I want to start by saying thank you, so very much for all the really kind, awesome, and encouraging comments. I've ALWAYS wanted to write, but always have been shy about it. I was actually a little nervous, starting this blog thinking no one would like it. But, you guys have been amazing, and I want you to know how much I do appreciate you.
I thought I'd take today to introduce you to my pets. I'm going to try to include some pictures, hopefully it'll work. I've had many animals over the years, hamsters (Satan's creatures, I swear. I've only met one nice hamster in my life. There's a special spot in hell especially for dwarf hamsters, those mean little bastards.), gerbils, Guinea pigs, rabbits (I had an AMAZING rabbit named Bazzle, he used to sleep with me, seriously, you've never met a more friendly guy then him. Unfortunately, I decided to get him a friend, a mean little SOB named Fonzie. He looked like a dust bunny, fat ahttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=158340105994848507nd gray, and would bite you every chance he got.), mice (one of them ate the others head, and I'm convinced gave me the plague) a rat (seriously, best pet ever. If your kids want a rodent, I would say rat all the way. They're clean, they're sweet, and they're SUPER smart. Plus, your kids can actually hold the. Gerbils are nice, but they're SUPER fast. I would say stick with a girl rat though. Male rats get rather large... Uh, testicles, which can be a little... Gross.), fish, frogs, cats, dogs... And each one of them were special to me in some way, shape, or form (with the exception of most of the hamsters.) I could go on and on about them, but I'm sure that would get old, so I've decided to tell you about just a few.
I got Bubba as a consolation prize for not getting a dog. He looks like Garfield, and I believe acted very much like Garfield. He liked to eat, sleep, and be a huge pain in the butt. Still, I loved him. He's the orange guy in the picture, the black and white cat behind him is Allie. We got her to keep him company while I was at camp and Mom was at work. He hated her, and they kind of had the same relationship as Garfield and Nermal. Bubba passed away quite suddenly a few months before I lost Tater, and it was extremely hard. We're not quite sure what happened. He wasn't in that great of shape when we got him (I did buy him from a pet store, which I don't normally condone, but you should have seen him! He was definately in need of being rescued!) We ended up getting him de-clawed, which I honestly believe brought on his early death, and refuse to do it to anymore cats. He was never the same after we did it, and I regret that decision till this day. I had to leave Bubba and Allie behind with my Mom when I moved out to a place that didn't allow animals. When I did get an apartment that allowed them, my Mom was super attached to them, and wouldn't let them go. I decided it was finally time to get a dog.
(sorry it's not a great photo, it was taken with a camera phone, but in the background you might be able to see the broken blinds. Tater did this so he could watch for me when I came home.)
I pretty much already told the story of how Tater came to be. In the few months I was blessed enough to have him in my life, he was truly my best friend. I meant it whole-heatedly when I said he was my soul mate. And while some people might think I'm pathetic, I also meant it when I said that nobody has ever loved me like that dog did, and that includes my husband and my son. Dogs just love you with such an unconditional love. It seems to me that most dogs, even when you kick them, will get right back up and shower you with kisses (not that I make a habit of dog kicking, or anything like that.) Cats are great too, and I love my cats very much, but cats and dogs are two VERY different creatures, with two VERY different ways of loving you. The hardest thing I've ever done in my life was walking through the front door and facing the fact that he was gone. After an animal's death, your house feels so empty and lonely in a way that I can't describe, but I'm sure anyone who's lost a pet knows exactly what I'm talking about.
I knew I wanted another dog, but I waited. As I said in my blog, parvo can live for a really long time (I believe it's at least a year.) So, I didn't want to chance that again. When I moved, I moved back to a place where I was not allowed to have pets. Which is when I got my rat, Nicodemouse (yes, I meant to spell it like that!) Or Nikki to my after school group.
(excuse my stupid face in this one, for some reason I ALWAYS pucker my lips in pictures.)
Nikki was the best rodent pet I ever had, and really high up on the rank of best pet ever. She was sweet, smart, and was GREAT with the kids at work. She never tried to escape (but often got out of her cage to hang out on the "roof" so to speak.), and the worst she ever did to any of my kids was poop on them. She died about a year after I got her, but I still recommend rats to ANYONE whose child wants a pet of their own. I know they get a bad rep, but I for one thought Nikki was gorgeous.
I then moved in with my husband (he wasn't my husband at the time, but he is now.) And inherited three cats, Lucy, Ethel, and Kahlua:
Lucy and Ethel came from Arizona where my husband and his ex-wife adopted them. Kahlua he got from a co-worker, who wanted a cat, but her Mom made her keep Kahlua locked up in a tiny cat-carrier whenever she wasn't home (which was all the time.) The girl was complaining that Kahlua was crazy whenever they let her out of the cage (can you blame her?) So, she ended up with him. We recently found Kahlua a new home though, so we no longer have her. Ethel is the sweetest girl ever, and loves to head butt, and Lucy is like not owning a cat at all, since I hardly ever see her. Recently she's been coming up on the bed for cuddles or to get brushed, but she's still pretty shy.
