General Chat

Goodnight Amanda - sleep tight.

We were in Melbourne a few years ago and went to their magnificent art gallery. We saw many beautiful paintings but we also had a look at a "special" exhibition. We couldn't help thinking that someone must have had a hidden camera trained on people's reactions. The "paintings" were huge canvases splashed with black paint that had dripped into various patterns. Some of the canvases had a splodge of red paint thrown at them. They were ridiculous and I could've done better - in fact my grandchildren HAVE done better.

S x

Goodnight Tec - sweet dreams to you and your Duchess.

A cat called Russell:-)))

S x

We already had a cat which was black and white - four black legs and four white paws - he was named Sox.
Then, one of my children rescued another black and white and asked what we should call him. My first suggestion was 'Hankie' (Sox and Hankie) and that was accepted....but then, a ginger persian began hanging around us. His coat was messy and he was hungry. I tried to shoo him away, but we had an aviary with parrots in it. My OH wasn't fond of cats, but couldn't stand the idea of any animal being hungry - especially around his birds - so he said to feed it. I did - and he stayed. However, when I said that he probably belonged to someone because persians are expensive - OH jokingly said "Here, Moneybags" and he stayed....so did the name!
Later, my dtr told us that her class was asked to talk about their pets. When it came her turn, she said we had three cats - named Sox, Hankie and Moneybags - and she wondered why the class laughed!t

That's delightful Berona have copied it for my granddaughter she would like that story.

Our disabled cats came when we bought some books from people for the secondhand bookshop. The people didn't know what to do with their cats. We paid them for the books and took the cats. They really should've paid us the amount of money we spent on the male one. We let them keep their names he was marmalade and was called Gingernut but got called Nutty (and he was) he couldn't jump onto the couch he literally leaped in the air - so he also got called Gerald McBoingboing. She was called Klein and was very dainty she struggled to climb onto the couch - you have never seen such a sight. OH used to call her Patsy from time to time after Patsy Cline. He was always first for his food - she would stand back and wait till he decided which bowl he would eat from - if she didn't she would get knocked over in the rush. He would stand in his milk - even our electrician said to me gosh he is a messy eater. He had no control of where he wobbled at times. His back legs were so strong though they were like a rabbits - and he would hit one side of the french doors trying to come in then hit the other side and in the finish he would just take a flying leap. If the door was shut he would stand on his hind legs and bang loudly. My daughter heard him one day and thought can't be he is inside and here he was banging on the oven door - not sure where he wanted to go.

Crazy indeed Patsy Cline's song very apt title.

Persey

I enjoyed your cat stories Berona, and Perse. Although we don't have a cat now, we had a cat for 17 years. She was quite a character, friends with the dogs we had over that period, and very bossy with them, regardless of size. She would however, not tolerate other cats. When she was about ten years old, a young black and white cat turned up, and wouldn't go away, so he stayed. The old cat would have nothing to do him, so a lot of hissing and spitting ensued. Should he try to follow her on her daily jaunts around the area, she would turn and attack him with a sharp biff to his head.
One day he failed to come home, so I went looking around. Sadly I found him dead in the road, he had been hit by a car. I took him home, wrapped him in a cloth, and dug a big hole in the garden.
Throughout this procedure the old cat sat nearby watching. I swear she had a cat type grin on her face. I told her that she was an evil old cat. She stayed until I had buried the poor cat and filled in the hole, then she just turned and walked slowly away.
Later we aquired a Pyranean Mountain dog, he was huge, like a polar bear, and weighed 14 stone. The dog and the cat were the same colour, mostly white, with a bit of black. She was big friends with him, and when he laid down in front of the fire, she would curl up on his tummy, buried in his long fur. It was hysterical to watch her rising up and down on his tummy as he breathed.
The cat frequently tried to steal the dogs food when he was eating from his bowl, whereupon he would lift his head and stand back until she had had enough. He could have swallowed her in one gulp if he'd wanted to.

Tec.

Hello Everyone

Sorry to all those cat lovers here but not for me! I prefer dogs to cats as they are more homely. One of my friends has a couple of cats and every time I am nearing her house the local cats are all hanging out on the corner street must be their local hangout. One day I saw a man waling his cat on a lead not the first time I have seen it either. Looked strange at first but then after thinking about it I thought that that owner must be very caring for his cat. I just feel that they should have a curfew lol.

