Edited out

Why Twister? A couple of theories are out there.

a) She twists herself up like a protzel to get some attention.

b) Have you ever seen the movie?

Nuff said, and I prefer her company to most peoples.

Hmm, where to start? Let me first list the official pets:

Beauty - my 10 yr old's cockatiel
Susie - her parakeet
Princess - my 8 yr old's cockatiel
Sky - her parakeet
Boots - the family outdoor cat
Sammy - her kitten, currently a porch cat soon to be house & porch cat
Rose - the family black lab

All of the above plus a basement full of African Grey Congos, button quail, scarlet-chested parakeets, diamond doves, cockatiels and parakeets - we have a full house.

But the pets are the ones you watch and laugh at because each one has their own singular personality. Rose we got this New Years Eve as a pup. Boots was still wintering on the porch (enclosed) with Sammy. About a month ago Rose followed me onto the porch. Boots was not happy with this encounter (she's met Rose before but must have been in a particularly bad mood this day), and promptly delivered a flurry of blows to Rose's behind, claws out. Needless to say Rose does not dare go on the porch any more, even if she only sees Sammy out there..Sammy happens to look exactly like Boots (a long-haired black cat with white paws) except that Sammy has 1 black toe on her front paw.

Beauty talks. Or at least tries to. He's in the bedroom that my 10-yr old & 5 yr old share. They leave the TV on pretty constant. If you sit and listen, Beauty makes sounds like people having a conversation. Nothing intelligible. But on a dark and quiet night it's kinda spooky.

The African Congos are really good at mimicking Rose. If it weren't for their locale within the house, you couldn't distinguish between Rose whining or the birds. One of them also happens to yap like some sort of small dog. I think the same one also makes a cat-like sound something between a meow and a yowl. And another says Hello in a really deep voice. It spooked us the first time we heard it!

Well, I could go on an on, after all pets are like kids, you have endless stories about their antics.

I wouldn't doubt if in a year we have even more pets. My oldest daughter went to a bird & game swap with me this weekend and saw a whole bunch of rabbits. I think it's in her head again now. (We had dwarf rabbits a cpl of times in her lifetime). If we get a fence up in the next year..who knows what'll happen?
Tink

with John's Kelly, her daughters Thumper and Luna, her grandaughter Nikki, Sunday and Sidney all deciding I'm great, my building manager's pets are enough thanks.

besides, my wife is allergic to cats and dogs, I'm allergic to birds.

rodents are good, I frequently have pet rodents, since they don't cause allergic reactions.

Kelly, the Grande Dame, old self centered sweetheart

Thumper, getting on there, lots of fun to tease.
the one that nursed Sunday [ if I remember right ]

Thumper's sister Luna, smallest one, same litter as Thumper, a more passive puppy I've never seen.

Kelly, Thumpers Daughter, Sunday's Sister, a wanna be alpha that just can't boss Grandma around. :D

Sidney, the stray cat that wandered in, hides from all but four people, and is actually a sweetheart.

This is Sunday:
http://tinyurl.com/rpodd

This is Thumper:
http://tinyurl.com/kj6vq

More like plain old common sense.

I've yet to meet any animal that was as judgemental, opinionated or reserved in their granting of affection as are humans.

To Charlie, wherever you are, you were truly a good and faithful friend and companion; you are sorely missed.

My landlord said no pets. A previous roomie was kicked out for having a pet.

One day, my new roomie asked if we could (for a moment) keep a rescue Whippet , until they could find him a new home. Against my better judgement, I said.."Just for a night."

They came home, and Thomi jumped into my lap, and laid there. He was a young Whippet, that had broken his leg. He would never be a show dog, because of his injury. As he laid in my lap, and gently licked my hand... I knew he was going to stay in my house for the rest of his life. There was no way I was going to let this young pup go anywhere. Thomi laid his head on my chest. He trusted me.

Nine years later, I wanted... no, needed someone in my life, that was there for me every day. Someone that didn't care how bad my day was, didn't care what bills I had to pay, but just was damn glad I was there.

