In my 55 years, many wonderful dogs and cats have enriched my life and the lives of my family members.
Willie, our lamented cocker spaniel, was probably my favorite. He was buff colored with white freckles on his nose, and he was a character. When he was young he spent many joyous hours chasing rain-birds and trying to catch the water.
Willie's pre-feeding ritual included squirting water for him to chase. One day, when he was 15, he collapsed while trying to catch the stream of water my son Dan sprayed for him. I miss him terribly, but he had a full, rich life and a great death. I prefer to think of him in Doggy Heaven where he can actually catch the water.
When Willie was 2, we got a blond female cocker and named her Desdemona. (Willie was short for William Shakespeare.) It was a difficult relationship at times, but once Desi established that she was the boss, the two of them rubbed along well enough. Willie still got his way; he just had to be sneaky about it.
Willie and Desi had 2 litters. The first puppies came just in time for Christmas, and we had no trouble finding homes for them. The second litter came in the spring, and we had a harder time finding new parents for the puppies. We ended up keeping a little red female, Juliet, because she followed my husband around and cried when she couldn’t find him.
We also kept a white male, Bubba, who was terribly sweet, but had an umbilical hernia so no one was willing to take him.
All these wonderful pets are gone now. Juliet was the last to go. She became very ill about a year ago and we had to have her put down. Life with a pack of cocker spaniels was fun, and I miss them all.
I have no electronic pictures of most of these dogs, so this essay is my way of posting their images.
Then there are the cats. We don’t need to go into detail, as I’ve discussed the many cats we have in previous blogs. They’ve been a lot of fun, they’re very nurturing, and they’ve completely destroyed our house. It needed some work anyway.
The worst culprit is our little tuxedo tom, Silly. We didn’t get him neutered soon enough, so he sprays everything. I’m trying this new stuff called “Comfort Zone,” a hormone that’s produced in cats’ cheeks, that is supposed to make them happy and stop spraying. So far it seems to be helping. Not only has Silly stopped spraying the sofa, he’s become a lot more affectionate.
My sister Bobby was kind enough to take 2 black kitties off our hands back when the heard was in full production. Zeus and Missy are well loved and spoiled rotten. Cats always know who the suckers are, and one day Diva, a little black female, won her way into Bobby’s heart. Diva was older than she looked, and that along with some health problems Bobby had, prevented my sister from getting Diva spayed in time. Diva now has 3 adorable 5-week-old kitties; Napoleon and Josephine, darling gray tabbies, and Cutie Pie, a silver tuxedo with white sox.
Enough talk, now it’s time for pictures.
Silly & Juliet. Julie didn't actually care for cats, but Silly loved her anyway
Juliet. Somehow even as an old lady she still looked like a puppy
Miss Kitty's litter, left to right;
Smoky, Gateway a.k.a. Princess, Marmy, Lucky, and Zeus (the black kitten hiding in the back) Zeus is now so large he should go by his Roman name, Jupiter.
We still have Smoky, Bobby has Zeus, and all the other kitties, via natural means and foul play, are no longer with us.Bobby's new kitties: Napoleon, Cutie Pie, and Josephine.
Proud mama, Diva, nurses her babies
3 comments:
Your right Julie managed to look like a puppy when she was what 14. The kittens woke up after you left of course and are all over the kitchen.
That's a whole lot of animals! Lots of animals = lots of love. And lots of upkeep, but it's all worth it, right?
Yes, we love the animals a lot, but I don't recommend having so many.
It's too expensive to be a responsible pet owner with so many pets.
Because we spayed and neutered these animals, least there are lots of unwanted kitties that won't be born
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