Pets

[buddys]

I have to admit I love my pets.  I have five indoor small dogs and three indoor cats.  I love them all very much and think of them as my children.  It's almost like having small children again and I find being with them makes me calmer and increases my patience.  You can't tell a dog to hurry and do something, they do everything on their own time schedule.  Do you have pets at home?

[Gidget]

Parakeets - Delaney, adopted 6 years ago.  Assumed age about 7.  Was abused by prior owner.  Kiwi, purchased shortly after adopting Delaney.

African Grey - Ecko, adopted 10 months ago.  She is 3 years old.

Sun Conure - Logan, purchased from petco a little over a year ago.  He will be two in June.

Parrotlet - Tico, an early Christmas present from my inlaws.  Hoping to make me smile again after losing my German Shepherd to kidney disease.  He is 6 months old.

[Narnian]

Buddys - that is a lot of dogs and cats! I can only imagine what it is like to handle all of them in your house!

Gidget - those birds are gorgeous! Did you do the photography? It warms my heart to hear of rescued animals; serious KP for you!

This is Paco, my 11 week old Basenji. I just got him 3 weeks ago! I finally have my own dog-proofed apartment and can own my own medium-sized indoor dog, so when Chris saw Paco and his brothers and sisters at a job site he was working, he came begging me to let him bring Paco home.

[Gidget]

Gidget - those birds are gorgeous! Did you do the photography? It warms my heart to hear of rescued animals; serious KP for you!

Thank you so much.  Paco is beautiful as well.  Now we have to talk Buddys into posting up some pictures.  I took Tico's picture.  Ecko and Logan were done professionally at Petco after a birdclub meeting.  Tico couldn't go to the meeting because he was sick when we got him.  It took awhile to get him well, but I refused to let him miss Christmas pictures.  Delaney and Kiwi cannot be handled, so getting their pictures was tricky.  Those are pretty old pictures of them, but it's all we have.  When we got them, we had 2 dogs.  One of those dogs didn't even want us to say Delaney and Kiwi, so we couldn't get them out of their cages to work with them.  But they're happy just talking to each other.  Ecko has thrived since she came here.  But once in awhile we'll hear something from her that we've never said to her that leads us to believe that the male in her former family wasn't the nicest person around.  My first interaction with her, I said "hello baby" (we didn't even know if she was female or male at the time) and she said F*** You.  We've also heard her say, in a really mean tone, G** D*** Bird.  It's heartbreaking to think someone talked to her that way.  Our parakeet, Delaney, was nearly starved to death when we got him.  They'd put him in a cage and gave him parrot food.  Of course it was all too big for him to eat.  So he basically came to us not trusting anyone.  I think he trusts us now, but he's just happy with his life and his space.  Okay, I'll shut up now.  I could go on about my pets forever.

[Narnian]

Good to hear they're with a loving family now. I could never do the bird thing, and right now, I probably couldn't handle any rescue animal that had been abused...my schedule is still all over the place and I just wouldn't have the consistency necessary. We got a puppy for a reason; give him lots of love and affection from as young as we can so he knows that no matter what time of day we leave, we'll always come back and feed him and play with him.

Pics, buddys!!!

[Lynn]

Gidget - How did you manage to get them away from the abusive owners? Were they rescued and then you adopted them?

Narnian - Your puppy is adorable!! That's great that you are able to have a dog where you live now. Pets really turn a house into a home

[Gidget]

Gidget - How did you manage to get them away from the abusive owners? Were they rescued and then you adopted them?

Delaney was returned to the pet store where my husband worked.  They said there was something wrong with him cause he wouldn't eat.  They're not allowed to resell returned pets.  But they can give them to employees.  My husband brought home this malnourished little bird that I was sure would die.  But he lived.  Within a few weeks, he brought home a canary.  And Delaney seemed to like having a neighbor.  Unfortunately, Buttercup went to rainbow bridge after only a couple of days with us.  So we scrubbed and disinfected the cage and purchased Kiwi.  These two are such buddies now.  They get in their closest corner and gossip.  We tried putting them in the same cage, but found out Delaney is a bully.  It must stem for him being deprived of food early on.  But they're happy with their arrangement now, and they sing all day.