I heard thru the grapevine, that there was a Whippet that needed a home. He was bred from Grand Champions, but because of a quirk of genetics was not ideal for breeding.

It took me all of...oh 10 seconds to agree. I travelled 150 miles, to meet the breeder half way. He handed me this pup, who was all of 8 weeks old. He wasn't frail, he wasn't a runt. But thru some quirk of fate, his testicles hadn't descended. So this sire of champions was ... was a dead end.

Before I go on, I want to mention something. Breeders of Whippets vow that every pup they breed, will get a home. And if they can't place them, they will care for them for the rest of thier lives. That is the only way they will be accepted by the AKC.

As I took this 8 week old pup in my arms, who was trembling, afraid because he had never been out of his cage. I held him close. And slowly, gently, he reached up and licked my neck. Tyrone held his head against my chest. He trusted me.

And all was right in the world.

Everyday when I come home, Tyrone and Thomi are at the door, waiting for me. They don't care how bad my day was, they don't care how many $$ I have in my bank account. They don't care if my boss was pissed at me, or if the gawddamn network was down.

They just care if I can hug them, play with them, and when it is all done, if they can climb into my bed, curl up behind my knees, and think...

"All is well"

Some people claim that animals do not have intelligence, only instincts. However I have witnessed many instances of my various pets using their intelligence to learn from experiences and modify their behaviour accordingly.

This is one thread which, if it proves immortal like jd's divorce thread, I will be hanging in to the end.

So here is one little anecdote until I really get warmed up.

The best friend I ever had was Smokey the cat. (I have already posted her photo in two discussions).

Smokey used to sleep on my bed, but would sometimes need to go outside during the night. At the time my bed was positioned so that I could open the outside door by sitting up in bed without actually getting out of bed. It was a glass door.

The floor of my bedroom was partly carpeted, but there was a small area of polished timber near the door.

If Smokey wanted to be let out during the night, and I was asleep, she had four graded levels of annoyance to attract my attention.

1. Walk across the bare timber with claws extended, making a clickety-clack sound.

2. Walk heavily across the room.

3. Gallop across the room.

4. -- and this one always worked -- crawl upside down underneath my bed, hanging on with her claws.

When she was finished doing her business outside, tapping on the glass of the door with her claws was sufficient to attract my attention as I would still be partially awake.

But here comes the clever part. Although she KNEW that annoyance number 4 always did the trick, she would always start from number one and work through the degrees because -- according to how deep was my sleep -- any of the three lead-up levels might be sufficient to arouse me.

Once again I will post a photo of Smokey.

http://www.topsciencenews.com/images/Smokey_1_crop_34.jpg

As for your "character defect," at one point in my life I became so disgusted with humans that I appointed myself as an honorary animal for a period of time.

Their attitude is I tell the Human what and when to feed me and where I want to live so I am God!

The one advantage of this is that with then thinking that they are God they don't let any strangers in [b]Their[/b] yard, well actually they do it's just that they don't let them leave until they have had a discussion with their Humans and decided that it's now OK for the Stranger to leave.

There was one Policeman who was trapped that way he came to ask some questions about the house next door that was being built and we had just nipped out for a few minutes and well over 1 hour latter when we got home there was this poor Cop standing at the top step to afraid to move. He was amazed as the Dane didn't bark or do anything at all that could be considered as menacing he just lay there with a leg bone and every time the Cop put his foot on the top step he would bend down and with one bite crunch off about an inch of bone and then look at the Cop just daring him to move.

The Poor Guy looking at his legs just decided that it would be safer to stay put until we returned and his mate in the car had all the windows wound up tight so that just in case the dog decided to move he was safe. Naturally he didn't see the B ITCH just below the door laying down looking. :D

Col ]:)

Having breed Great Danes for more years that I care to think about and spending way too much money on them I can honestly say this. And it's something that I learnt after attending my very first and last Dog Show.

