to call them NDS dogs... (Non descript)
 
oh bless her!

intelligent little thing!

but, to me she looks happy. and you have to weigh up, is she happy, is she in TOO much pain, is her life worth it?

and to me she looks like she DESERVES a chance as she looks happy.
 
0430pair.jpg


i used to have a cat like him Dawn, he was a plain black long haired cat. I am struggling to source any pics of him, and I am hoping I haven't lost them :(

as it goes, when Biscuit passed away, Smudge was so upset (as was I too) we decided to try and get her a friend. We found a couple selling a litter of kittens just round the corner from us. He was such a cute bundle of fluff, he was literally a ball of black fluff with 2 ears and a tail in the air!

He was your typical kitten, running round, getting under your feet....and what do black cats like to do..? sleep on black washing.... poor little man got stood on by Kev.. right on his head :-(

Lewis suffered a fit, a really bad one too. when he finally stopped fitting, he was just panting, barely able to and on near death, so i blew in his mouth a couple of times, very gently and from a distance so as not to burst his lungs, and we called a taxi and hurried to the vet.

we had to leave him with the vet, and we were told we would have to wait and see how the day went as to whether he would survive.

by the end of the day, he was getting better, had been on a drip and everything all day to stop further swelling to his brain, but we couldnt afford for him to stay in over night, so the vet said he would be ok to come home, with regular check ups with the vet.

at first when i went to get lewis i was so upset and terrified, but very happy too. he was alive, but blind. he could only go round in circles and that was it.

i took him home, and i cared for him all day and night. i would cuddle him like a baby (bearing in mind he was still only around 5 or 6 weeks old), ensure he went to the loo and ate food.

at night though, as he couldnt see, i had to put him in the massive indoor rabbit cage. he had room to sleep and go the loo but not escape to hurt himself. he would spend the night screaming so ended up on the bed with us til he fell asleep :rolleyes:

the next morning, i looked at him in the cage, and his head followed me! he was getting his sight back! i was SOOOO happy it was undescribable!

Lewis made a quick recovery, and was soon back to being a kitten, just a kittle bit slower (seemed some permanent damage but not major was done). he was soon sat on the table attacking the dice as we played yahtzee!

when we moved to where we are now though, next door had a female cat, and Lewis would go out and play with her.

one night, around may 2008, he escaped (out of a landing window) and he never came home :-(

ALL my cats are microchipped, so i let them know, but to this day i refuse to tell them he's dead, as i dont think he is. there is a black fluffy and tatty cat that sometimes comes into my garden. my cats dont give chase, and smudge especially is very terratorial, yet she leaves him alone.

i have tried to see if i can get him, but he is scared of people. my vet has said they'll scan him if i can catch him!

i swear its him though, as Lewis had a black coat, but a very unusual brown lining, and this tatty black cat has bundles of brown fur sticking out...

we wonder if he has been hit with a car and lost his already fragile memory. its a shame as i miss him, and i adored him, he used to sleep in a cat bed, but his bum would be in, and he'd been stretched out and his head across the floor
 
ok... me again it would seem!

i got Bella for kev after Lewis turned out to be mine.... by Lewis' wise choice! bella was such a cute ball of fluff, she has this little triangle/christmas tree white patch on her back!

DSC_0337.jpg


DSC_0333.jpg


DSC_0336.jpg


she was very good for Lewis, and Mia (my daughter) adored her too, would play with her for ages. Smudge was not amused!

i'd had Bella just about a year when i found she was pregnant. It wasnt planned, as i was going to get her neutered (had voucher ready). I was distracted as i was pregnant myself.

in March 08 we moved to where we live now, and Bella was still pregnant. when Bella was about due, i took her to the vet (she had regular checks to ensure all was ok) the vet told me she was close. so i made her a nest behind the sofa away from other cats and kids. i couldnt put her upstairs as she always wanted to be with the family. but she never went in there! she would splay across the floor (no carpet as we needed the whole floor ripping out due to dry rot) to have a cool! she was huge bless her!

she was so big, she would scooch across my floors as she couldnt clean herself after the loo - much to my disamusement!! :crazy:

but, on may 18, 2008, around 5pm, i heard growling coming from behind the sofa, and i thought Lewis was tormenting Bella again! I went behind the sofa and saw Bella looking rather petrified, and i could see she was having contractions. as she was so scared, i tried to fuss her, and she climbed into my arms, lying on her back. as a contrraction came, she would attack me growling (i know not nastily - had babies myself!) and scratching, but when i went to move, she would climb back in my arms.

in the end, i decided to take her upstairs as she was so scared, and it was busy in my house due to time of day. upstairs my sister came with me to help her, and she eventually gave birth to tigger, bum first, so we were lucky. Bella was so scared, and ried to run off with the baby attached to her, i managed to catch her and calm her into a bed i'd made, and she eventually did what she needed to. then came four more babies, baby bella, rufus, georgina and finally Misty.

the night they were born (Bella stayed in our bedroom)

DSC00450.jpg


Tigger, the biggest baby (note the shaved belly as we tried to have a scan!)