Ecko.... a whole different story.  Ecko's mommy seemed to love her.  Although she didn't know she was a girl, and she had named her "Spook".  But anyway... she called the birdclub and asked if someone could please take her African Grey.  She needed to get the bird out of there.  Ecko picked up on her name quickly, but we've not once heard her say Spook, so I don't think they used the name they gave her.  I went over there to meet the people and Ecko on the first day.  The guy hung out in the basement and didn't even speak to us.  I believe he is the one that wanted her gone.  And it's a man's voice we hear when she's saying mean things or naughty words.

So our rescues have been from people that gave them up willingly.  I wish everyone would do that.  There are bird clubs in every state.  If people find they cannot take care of their birds anymore, or they just don't want to, all they have to do is call one of these clubs and ask if someone will take it.  Someone will ALWAYS take it.  No matter how badly it's been mistreated, if it's a plucker, if it has emotional issues, there are people who know how to take care of the worst of them.  

[Narnian]

Narnian - Your puppy is adorable!! That's great that you are able to have a dog where you live now. Pets really turn a house into a home

Thanks! It takes all my will power not to spoil him...TOO much! It helps that he's a mischevious little guy who knows exactly how to get our attention - chew everything that isn't his!

[Lynn]

Thank goodness they have you and your husband now I agree with you that it would be nice if people would willingly give up unwanted animals. I really can't understand why you would rather keep and abuse an animal if you don't really want it. Makes no sense to me.

It's nice to hear that Ecko's owner made the effort to give her up since the husband was obviously emotionally toxic for her. I couldn't be married to someone like that. I could never love or respect someone who is unkind to animals.

Narnian - Lol, I know exactly what you mean about spoiling. I have a Catahoula mix that totally has my number. My husband was teasing me just yesterday about how all she has to do is give me a look and I'll throw her a tortilla chip or some popcorn. I told him that's not spoiling. I do it because I know in my heart it's the right thing to do

[knchatty]

I love all your pets! 

I'm a pet lover too and really a sucker and the animals can see it and they walk all over me.

We have 2 indoor cats (brothers), they are fattycat and Midnight.  They are just over 1 year old.  Fatty has some problems with his urinary tract system and is a costly cat.  He spent a week in the animal hospital ($350) and now can only eat special food ($22 for a 5 pound bag).  I love him so much and would do anything for him.  Middy is in good health!

We also have 2 dogs, they are indoor and outdoor.  Carmen and Emma, both female pure bred boxers.  They are always getting special treats.

I'm more of a cat person.

[Irelyn]

I started out with one dog and one cat and that was all that I wanted however, I found 2 stray cats at different times and I just don't have the heart to leave them outside especially in the cold. I love animals and always have, strays somehow seem to find their way to me. My animals are part of my family, they give me unconditional love and are there when it seems no one else is.

[SophieDeLyla]

I have always had pets for as long as I can remember. I grew up on a farm and I even considered the little baby chicks as my pets and I named them everyone. Now we have 3 beautiful dogs as our pets. Rylie is our inside dog and she is a 2 1/2 year old Chocolate Lab/Chow mix. We also have two beautiful dogs that prefer staying outside. One is our 3 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees, Bailey, and the other is our 5 month old Newfoundland, DeLyla. We love our girls just like their our children. We also have Boer goats that live on my Mom's farm across the road from us. They are named Oreo, Beebee, Candi, Brandi, & AL. They are all so loving and gentle that we think of them as our pets too.

[Cas108]

Wow, all the pictures are adorable.  I'm definitely an animal lover.  I've always had pets, everything from dogs, cats, horses, a pot bellied pig, fish, and some sea monkeys at the moment. 

One of the most amazing pets I've ever had is a blind cat that we have right now.  She can't see a thing, but get's around just fine.  She gets into plenty of trouble as well, climbing on things and getting in the trash from time to time.  Now if only I could talk my boyfriend into getting me a puppy for my birthday! 

[wizzard]

I don't have any pets myself, I'm ok until comes time to clear up the mess they make, that's what makes my stomach turn. I especially love dogs.