[b]The Animals Being Shown Are Much Better Breed Than The People Showing Them![/b]

I never went to another Dog Show and I have no intention of ever going either but after spending well over 25 years breeding Danes and constantly living with the complaints as the puppies went I can honestly say that I now have no intention of ever going near another Dog Show. I would set the price of the puppies as I considered the potential owners could afford I've sold some very great puppies for far less than their immunisations cost just because they fitted the people perfectly and then on other times I've asked outrageous prices for a puppy that will never be accepted because I didn't like the person who claimed that they where Great Dane Lovers. I can distinctly remember one woman with the last litter who came here with her Dogs and insisted on bringing them onto the property with 6 week old puppies here. I just told her to go away as she couldn't afford any of my B ITCHES which she took real offence to so I just told her that the worst one would cost her $500,000.00 and they only got more expensive from there. I never saw her again and it's something that I didn't miss either.

There are some really poorly breed people who show pets and then some that are even worse breed ones who attempt to breed them & I never want to be seen with any of these people I would much rather sell a puppy for $50.00 that should sell for $1,500.00 than to sell to one of these people. That's probably why I spent so much money on the puppies that I breed and even more on my Danes. There is nothing like the experience of being trapped between two Danes in your own bed and not allowed to get up until the Danes get so uncomfortable with you moving around trying to escape that they move away and let you get up. :D

Or a Great Dane standing over you while you are in bed asleep licking your face because the alarm clock has gone off and he knows that you just have to get up. :)

Col ]:)

We only have a 1 year old black lab female called 'Abby' now. My wife is not at all a cat person, and she won't let me get a snake or rat anymore! :(
I used to keep lizards, rats, snakes, birds, fish, leeches (believe it or not :) and spiders (tarantulas) in my youth and early adult years. :D

Danes have one real problem. They poop a lot. They ae the size of the lions they hunted, and eat and dump all over. The last two rotties I have had pick an area and you just keep a 10X10 picked up.

With 1.5 acres a Dane is all over the yard. He even crapped on a paved basketball court.

Rotties are solid muscle, I prefer females to males, as male Rotties are about the same as a Dane in terms of being bossy. In my house, I was the boss, then the Dane, then my wife. A rottie thinks they are the boss, but they will fit in between parents and kids well. They also don't bark as much as a Dane, and they poop about 30% as much.

his (her?) name is Mr. Pink. He's been with us for over a year, which is amazing as he came in a plastic bag from the county fair.

That's about all I can handle. I have a hard enough time keeping my kids clothed and fed.

A Dog's Prayer

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside... for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements... and I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth... though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land... for you are my god... and I am your devoted worshiper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the Great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest...and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

--Beth Norman Harris

but kept coming back. We just lost our Dachshund about a month ago. Penny had been with us for 10 years. She "chose" my daughter when we were looking for a puppy back then and she was her dog. When my daughter went to college about three years ago she sort of became my son's friend. She definitely thought of us as her pack. My son and daughter could play rough with her when she was younger but if I tried to play rough with her she would just turn over on her back. I still miss her when I come home from work and she's not there to meet me. I swear her tongue had to be 12 inches long because she would lick you right in the face, mouth, nose, whatever she could hit and if you turned your head away she would stick her tongue in your ear. It really tore my daughter up when I had to call her at school and tell her Penny had been hit and died, especially since I couldn't be there with her.

I also had a Dachsie when I was a kid named Penny (my daughter wanted hers named the same). Both of them would just put their heads in my lap if I had a bad day and I could tell them anything.

Believe it or not, Dachshunds are great guard dogs. They may be short but they're not afraid of much. It's amazing how your pets become a part of your family. We'll start looking for another Dachsie in July when we can stay home a little more.

We had fish...a few times, including neons, goldfish, snakeheads and black platys. Tank broke during the move. Planning more in future, the girls want angelfish.

Had a pet clam named Jerry. My daughter caught it while fishing (with a pole!). She was bottom fishing and the hook just happend to snag it.

Had 3 pet ball pythons (at different times)The most memorable was named Sneaky...because he snuck between the couch cushions and nearly got himself wrapped around the coils the day we brought him home.

Rosie the cockatiel was the family bird til she was given Rosie Joe as a mate and produced Beauty and Princess (the girls' current pet birds).

