Pet's Corner

Adam1701D · February 28, 2012, 08:39:57 PM

After seeing Chris' picture of Barney, I thought I'd share a couple of shots of my less-cute dogs...

Here's Grappa, our five year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Like most Staffies, he's a complete softie, despite his appearance.

Grappa's partner in crime is Joey, a 12-year old ex-racing greyhound. Another soft dog, who will stop at nothing to get a bit of fuss, including trotting along next to passing folk, nudging them in the bum to get noticed!

Mustermark · February 28, 2012, 09:54:47 PM

Nice idea Adam. Lovely dogs you have there. They sound like a handful. I bet one dog is more work than 11 cats and a snake, though.

I don't think I have shared pics of our babies before... Rather fitting that this should be my 1000th post!

Cat Cat is our British import:

Ellie and Jesse are sister and brother. He is the proverbial scaredy cat.

Muppet - he comes when you call him and plays fetch. Closest we have to a dog.

Lucy in a sweet moment. She bullies the others and is currently on Prozac to chill her out!

Scooter is Lucy's brother. He has three legs. He lost one back leg when he was run over as a stray kitten. Three legs is still better than two, he reckons. He power slides on our hardwood floor... he gets some speed up, flops over on his smooth side and steers with his one back leg. Sadly I don't have video of it.

Ollie is mostly blind in one eye. But he misses nothing. If someone is getting a love or food he will be there too.

Pavi and Lulu are brother and sister. She got into our air con system ducts the other day. She is an intrepid and relentless adventurer. She was hand reared and knows no fear. We haven't had the bill for the repairs to the duct work.

Cocoa is a recent addition, and she is gradually getting used to people. Still doesn't like being touched though.

Spacky is Cocoa's brother. You couldn't get more different. He is a love monster.

And last but not least, Murray. My six year old Royal Python. He's bigger than this now, about 4 ft long. He was all sorts of red tape and hassle to export to the US. He must be the least maintenance pet ever, but you don't get so much love back.

galway · February 28, 2012, 10:06:44 PM

Did'nt know when the photo's of the cats was going to end, did'nt know anyone kept that many, like the stripes on the last cat Monty Royal Python, obviously aregistered moggy with that name

OwL · February 28, 2012, 10:09:01 PM

Crikey mark! I bet the only reason you work is just to support this feline tribe!

Great looking cats though, I can see why you have them all. The snake looks pretty cool too

Adam1701D · February 28, 2012, 10:14:33 PM

Lovely cats there, Mark. We had a couple but they recently passed away (the oldest lived to a ripe old 19 years!).

With Grappa's rather exuberant nature, we'll hold off getting any more cats for a few years. My nickname for him is "Q1" - he's ugly, black, an odd shape, snorts like a good'un and is incredibly strong and surprisingly fast!

Mustermark · February 29, 2012, 03:23:01 AM

There are states over here that limit people to a small number of pets. But not here fortunately, as they are all rescues and needed a home.

They have programmes on TV about nutty pet hoarders and we are just waiting for the camera crew to show up.

Jerry Howlett · February 29, 2012, 10:54:48 AM

Quote from: Mustermark on February 29, 2012, 03:23:01 AM
There are states over here that limit people to a small number of pets. But not here fortunately, as they are all rescues and needed a home.

They have programmes on TV about nutty pet hoarders and we are just waiting for the camera crew to show up.

Lovely pics Mark.

tim-pelican · February 29, 2012, 12:44:49 PM

Great pics, guys.

Currently we have one guinea pig, one syrian hamster and one dwarf hamster, all indoor cages. The guinea pig was from a breeder friend of my wife, but the hamsters are both from rescues.

It's a lot quieter than we've had in the past - busiest ever at one time was two rabbits (who eventually became house rabbits, with all the chaos that causes!), three guinea pigs, two spiney mice and three mice.

red_death · February 29, 2012, 02:11:36 PM

Is a syrian hamster anything like a siberian hamster?

Three cats here - George, Fossa and Lily. A brother and sister pair that we got a few years ago now and they couldn't be more dissimilar! George is aloof and Fossa is a complete softie (if as clumsy as they come!). They are both pretty big cats and really clever - Fossa's party trick is opening the fridge or food cupboard to feed herself.

Both have got into some scrapes - Fossa broke her hip as a kitten jumping off a shed roof and George did a runner and lived wild on the mean streets of Tottenham for about 2 months (we thought we had lost him for good).

In the meantime we were offered Lily (real name Delilah!) who was the runt of the litter and still pretty much large kitten sized even though she is about 6. We took her in as a playmate for Fossa, then George was found and we ended up with 3.

Sadly the ex-Mrs Red Death has custody of the little devils!

tim-pelican · February 29, 2012, 04:19:23 PM

Quote from: red_death on February 29, 2012, 02:11:36 PM
Is a syrian hamster anything like a siberian hamster?

He put Basil in ratatouille? No.....

Jerry Howlett · February 29, 2012, 04:47:48 PM

Quote from: tim-pelican on February 29, 2012, 04:19:23 PM
Quote from: red_death on February 29, 2012, 02:11:36 PM
Is a syrian hamster anything like a siberian hamster?

He put Basil in ratatouille? No.....

Who could forget !

hairygit · February 29, 2012, 05:46:28 PM

Nah, furry animals don't do it for me! We have Delboy the blue fronted Amazon parrot ( him in my avatar ) highly intelligent, very vocal, and extremely clever. Likes to eat weetabix off his own spoon, barks like a dog, hoots like an owl, and does very convincing phone ringing sounds, also has a habit of repeating a phone conversation he has heard word for word, often some weeks later. He has never been locked in a cage, and has free flight of the house (except my railway room, where he trashed the sleepers on 15 yards of flexi track that was waiting to be laid, and completely destroyed my old Farish HST set, in about 10 minutes when I went to answer the phone!) That said, I couldn't be without him, a dog will fetch your slippers, a cat will curl up in your lap, but even if I finish work at 3am there's always a "Hello, have you had a good day?"

Adam1701D · February 29, 2012, 07:53:24 PM

My dogs don't fetch slippers. Grappa eats them

hairygit · February 29, 2012, 08:02:20 PM

Ooh, that's expensive! I had a dog many years ago, but I can't face clearing up after them anymore, plus the irregular hours I work as a coach driver wouldn't be fair on one, so I'll stick with the parrot, after all, he's only 21, and they live up to 80 or so years, so we'll have to leave him to our daughter!

Pete Mc · February 29, 2012, 09:04:39 PM

I tought I saw a puddy tat,I did,I did.

Coats on,I'm off!

Pete