We are all well here and looking forward to our first weekend without the football games although they will be on television. Sleep in time I think well I can try cant I?

Hope all is well with everyone and
Keep smiling :-)

xx

Hi everyone
I'm on early in case I don't make it later, my daughter and granddaughter's usually come over on a Thursday and I don't like to be on my lappy when they are here. I am a lover of both cat's and dog's, I had 2 dog's together and though they wern't related the older dog Sheba was like a adopted mum to Max ( Maxamillion ) his full pedigree name, I got him when he was 4mths old and she was 8 and just mothered him. She was alway's the boss even though he was twice her size, she being a cross between labrador and alsation and he being a full pedigree German Shepherd. When she was getting old and her back leg's were going on her he would get behind her when she climbed the 1 backdoor step and assist her getting in by putting his head under her bum and pushed her up as she climbed in, it was not until she was gone that I realised it was him who would get the blanket out of the kennel in the garden so she could lie on it ( I alway's thought it was her who dragged it out every day ) how I found out was because after she had died he would go into the garden and get the blanket out for her and place it were she used to lie and then sit at the back door waiting for her. He did this for about 2wks, in the end I removed the blanket from the kennel and gave him a new one that didn't have her smell on it, that worked and he just got into the kennel when he wanted to lie down and never got it out for her again, ( and they say animal's are dumb. I now have a cat called Felicity ( Flick ) for short and she was 6yrs old when we got her, she belonged to one of my Aunt's carer's who had to find a new home for her as her son was allergic to animal's, she is now 13yrs old and great company when I come in from work. She is black and white and I think she is a Norwegian Forest Cat as she has all the characteristic's of this type of cat, if you google the name there is a black and white cat that just look's like her with all the fur and big fluffy tail and she has the brilliant green eye's that are a main feature of this breed of cat.
I love all the story's you have all posted about your cat's and dog's, they all do some funny thing's at some time, I have one about my eldest son's Rabbit but I will save that for another time.

Hope you are all well and hope I can get on here later

Diane

Hello Janet,
Hello Diane,

Janet good to see you - I like cats because of their free spirit, and independant nature, but if I had to choose, it would be dogs, because of their loyalty, and companionship, although I know some cats are great companions to their owners.
Hope you do manage to get some extra time to lie-in now that football has finished. How is the new job going?

Diane, My daughter also has a Norwegian Forest Cat. He actually belonged to one of my neighbours, but she couldn't take him to her new house, so my daughter adopted him. They are great cats, and the web site about them is very interesting.

Hope you enjoy your evening with your daughter, and grand daughters.

Tec.

Good morning/evening to you all.

I'm not a cat lover although I would never be mean to one. I just find them very aloof.

We had a beautiful border collie a number of years ago. She was a wonderful companion and we had many good years with her. Her back legs failed her so we had to make a decision that we hoped we would never have to make. She was nearly 15 and our youngest son said he couldn't remember a time when she wasn't around. I still miss her.

Molly's leg is responding very well to the anti-inflammatory medication - thank goodness. Hope your dog's paw has healed, Tec.

S x

Hello Janet , Diane and Tec ,

It is indeed lovely to hear all these tales of other folks furry companions , be they canine or feline , we hold them close to our hearts whilst we have them don't we .
I'm loving those names Persey and Berona , I can just imagine a vet calling out Moneybags ....lol ......and Gerald McBoingboing !! .....LOL

Diane .....your story of the dog and the blanket is a heart tugger , I'm glad you changed the blanket and he settled down .... bless him .

Hello Tec ....blimey , you have had a varied range of pets over the years haven't you !
One of these days I ought to tally up how many cats and dogs have shared my life with me , I know the cats will come out tops as when I was a teenager we had eight cats and one dog .

Hello Sue .... you came in whilst I was typing , I'm glad to hear Molly is feeling better and that her meds are working .

Hi Amanda - we certainly do hold our pets close to our hearts.

When our lovely border collie passed on we had her cremated. Our little Molly missed her dreadfully. She wouldn't eat and she went outside every morning and looked for her. It was heartbreaking. When the vet's rang us to say they had Missy's ashes I told them I couldn't bear to come in and pick them up so one of the lovely staff said she would bring her home for us after finishing work. When she arrived it was dark and she came inside and hugged us and we all shed a tear. Molly just sat quietly looking on. We went into the kitchen and suddenly Molly went on alert. She appeared to be watching someone walking from the kitchen and through the back door. She then followed. The vet nurse turned to us and said "Missy's home". It was a wonderful moment. I'm not fanciful but I truly believe that Missy walked through the kitchen and out the door. Molly was fine after that.