Still, cats are not dogs. I wanted a dog. My husband FINALLY agreed, and I set forth to find one. I knew I wanted part boxer, since that's what the first Tater was, but my husband put a weight limit on it, it had to be a small dog. I thought I never would find anything mixed with a boxer, but then I did. In a shelter in Zanesville. She was so ugly in her shelter photo, but I just knew, she was the one. I was working at camp at the time, and my husband was trying to make arrangements to be able to meet her. He told me that she had been adopted, and I cried. Then, he showed up at camp with her, surprising me. He said he knew on sight that I would love her, and he heard another person was supposed to come look at her, so he drove all the way out there to get her for me.
We named her Tater Tot. Tater turned out to be REALLY sick when we got her, 500 dollars later, I found out she had a whole slew of contagious things, which worried me since a.) she was supposed to be vet checked and OK to go and b.) My husband had told me she had been the "shelter dog" so to speak, and allowed to roam around the shelter. So, who knows how many other animals she infected? We called the shelter to let them know, but they didn't care, and tried to turn it onto us. They were really very rude, and it ended up leaving a really bad taste in my mouth. Upon further investigation, I found this shelter did horrible things all the time. I heard stories from people that adopted their about how their dogs had all sorts of things, and one lady even spoke about how they insisted having their vet check her dog out, and then put it down without even telling her (they told her the dog had an untreatable disease. But her original vet had told her that while the dog DID have a condition, it was treatable.) I know what you're thinking: Of course dogs in shelters pass things onto each other all the time. They're a lot of stray dogs in shelters, which can carry a lot of things. But I didn't feel like a.) they shouldn't have told me that Tater had been vet checked and was clear to go. Because she hadn't been. Any vet that saw the dog would have known instantly that she was underweight and had worms. Yet we hadn't been warned about this at all. And b.) I felt they should have been a lot more concerned when we called to let them know what she had. Instead, they turned defensive, which made me wonder what else was going on. But, I digress. Tater is A LOT healthier now, and is my baby. She's annoying, lol, an attention whore, but I love her to death. She burrows under the blankets with me, cuddles with me, and is EXCELLENT with my son. They're best friends. She was listed at the shelter as a boxer/chihuahua mix, which is just crazy to imagine. She does have her chihuahua features (especially when her ears stand up.) We get asked all the time if she's a boxer puppy, a pitbull puppy, a boston terrier mix. We honestly have no idea, and call her our little hybrid.
Next came Louie. We got Louie as a playmate for Tater. He was a great dog (a pekingese) who was a very sweet boy. We unfortunately had to rehome him recently, as he didn't take to my son as well as we had hoped. I spent MONTHS while pregnant reading up on how to help the dogs adjust to the baby, and they both did well at first. But, my son started crawling and I guess Louie felt more threatened by it, and started snapping at him. We were lucky enough to have a neighbor take him in.
We've had countless numbers of other foster dogs. The one who sticks out in my mind the most was Buddy, the beagle who would only poop in what I called crop circles at the top of the stairs. We've also had our fair share of cats. One kitten we found was so sick we had to give her over to a shelter. There was Lt Dan (pictured below with my friend Jessica, who he now lives with) who we bottle fed after his Mother died.
And Po (short for Potato, we named her Potato to go along with Tater, because when we first got her, she was obsessed with Tater.) We got Po along with a litter of kittens from a family across the street who were basically just going to let the cats go. We were able to find them all homes, even Po. But, Po got a nasty eye infection (you might be able to tell by the picture) and we kept her while it cleared up. The potential adopters lost interest, and so she just sort of stayed. We're still looking for a home for her, but if she stays forever, it's not big deal. She's a quiet one, like Lucy, and we hardly see her.
We've added three other additions lately. For my sons first birthday, we decided he needed a pet of his "own". Daddy wanted a reptile, and Mommy wanted something easy to take care of, so we ended up with these little guys:
The quality is kind of crappy, again, it's a camera phone, but they're african clawed dwarf frogs named Bob and Barker (my son has a thing for the Price is Right, I'm sure we'll touch on that later.) African Dwarfs are another pet I would recommend, ESPECIALLY for teachers. These little guys are SUPER easy to take care of. We do have to feed them gross blood worms, but we basically clean their cages once a month (it's important though, to de-chlorinate your water, either by using drops or letting the water sit out for 24 hours.), feed them every couple of days (they could last the weekend without being fed,) and that's about it. They're a little sensitive to the cold, but other than that I've read they're pretty hardy, and ours seem to be holding up.
