The pitter patter of tiny feet...

for the cat and dog folk here, you might find petwarmers a nice site.
in the archives are years worth of stories people send in dealing with all sorts of pets. They range from the very funny (a farty dog set off the rv's gas leak alarm) to the sad (losing a pet), to a dog owner wreaking vengeance on a crappy old man who lured her goofy german shepherd into a leg-hold trap
some of you know me here regarding pets and kids.. I am the one who lost a cat to a friggin acting out sprog: ran him over deliberately and threw him in the creek to drown.... but, I really do not want to dwell on that.
there is a vaccine now (I think) for feline leukemia (as well as aids)
I would give it to a pet, even if they are completely indoors. I do not trust to chance that it might somehow come in on a pair of shoes.

if you ever go to petwarmers, look up the story entitled 'a better good-bye' dated in the archives, jan 4, 2005

One adorable beagle is sitting at my feet while he plays with his little chewie toy! He is adorable, and has yet to demand that I pay for a Sony WII, new car or tell me how much he hates me. Give him a little kibble, a scratch behind the ear and some time in the yard chasing the squirrels and he is completely happy!

Baby Lucy is purring on my lap right now. Nothing makes me happier than that.

Our 15 year old dog is at the stage now where he needs to wear diapers when we are not home. But you know what? It's STILL better than having a kid.

Kind of like having a furry, elderly old man. LOL

We have 10 pets:

3 English Setters - Geist, Hex and Luke
3 German Shorthair Pointers - Jagermeister, Moe and Sam
1 English Pointer - Dene
1 Rottweiler/G. Shep mix - Jonah
1 Pekingese - Yoda
1 Calico cat - Calico

SO and I live with a very vocal black kitty as well (she likes to play fetch with rubberbands and "bark" at us while we tease her with them). It took me a while to get used to her, as I'm 100% dog person, but I love her now. As SO says, "Kitty loves daddy and she thinks mommy's okay too" (yes, we refer to ourselves as the cat's mom and dad. Furkids > humanspawn).

I'd love a dog (or three), but we live in a very tiny place with no yard right now, and I have very little disposable income with which to properly care for a dog. Maybe next year... (Now if only breeders were as inclined to plan ahead...)

I lost count of how many critters we have now, but my best recollection:

7 cats (2 Japanese Bobtails and 5 Heinz 57's)
5 dogs (2 Akitas, 1 Basset Hound, 1 Yellow Lab and 1 Heinz 57)
2 horses (Arabian gelding and mare)
4 cows (Guernsey milking)
10 koi in our new pond
Bunches of chickens (varies--depends how often the moms are in the mood for fresh roasted chicken or farm-fresh eggs!)
A bunch of ornery deer that keep our farm hand frustrated

All in all, we have a rather nice family on our small farm.

Dr. Dan! I am so jealous! I'm such an animal fanatic, I'd LOVE to have acreage with tons of animals, and have all the money in the world to stay home, hang with them all day and take care of them. *SIGH* Life would be grand. I can dream............

Hi,all. Glad to see so many cat fanatics here! Currently my DH and I have three cats: Maggie, 14, is black with a white locket and a white belly spot. Blue, 10, is a big 15-lb. gray man with a wiggly belly. And, last but not least, Bear, who is almost 3. He is entirely black and is our first shelter-adopted kitty. Each of them definitely has a distinctive personality.

Maggie is "Daddy's girl," in fact is next to him in bed right now. She would prefer being an only child, I think. Blue and Bear are good buddies despite their age difference. They wrestle, chase each other, and nap together. Usually, before I turn in at night, they will share the couch with me while I read. Purr, purr, purr. Try doing that with a small chyld! I call them my "little men." Can't imagine life without any critters. The world would be a sadder place without them.

We did have two kitties, Akbar and Sheba, who were brother and sister. They were both black, too--I have a thing for black cats! They have since gone to the great cat-beyond. Aki lived to be 10, Sheba was 15. I truly hope to see them in the afterlife.

People who love and take care of critters are doing a special thing; so many animals needing love, and not enough homes for all of them. We're really doing some good in the world!

i have had to endure a LOT of talk from parents gushing about their children and how smart/cute/whatever they are.. and yet i find it far more interesting to read about complete strangers' pets..

fascinating isn't it?

I'm guilty of the same stuff with my cats that breeders are with their kyds. I do respond to breeder-talk with cat-talk. The difference is, I don't have to send my cats to college.

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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell"

:eatu

I could sit and talk about my pets and animals in general all day long.

I am truly in the wrong profession.

My "kids" are my cats: Slinky (all black) she's 8 yrs old and Patches (Calico) who'll be 2 in May. There are all I need.....That's the way I like it. I would have more but I'm an apt. dweller.

Poofy, go right ahead...incidentally, "Mirepoix" is the French term for a mixture of two parts onion and one part each carrot and celery, used in cooking (for soups, sauces, and court bouillon, the king of all poaching liquids). My husband is a chef, and was trained at a French-run school in the Washington DC area...all of our hamsters have had French food names. In addition to the 3 we have now, we had two other girls who sadly passed away (far too young) named Petit Four (she was our first "baby" together) and Brulée.