S x

It was raining cats and dogs here yesterday.........
Lovely sunny morning..... they had an earthquake around 5.2 or so in Wellington day before yesterday - has been recorded but the Wellingtonians just carried on like nothing happened. Believe the ones that go up and down are not as bad as the ones that go from side to side. (I think I have got that right)

Hello Janet, Our Russell had a lovely blue suede lead - but he was so good he would go for walks with us and travelled up North in the car and if we ate in the car he would immediately sit on the floor. A lot of his behaviour was similar to that of a dog. He would come with us when we visited my father of a weekend and would make a beeline for dad's chair.

If Nutty wanted your chair he would sit and look at you and as soon as you got up he would make this flying leap but more often than not he would lose his balance grab a cushion and fall back on the floor again. We were not to laugh - he would give you the look if you did.
His back legs would sway and he sort of walked a bit like a crocodile - a young chap was amazed and he said to me does he always do that - I said " no just for visitors" (norty)

Glad to hear Molly is improving Sue.

In case Diane pops back - hellooooooooooooo.

Persey

Good Morning Sue,
Good Evening Amanda

Glad Molly's leg is responding to treatment Sue, my dog seems fine today. I was a bit nervous when he had to jump out of the car today, but he was ok.
We've always had a dog or cat or both Amanda - The house just doesn't feel right without a dog, to me anyway.
My SIL is not keen on pets, as he'd never had one. Consequently my grand daughter wasn't allowed one for years. Eventually she was allowed a goldfish - then later two long eared rabbits. Then the neighbours cat I mentioned earlier was looking for a home, so I and my daughter and grand daughter ganged up on him until he relented, and so they had the cat. What grand daughter really longs for is a dog, but I agree that isn't very practicle at the moment.

Tec.

Sue .... your tale of " MIssy's return made me come out in goose pimples : )) ..... I'm not " fanciful " either but I do however believe there are things that go on that we do not or cannot comprehend , I'm glad that your Molly settled down again after that : ))

Hello Persey ..... I hope that the cats and dogs weather has stopped for now ....lol
I don't like the sound of more Earth quakes , I hope that settles down as well !

~~~~~~ to Diane .

Your comment Tec about your SIL has made me wonder ..... where all of us that have pets bought up having either a cat or dog ( or both ) around ?
Personally , I think that it's very good for children to be raised with animal companions , obviously this isn't always possible ( allergies etc ) .
I'm glad you all ganged up against SIL ......lol.....does he get on with the cat now ?

Dogs seem to be better mates with each other than cats do.

Klein couldn't have cared less when Nutty went away (he had pancreatitis and got flown down to Palmerston North to their veterinarian college for them to study - he was the only one that had Christmas hols that year). When he got back she walked over growled at him and then turned her back.
They would sleep snuggled together - but every evening when I would be getting the dinner they would have this enormous row and fight and scream at each other... I used to reckon that their blood sugar levels must have dropped at that time of the day.

Have been reading about Norwegian Forest Cats - now I will be able to recognise them, they are lovely looking cats - people over the back of us have a Ragdoll - she is called Saphire (Saphie) has blue blue eyes - strolls over to our house has a wander through it then out again - we get checked out quite regularly.

P

Amanda - I didn't grow up with dogs. My mum didn't like them although dad told me that he grew up with dogs. I also think it's good for children to grow up with pets. Apart from responsibility it teaches them the cycle of life.

S xx

Persey ....I think the main difference between dogs and cats is the hunting , dogs hunt together , so the " pack " feeling is strong , hence the reason they appear to miss one of their " pack " , cats can live in a solitary state but prefer to be in a colony , they hunt alone but do still like the company of other felines , just not at food time ......lol

Sue , that is a very good point , about the cycle of life . My parents where the same , Dad always had a dog about as a child , Mum had a cat , I had both .............lol

Amanda - I thought the main difference was with dogs you are in charge and with cats they are.

Tec's dog will go anywhere with him - Mind you he does make sure that Tec knows that he is ready to go anywhere with him. Not much to do navigating stalagmites bumps in the ground in the cave, if you cave dwelled here you would need to watch out for bats (our only native animal).

P