Poncho was a Mexican red-headed parrot when we bought him, til we found out he was really a red lored. He talked, in a different language. It sure sounded like he was swearing at us!

Have always had pets as we grew up. All were dogs except for my wife having a rabbit. Studies have shown that pets reduce tension, like high blood pressure, lives worries. And it is just good to pet a friend that will not put you down or talk back. A pet always loves when you come in the door and seems to smile when you just give them a little attention.
I like my furry kids more then most of the people I know because they do not talk behind my back, they do not try to get me to go to places that I hate and they just want me to love them when I get home.
I never had cats before, because I am allergic to them but my son moved back into our house with three cats. So I put up with them, he found a new place but they did not take pets. Guess what we have three cats! And they love me; I now take a Benadryl so I can pet them.
One of the cats, Gizmo became a true friend of mine. After we had him neutered he gained alot of weight and he started acting like the dogs. He would come when you called him and would run out with the dogs when they needed to go out.
He contracted FIPS a cat problem that every cat has but only some cats like people can run and kill them.
I really liked that cat and will never go through that again.

I lost one of my dogs last year and had to have her mate put down not long before last Christmas. plus I inherited my mother's dog when she passed away in 2003 and that little dog died last spring.

Needless to say, I like animals and tend to trust them much more than most people. I'm a little bit suspicious of anyone who doesn't like animals and have generally found my suspicions to be well founded.

I don't know quite what that says about me but I'm always suspicious of vegetarians, holy rollers and non-drinkers as well, unless they're recovering alcoholics. I'm not too keen on birds as pets always thinking one of two things about them:(1) They should be free and/or (2) What do they taste like breaded and fried???

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

was a female Seal-point Siamese. The family that sold her to me named her "Squirt", because she was the smallest of the litter. I decided to keep the name, since she was already responding to it.

It didn't take long for her to choose me as her favorite human companion. When I arrived home from work, she was always at the door to greet me. When I was in the house, she was an almost constant companion. At bedtime, she'd crawl under the covers and snuggle into my armpit. She was definitely jealous of my wife. Whenever my wife would come near me, my "girlfriend" would make a mad dash to squeeze between us.

It didn't take long to train her to "fetch". I should say that she trained me. I usually crumpled my empty cigarette packs for her to play with. Crumpling the empty pack usually got her attention. I'd throw it, then she'd chase after it and play with it for a while. Before long, though, she started to bring it back and drop it near me. Then she'd stare at me until I threw it again. After a while, she started to bring it back immediately. Sometimes this game would last for hours. Sometimes, if I dared to ignore her, she would actually place it into my hand.

When she was about three years old, we noticed that she had a tendency to bump into things. Her next trip to the veterinarian confirmed that she was totally blind. Judging by the severe damage to her optic nerves, our best guess is that she was blinded by staring at a recent solar eclipse. She adjusted well to the situation, though. Unless we moved the furniture or added something new to her environment, it was difficult to tell that she couldn't see. Her handicap didn't prevent her from playing our game with the crumpled cigarette pack. Without realizing it, I had developed a habit of bouncing it off the wall, so that it would land somewhere in the hallway. When she'd hear me crumple an empty pack, she'd hurry to the hallway entrance, then sit and listen. When she heard it land and stop rolling, she'd spring into action. Only on a rare occasion would she fail to find it.

When Squirt was twelve years old, we discovered that she had developed cancer. Surgery failed to solve the problem; it had already spread too far. A few months later, I allowed the vet to put her to sleep to end her suffering. That day, I lost my best friend. Since then, we've owned several cats, but none will ever fully replace her.

That's why I love animals.

I didn't get a pet of my own per se, till I left home and married. Then I was adopted by one of the cats who used to live upstairs, but came into my flat to have her kittens.

And there followed the best part of twenty years unconditional love from both her, Smokie, and her kittens. Jerry, from her first litter, was adorable and looked like a show cat. Unfortunately, he had this thing about going on car trips with us (imagine the looks when a cat yawns full in your face from the parcel shelf of the car in front......) We think it was his lack of fear of cars/strangers that eventually got him catnapped. Out of the second litter, we kept Patch. Had him till he was 14, and died of kidney problems.