The next addition is a puppy we're fostering named Bones. We were considering keeping him, since we had to get rid of Louie, but having a toddler and a puppy is WAY too much work for me. My son looks like he's playing nice in the picture below, but trust me, it's a rare moment. The puppy also views my son as another puppy, especially when he's crawling, so the puppy gets stepped on and yanked on, and Cayden gets jumped on and nipped at. We have a home visit Thursday, so wish us luck!
Last, but certainly not least, is my son, who we call a nearly hairless albino monkey. (OK, so he's not a pet, but I love my son and think he's gorgeous, so I'll use any chance I have to show off pictures!)
Just a few words on pets... The only creature I honestly really can't stand is birds. I know, birds can be really smart, and I've heard a lot of wonderful, amazing stories about them but... It's just been my experience that birds are assholes. They honestly creep me out. If I were on my desk top, I would post a hilarious video shot of my husband when we were at the Newport Aquarium. He was feeding the Lorikeets from this little cup of nectar, and he and one of the birds started playing tug of war with the cup. The bird won, and my husband reached to take it back, and the bird bit him! My husband did get the cup back though. I just don't like birds. I'm not a fan of snakes or spiders, but birds REALLY give me the heebie-jeebies.
I'm also totally against any breed bans. Here in Ohio they're currently proposing a pit bull ban, and I am totally against it. I love pit bulls, and can't wait until the day I can own one. They are beautiful creatures with a horrible reputation. ANY dog can be made into a dangerous weapon if that is what it's trained to be. It's not the dogs fault, but the uneducated or cruel owner. Pit bulls ARE very strong dogs, so they do tend to do more damage. But honestly, I think more people are bit by small breed dogs than any other. And nobody is proposing to ban them. I encourage you all to join the ASPCA. Even if you don't have the money to be an actual member, they do have a free membership and you can also sign up to get emergency alerts, and you could possibly help if something like a breed ban is proposed in your area.
Please, feel free to talk about your pets, past, present, and future. I'd like to hear about them! And if you have any questions about anything pet related (information on an animal, questions about fostering, what pet would I recommend) feel free to ask in the comments or email me! And, if you hate pets, feel free to voice that as well, though I don't think we have any pet haters on this blog.
10 comments:
I agree with you about Pitt Bulls. I had one (I lost him in the breakup), Bergie was black and white and gorgeous. He was super intelligent and temperamental and very very sweet. He was 90+ lbs and always thought he was a lap dog, he had no sense of personal space(I say was, but he's still alive).
If I ever get a dog again, that's what it will be. Those dogs LOVE people to death.
I was once "attacked" by a pitbull, I put attacked in parenthsis for a reason, the dern dog smelled a cupcake wrapper in my purse, next thing I know she was in my lap (and she was a good size dog) licking my face and trying to get into my purse. Yea, real mean dog there.. I also have a neighbor in another building in my apartment complex had a pitbull pup. Apparently people in his building where complaining about her being a pit bull and I think he may have gotten rid of her as I haven't seen him walking her. She was so adorable with a pink harness and pink leash (and a guy walking her at that) So I've also had many pets throughout my life. the ones I remember most. A pure black German Sheppard who was poisened in our back yard when I was little. He died and then we got another black german sheppard, Sheila. I grew up with her, I think I was 18 when she died. She was like my sister. Then the 2 cats I grew up with. Missy and Tiger. Nobody loved Tiger but me, he was a bit of a pain, well my sister gave him to me when he was really tiny, he could eat on his own, but all his life he's suckle on blankets and such. He also had tape worms and even though he was treated he was just hungry all the time and would take food from the table if you turned your back. Missy was a sweet cat and grew to be a rip old age (Tiger got hit by a car). With my first husband I had 2 cats, shorty and Sissy. Sissy was really sweet and had a litter of kittens, she was unknowenly pregnant when we got her. Shorty was my baby. Another rather difficult cat. But so sweet. They both died of old age. Then there was Snowflake, an eskimo spitz we had for ll years (this with my current hubby) we were renting a house, and when alot of work needed to be done and the landlord didn't want to put the money into the house we had to move. We had to give Snowflake away which killed me but we found him a great home with some friends. He developed lung cancer and had to be put down. When we found another place that allowed pets we got Faithe, a chiuawa (sp?) mix who was so hyper and crazy but smart and loving. When my hubby lost his job and once again we had to move, we gave Faithe to another friend. He got tired of her and gave her to a neighbor (by then we had an affordable apartment where we were allowed pets I kept telling Rob we'd take her back) When Faithe peed on her new owners bed they got rid of her. I've heard different stories on what went on, Rob said they gave her to the Humane Society, but my hubby let slip that she was dropped off on a farm Whichever it makes me sick to think of what happened to her. Especially when I kept saying i'd take her back. So now we have a lizard, my daughters, named Tigger. Tigger is kind of wild so not much fun. Then she had to have a fish a beta named Sharkbait. And in January my hubby rescued a beagle pup from some people who didn't want her. So we have another dog and she is the most loving dog I've ever seen. She loves to be hugged and cuddled. But she's young and can be a real pain sometimes, as any pup can. She has a new game where she grabs something such as the TV remote and wants you to chase her. And you have to chase her to get it back. This morning she grabbed my husband's money off of the coffee table. Of course she listens to him when he tells her to drop it. Anyhoo I've talked enough.