DSC00456.jpg


DSC00457.jpg


DSC00458.jpg


and a bit older;

DSC00476.jpg


we sold the kittens for £70 each, but they had FULL vet checks when born, 2 week old, and 6 week old, full wormers 2,4 & 6 weeks, flead and cared for. they all had mild cat flu as a baby as Bella is a carrier, so antibiotics, and were packed off with food, litter, tray, toys, 4 weeks insurance

we kept tigger, so called due to his white tipped ears!

after being flea treated;

DSC00485.jpg


DSC00489.jpg


with simba;

DSC00659.jpg


and christmas 08,

DSC_0110.jpg


tiggs is quite fat, as smudge has to have kitten biscuits which he keeps nicking! so we're trying him on a diet!
 
with simba;

DSC00659.jpg


and christmas 08,

DSC_0110.jpg


tiggs is quite fat, as smudge has to have kitten biscuits which he keeps nicking! so we're trying him on a diet!

There is quite some nominatable photos in here & it is difficult to make up my mind, so, I'm going to nominate the pic "with Simba" and also the last one "Christmas 08" for the POTM November... If I/you get a second, please remember to move the photos plus a link to this topic to the November POTM pinned thread.
 
Lush pics of everyones animals :good:

I will second Haych with the gorgeous kittys for nov POTM :good:
 
added some pics of Bella now, so you can see her patch!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Simba

we got Simba in September 2008, as a teeny squishy 7 week old pup, but we chose him when he was just 2 weeks old!

when we chose him (this is why he got called a Simba pup - he looked like a lion cub);

DSC00584.jpg


when we got him;

DSC00648.jpg


he was a good pup. learnt fast, a typical labrador. was great friends with Tiggs;

when tiggs was bigger than Simba (same pic i know)

DSC00659.jpg


DSC_00462.jpg


we decided that Simba was bored (couldnt keep him happy enough, always wanted attention no matter how much he had), so we decided to get him a buddy. we found someone needing to rehome their ***** labrador, so we decided to take her on, her name was Ebony. but oh my she put Simba to shame on the obedience part!

Unfortunately, the family we had her off wanted her back as they missed her, but i asked kev not to take her straight away as it would hurt our kids. but kev took her behind my back, and i sobbed for days, wouldnt speak to kev.

i know we only had her one day, but she was so sweet, well behaved and Simba adored her too.

due to this, i dont think he forgave kev either. he was totally miserable.

so we decided to get a second puppy (after hard long discussions), Leo. (no pics wasnt around long enough).

He was a vicious little so-and-so. he would growl, snarl, and attack anyone who upset him. we were told that this would be sorted if i persavered by the RSPCA.

i did try, but when he attacked my 1yr old baby, he was gone. i rehomed him to someone who KNEW what he was like, with no kids!

But Simba changed. He would not listen, walk right, started weeing in the house again. he caused endless rows between kev and me, and then he growled at Mia over a dentastick. he was also rehomed. the couple who took Leo took him for us. He is happy now too, he gets all the attention he needs, and is spoilt!

i miss him still though. he was a big part of our family.

DSC_0409.jpg


DSC_0039.jpg


DSC_0040.jpg


DSC_0049.jpg


DSC_0050.jpg


DSC_0019.jpg


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

still one more to go - but will leave it for a few days as i'm the only one spamming this section :rolleyes:
 
Bit about my family pets,

I have chalky and daisy both white cockatiels,both 20 years old,will get a pic before long,

Snowy is my last remaining cat of 3,he's 14 years old,about 2 years ago he was very poorly,being a white cat,his paws,nose,mouth,ears,well every pink bits of him went yellow,anyway after being on a drip for a week,the vet diagnosed him has being anemic(sp?),he now how to have 2 steroid pills every other day to keep him alive.
Because he likes to wander we can't let him out anymore has he relies on his drugs to keep him going.
Here he is enjoying the sun a few months ago with me supervising to make sure he didn't go awol.. :rolleyes:



And this is my mad border collie abby :)
She'll be 4 in Jan next year,we've had her since she was 8 weeks old.Very intelligent when she wants to be,its her barking at everything that lets her down :rolleyes:
She's got numerous different coloured rubber balls,which all got names by the colour :lol: ,now all these balls are identical in size and shape,but i can say to her 'get me the red ball' and she will go off and retrive it,same with the yellow,green,blue,purple and the pretty ball ha ha!! How she knows the difference i dunno :unsure: :lol:
The amusing thing about her is the way she listens to what you're saying and cocks her head from side to side,one of these days it will drop off :lol:



She loves the snow,and did have it all over her nose before i took this pic

 
“I invite you to share your brief encounters with a special comrade... Let's talk pets!”