Those two were the most unlikely pair. She weighed five pounds, wet through, was very petite, ladylike and cute. He (at his heaviest) weighted 22 lbs of all muscle, was huge, big pawed and clumsy. But by God, he loved his mum.

Woe betide any cat that came into our yard. Immediate reaction from Patch was to stand in between the stranger and Smokie, with a look on his face that said "Put 'em up! Put 'em up!" In actual fact, he was the softest cat of all. If I didn't kiss him goodbye, he cried till I got home.

Smokie ruled us all with a very wobbly rod of iron. Some days we could get away with things, other days we couldn't. Patch never could. Even at 14 years old, she was still swatting him if he did something wrong. I never got a chance to scold that cat, she always beat me to it.

Numerous stories about the pair of them, including Patch singing to the cows, Smokie gifting voles to all and sundry, stolen fish, defrosting liver, hijacked bacon, I could go on for hours, but I've the same problem as NB, high pollen count.

We lost Patch when they could no longer control his kidney problem, and he had to be put to sleep. Smokes passed away quietly in my arms two days after her 20th birthday. Devastating.

I'm currently being owned and trained by Murphy, who inherited me when HOB and I got together, around 11 years ago. Murff is now 13, and apart from deafness, has no effects of old age. No-one has dared tell him he's 13, he still thinks he's 3.....

He has daughter, Ma and Pa, the neighbours, and shop owners all very well trained too. Has his own fan club both here and at the Marina.

Murff and I are just learning sign language. We can do all sorts of things by sign, his most popular one is a mime of putting a coat on (he waits for his lead to be attached) He's also teaching me that a wet nose on my leg means it's time for a treat.....

A definite member of the family, the pic below is him waiting, not tooooo patiently, for his piece of Pa's 80th birthday cake. (Sleight of hand performed by Ma - she melted some doggy chocs into a bun case for him!)

http://tinyurl.com/zzppw

Also have 2 tanks full of various fish, and have just (accidentally) semi-adopted a pair of finches whilst the owners granddaughter has allergy testing done....yep, I can see where that one is going.....

They're now called Cheep and Cheerful....

Nice thread, NB, but it's a bit hard going on the heart strings at times.

GG

Just a cpl quick anecdotes.
Boots is an outdoor cat but when she has kittens we bring her and her litter into the enclosed porch. Then when they start to be weaned we let her in an out as she wants. The funny thing is when she wants in she jumps on top of the stair railing leading to the porch door and peers into the window there. When she does this she often presses her body up against the doorbell. Many a time we have rushed to the door only to see Boots looking in.
-----------
Sammy is a very affectionate kitten. We have a couch on the portch against the wall to the right of our door. Whenever we unlock the door to go out Sammy is sitting on top of the couch waiting for someone to pet her. Now this door is a wood door with 2 rows of 3 square glass panes at the top. I've heard her paw at the lock and doorknob before. But one day I heard a loud scrabbling at the door. I went to look and saw Sammy's face peeking in through middle bottom window in the top of the door. Naturally I wondered how the heck she got there. I opened the door and the poor dear was hanging by her claws, afraid to let go. I couldnt help but laugh as I gently extricated her from the door.

as in pet rats.
they are actually great pets, cleaner than any other animal, when they bod to you, they can't strand being more than 10 feet from you.

and you can crack great jokes in hair salons. ]:)
I went and got a trim in a salon one day, the next day I walked in and said I have to do something about this rats nest of hair I have. The stylist working had been there the day before, He was worried that his boss screwed the trim up somehow... until I turned and lifted my hair enough for the albino rat in my hair to be visible..he just about pissed himself laughing.

or walking down the street with a lump roaming around your body under your shirt..so people just see a lump under the material..moving.. it can't be a snake, cause it's not long enough.. then the rat pops out of your shirt and pulls your mouth open to drink some saliva.

or, as happened one day, talking to my sister on the phone, with the rat running around on the bed, my wife and daughter sitting there, and the little bitz runs up to my face, puts her hands into my left nostril, pulls it open and tries to crawl up my nose...then when she doesn't fit, she crawls right into my mouth.. I handed the phone to my wife who tried to explain what was happening..and was laughing so hard as to be incoherent.