Where to begin.....like you I have had a huge amount of animals growing up from rats, Socks was a wonderful little man who loved pop-rocks!(yes, the male rats are a bit gross)-to horses. I am a huge animal lover and even though I have thought about fostering them I know that I wouldn't be able to do so, I would fall in love and keep them all. So I will stick to current ones even though the family of german shepherds and the family of black cats (3 of each) that I grew up with will hold a special place always.
I say current but I have to include Mystery, a wonderful cat who we found without his eyes and ears even open yet that I had for 17 puuuurrrrfect years. We had no idea how he managed to get into our yard, hence the name Mystery. And Shay, my clip art picture. I was blessed with her for 11 short years until I just had to put her down 3 months ago from cancer. I have to say that even though deep in my heart I know it was the right thing to do for her, putting one down I hope to never have to do again. I do however still have Boots, who just happens to be a small version of Shay as far as coloring goes. People thought he was her puppy. Shay was a golden mix that we got from the humane society and Boots is a pom mix that a friend gave to me. I also have 2 cats, Whiskers who loves to tear up my cloths making biscuits and Peaches. I guess I also need to include my daughters' hermit crabs. I also had them growing up but didn't know why they keep disappearing on me until one day I was cleaning under my parents bed and found all the little shells...apparently cats like them and since there was no lid on the cage either Buttons, Poco or Puddy decided to have a snack!
Well thanks for sharing your animals and letting us share ours. On the pit bulls, I have known poodles that are meaner!!
Hi, Love the pictures. As i write this my mini schnauzer is getting his face ripped off by my cat! ;) in other words he is learning not to get in her space or bite her tail. I have 3 "babies" cleo my b/w cat is 3, skittles my grey and white cat is 2 and max my doggie is 1, incase you haven't noticed every fall i want to have a people baby and we get a pet instead. LOL that is changing this fall as we have no more room, 2 kids, 2 cats and one dog is enough for a mini house!
I loved hearing about all your animals, i always thought i was a doggie person but i have to admit the cats crack me up too. So i guess i'm a cadog person!
Loved the post too! I'm kinda sad, because I moved to Japan and had to leave my 3 year old German Shepherd behind. I was gonna go get her, but I left her with my parents and they have fallen in love with her, so there she shall stay at least for the next 4 years til I get back to the states!
I'm new to your blog, but can't wait to read more!
Right now I have two dogs. One is a american eskimo named Riley. My husband and I got her from a family who got her on a whim from the internet. They ended up not taking good care of her and leaving her in a cage in a closet for most of the day. When we got her she a lot of issues that thankful we have been able to work through. Our second dog is a pembroke welsh corgi named Butters. I had wanted a corgi for years and finally was able to get one a year ago and thankfully Butters is everything I had hoped a corgi would be.
I always want to say that I am 100% against any breed ban. I do love pit bulls and think that it's unfair that they get such a bad rep. I would love to own a pit bull one day.
Sorry about any errors on my comment above. I'm not really good at proof reading.
your son is THE CUTEST thing everrr!!! omggggggg
=)
Ha! I loved hearing about your animals (and I love especially that I'm surrounded by bully lovers. I get really mean when they are haters!) And thanks for all the compliments on the pictures and my son. I think we make a pretty decent looking crew.
I would elaborate, but my lap top is dying (I left the charger downstairs so I wouldn't sit up all night doing various things, as I'm prone to do) I have to get up and go grocery shopping and meet my inlaws for lunch, which, I am NOT looking forward too (Something else I'm sure we'll touch on.) But I did want to stop in and let you all know I loved your animals stories!
I'm going to go put up the post now because I highly doubt I'll have much time to do it tomorrow.
I have two dogs and an evil cat. You said you believe dwarf hamsters are the devil's creatures- I think cats are. I used to have a few dwarf hamsters. The crazy stories that are there!!! Ah, memories...lol
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