Thankfully you stated brief; I’ve had small terriers around my whole life, and could go on for pages. This is about a brief as it gets.

Easter Sunday, 2008, early afternoon, we are all lounging around after having consumed a huge amount of ham, sausage, and all the side dished you would expect with Easter dinner. This includes my Australian Terrier Kazimer, who was just shy of one year old;

kazyardpics027ck2.png


There is a sudden frantic banging at the front door; it’s my neighbor. She’s asking if Kaz is in the house, either him or a dog just like him is running down the block. Kaz isn’t barking at the door, his dinner is a priority. So I go out there, see this little dog down the block, and the chase is on. Boy, could this little dog run! Boy, did I eat a lot! It was a good ¾ mile chase around the neighborhood until I finally cornered this little one in a fenced in yard. Snarly little thing, tossed my shirt over him & picked him up. We both caught our breath for a minute, and I let him poke his head out, he was calmer then. Collar, no tags, seemed to be mostly Yorkie. My wife caught up, we brought him home;

zkbd015cl5.png


At a distance, same dog! He was cold, tired, and was happy to curl up someplace warm. We took a picture with the digicam, my wife went around the neighborhood asking, nobody recognized him. Called the police non-emergency number, nobody called with a lost dog. We left our number, we’ll keep the little guy here, feel free to have the owner call us. It’s getting later, the two guys are getting along just fine, we’re trying to figure how long to keep him before we decide he is a permanent resident & bring him to our vet for the usually shots & such. No way this little one is going to the shelter; he might weigh 5 pounds, well behaved & housebroken, I ran too hard after eating too much to bring this dog to the shelter. I always find several reasons not to bring a dog to the shelter. Called him Junior for the time being, not knowing his name.

My wife took the next day off work, called various vets asking if someone lost a dog, put up fliers, the usual routine. Around noon the police call, someone seems to have lost a dog just like that, just making sure it’s OK to give out our number.

The owner calls, describes the dog, the collar down to the cute little bone & star decorations, pretty obvious it’s the owner. Little dog’s name is Rex. Big tough name for such a sweet little dog! She comes by, my wife answers the door while my daughter is in the kitchen with Rex. Upon hearing his owner’s voice the little guy went nuts, happy reunion, the guys had a nice little sleepover. As you said Ludwig, just a brief encounter.

So, my wife & I both are thinking, but not saying the same thing; Kaz sure could use a buddy. This went on for a couple of months, until we had one of our regular e-mails with the breeder we got Kaz from. Yea, Kaz needs a live in buddy, he loves the homemade neighborhood dog park play we regularly have in our yard, Rex was a real nice experience, let’s do it.

After another 5 hour drive to the breeder we come home with Gus;

newpup703080461nt8.jpg


Kaz is pretty protective of Gus;

newpup703080691rq1.jpg


He’s pretty tolerant of puppy behavior;

newpup708080011rc7.jpg


But also knows when to tell a pup enough is enough;

newpup708080091zz9.jpg


Gus has always been a bit more mischievous than Kaz;

newpup70808033bvi2.jpg


But they have always gotten along great;

newpup70808032bsw2.jpg


A year later they are best friends;

213090042.jpg


It is always worth trying to help a stray animal, I’ve been doing it for years. I have a leash & collar in my truck, have chased countless neighborhood dogs, and never had to bring a single one to animal welfare. Little Rex was different though, added a family member while going back to his home.

We won’t get into the time I saved an American Bittern from city traffic, or when much younger I spent the rent money on a Yorkie & nearly starved for a month. I could go on for pages!
 
newpup70808033bvi2.jpg


that actually made me laugh!

POTM vote!

its nice that you do try and care.

i once found a cat had been ran over (and killed) on the road behind our house, so i wrapped it up and took it home. i called the RSPCA who said as it had already passed away I had to call the Council to ask them to take it. i hated doing this, but i couldnt leave it in my garden.

i did put notices up, the council collected the cat. someone eventually called, and i told them (as gently as i could) that they poor guy has been hit. i explained that the council had to take him. i explained that i wanted them to know, as i hate ot when you dont know if the cats going to return etc. they were grateful but hurt obviously.

but, imo, if they had him chipped, the council have the animals scanned and you can be told that way. all my pets are chipped
 
That was the second morning in a row he did the gate trick, the day before my wife was frantic. Slide him up, bend the wooden dowels a bit, he pops out.

The second morning she wasn't as frantic, I took my time getting him out, got the camera, let him walk back & forth grumbling for about 10 minutes. Quick learner, he never did it again after we let him toddle back & forth while we sat & had a cup of coffee.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top