;)

I've had 4' boas and pythons wrap themselves around my waist.

rats make fantastic pets, but I've seen pet shop staff that have problems with them. I went to get one one day and the girl working at the shop was to squeamish to pick one out of the aquarium, so I stuffed my hand in and held it there, only took a few seconds before one came up and checked my hand out. :) gave her about a minute then picked her up and put her on my shoulder. The manager commented that she knows when someone wants a rodent for a pet or for snake food by the way they handle them. ~lol~ snake food is between two fingers at arms length by the tail. pet is fingers wrapped around their body and holding them close.

I started laughing and told her, I don't see any reason to be cruel to a rodent even if I'm going to feed it to a predator. [ I wasn't, it was the pet hat crawled into my mouth after not fitting into my nose. :D ]

like a bunch of blubbering old women! B-)
NB I really am glad that you provided a discussion that we are all of one accord here. There is so much we can learn from our pets but a lot of times we don't. But this discussion has really been good!

BTW, the sun glasses can be for looking cool, or for hiding the allergy related condensation.

I don't know how long it's been since you lost your Dad but I sure give you my condolences. I think probably the best gift you might have is being born on his birthday. Man! what a legacy! Awesome!

Happy Birthday to you! And many more to come.

And, fortunately, Friday's the 13th are rather uncommon.

On a more serious note, you do have both my empathy and sympathy.

I was raised to understand that you get whatever your host offers, not what you desire or expect.

As for coincidences, I do have to be wary of Columbus Day, as that was Charlie's birthday.

As regards fathers gone before, the oddest thing for me is the constant realization that I have lived a longer life than did he.

Both of my 2-year-old Blue-point Siamese cats love to play in water.

The female (Sweetie Pie) loves to jump in the shower with anyone who will allow it. She also loves to play tag with the vacuum sweeper. When the hose attachment comes out, she lies on the floor, belly-up, expecting to be thoroughly vacuumed.

The first one they tell you this is going to [b]Hurt Slightly[/b] which translated to [i]This is Going to Hurt Like Hell and you'll wish that you where DEAD![/i]

The second level they tell you [i]This is going to hurt you[/i] Which translates to it's going to hurt so much that you'll wish you where dead but because of the ongoing pain you know that you are alive no matter how much you try to kill yourself.

Then they come around to [b]Gloat[/b] and if you make the mistake of telling them that it hurts they will tell you you are overreacting and leave you to suffer. If on the other hand you tell them [b]No I'm OK only a bit Uncomfortable[/b] they will order Morphine by the bucket load in an attempt to [b]Shut You Up.[/b] They even go as far as sometimes allowing you to have the idea that you can [b]Self Administer[/b] and the nursing staff give you a little thing with a button to press when you are in pain but they set it to only go off ever 10 minuets or so and then from the amount that you press it they make a decision as to how much you'll actually get. I of course only pressed the button every ten minutes because I couldn't see the point of doing it more often needlessly which drove the nursing staff nuts because they couldn't decide if they should [b]Up or Lower[/b] the dose being administered and they insisted that I actually press the button when ever I was in pain. Really it hurry way to much to even consider doing than so I just hung my watch up in front of me and kept pressing the button every 10 minutes so I got as much as possible. When they worked out what was going on they removed the watch. :(

So I got my wife to open my NB and start a DVD running and I kept an eye on the clock on the bottom corner and just kept pressing the button every 10 minutes. They never worked out what I was actually doing and would religiously come in and change DVDs for me. :) The wife would keep bringing in different DVDs every day and take the played ones away with her so they never tweaked what was happening and thought that the Bloody silly movies where taking my mind off the pain. :D

But after your trip to Theatre and when the screws come out you'll find that the Force Feedback Joy stick is far better therapy than anything that the medics could ever dream up and it doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as the [b]Pain Inflicter's[/b] would like. :^0

Col