Pet Nostalgia (no sad tales)

[Magpie]

Silver: a runty dwarf rabbit. Didn't seem to realise that he was supposed to be scared of dogs, and this probably saved his life a couple of times (he doesn't run, so he's clearly not prey). He didn't like playing with my grandparents' poodle, because the poodle would drench him in spit very quickly (he was just saying "hello"). The rabbit did, once jump on the back of the poodle while the poodle was lying on the floor. I don't think that the poodle would have minded, but he was startled, and jumped up to see what that was. So the rabbit got scared and never did it again.

He liked nibbling on hair (always right at the roots, of course), and got upset with yarn. He didn't normally chew on it, but he'd use his mouth to move it away. He didn't like it when the yarn moved back (since it was under tension).

He went crazy for bananas and his papaya pills. He used to get papaya pills whenever we sent him home at the end of the evening, and every now and then he'd try to run into his cage on his own and look expectantly at us to give us pills. My uncle (with whom the rabbit got along very well) was over once, and since he's a late-night person he was charged with putting the rabbit away. We forgot to tell him that the rabbit got these pills, and the next morning we were told that "Silver didn't seem to like going home, he jumped around and fussed a lot when I put him away". The poor rabbit was just looking for his treats. I didn't feel like sharing my banana once, and so I sat down without giving him any. After the rabbit went crazy for a while I gave in, and broke off a piece for him. By this time, however, the rabbit had jumped up on my lap, and by an amazing display of effort from the brain cell that hadn't died of loneliness yet, stuck his head next to my mouth, preventing me from eating my banana (I'm not eating something that an animal that eats its own faeces has nibbled on), and completely ignoring the piece I was holding out for him.

He also used to eat the rosemary (mom was growing it) when he could. He'd then come up with rosemary breath, and I always warned him that one day the pastor was going to come over, and then he'd be in trouble. Said pastor used to say that what the rabbit needed was a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of rosemary... His nickname for the rabbit was "dinner". Yes, even at the blessing of the animals.

[Cat]

I for got about Amy...our calico. She was mean kitty...we actually ended up rehoming her...I don't remember why. I do remember he scratching the heck out my forehead, and me crying because my mom got mad at the cat (I felt bad for Amy)

[Der Cute]

Hmm..

Tiki, our first dog. He was a black lab from the pound, was lovey, fun, loved to play with us kids, and was great at dog-hairing our clothes.

Baby/Cockroach, our first cat. I remember having to water him with Tupperware baby cups, and him purring at me sometimes. I was about 3. Dad called him Cockroach, mom called him Baby. He answered to both.

Mouse, our next cat, years later. Mouse was a pretty lady, young black cat, and was very lovey. She'd always get dressed up for Halloween and was OK with it, and she loved to go outside. We'd open the drawer with the harness in it and she'd dance around. Put the harness on her and she was happy as a clam. We'd go for walks in the back yard, she would always come when we rattled the treat can, and she LOVED laying in front of the fireplace warming her kitty bones.

Pooky, another cat. Mouse was Queen of house when Pooky was adopted. Pooky was...strange. She had 3 rotten canine teeth, had extra toes on her feet, a kinked up tail and was kind of ..dumb. Pooky's tail had been damaged by someone whacking it in the door. She didn't care. She adopted me, and would always be with me when I was home. Her quirk was sleeping under covers. You'd make the bed, and come back to the room, and there was a circular bump under the cover. You touch it and it goes "Brrrr?" It was Pooky. Pooky hated her harness. Put it on her and she'd slink around until she forgot it was on, then walk.

Bittybit, my favorite kitty. I got her from an exbf as a gift, but we didn't know she was pregnant when we got her. (rescued from a mobile home w/ 5 dogs, 10 cats, multiple birds and humans....stinky). I think she was part Maine Coon, but she was TINY compared to regular cats. She had long silky brown/tan/white hair, and was a very lovey girl, after that bf left. (She hated him and had damn good reason to). I would come home from work and see her in the bathroom window, waiting for me. As soon as I got to the front door, she was there, waiting for me. She escaped once, and I was scared to death. She got back after 3 days, ate a lot, drank a lot, and passed out, poor girl. I still think of her sometimes.

Abby, the cat roommate. Abby was my sister's cat but my sis gave Abby to me. Abby was the dumbest cat so far. Abby would spin donuts in the kitchen chasing her tail. Abby was pretty strange, didn't like me all that much. She liked males. Any one male, she was purry and lovey on, but me? Nah. She understood that she was not Queen in the house, and was respectful of Bitty, but was happy to leave when I found a man for her.

Fuzzy, my current kitty. Fuzzy is a plop cat. She gets lovey, happy, and has to plop onto your hand. It's Stand Up, Lean Over, Plop and Purr. She plopped in my face one night and I didn't even notice. She's a good girl, long haired black cat. And a hell of a hunter! She brought in a mouse the size of a blackboard eraser!

Misha, my honey's cat. Miss Misha is an old lady, who's got some Siamese in her. She howls at 4 am to announce that She's Found The Toy Mice And You Better Be Proud. Howls repeatedly. I have to give her credit, because she recovered from a broken pelvis injury and is still going.

[dendawg]

Dumpy (Standard Dachshund, 1st attachment): My first dog, and a complete character..known to hunt lizards, frogs, and any other small animals who dared to invade the backyard. Reacted to my dad hanging a deer's head on the hallway entrance by trying to find the rest of it.

Boobie (Heinz, 2nd attachment) No I didn't name her. She basically adopted us by ending up on our front porch. Once saw herself in the mirror and thought another dog was in the hallway.

Tommy (Grey Persian) Inherited from a neighbor who was moving away. Don't remember much else about him.

Bamm Bamm (Black Shorthair) Was originally my sister's cat, who adopted her by jumping on her while she was in the SPCA's kitten cage. Loved to "attack" my sister and mom for no reason whatsoever. Once reacted to a sleet storm with comically wide eyes.

Bootsie (Tabby Mix) The first cat who was totally my own. Most of the time, she actually came when I called her. Once I had just come home and was on the phone with my ex-wife when Bootsie started pawing me, wanting to be petted. Had a habit of pulling her water dish out in the middle of the hallway when it was empty.

Dusty (Miniature Dachshund, 3rd attachment) Was given to me and ex-wife by a neighbor. Had a lifetime love affair with laps, and would attach himself to your side if you sat on the couch with him. Also as seen in the pic, he could sit up and stay in that position for up to a minute to beg for food, in spite of him being 11 years old at the time.

Romeo (Tabby Mix, 4th attachment) Found by a neighbor under her trailer at the age of 5 weeks, and instantly charmed my ex with his hungry meows. Showed his appreciation by pooping on me while drying him off after a bath. As he grew up, he pounced on Dusty mercilessly. Dusty was a trooper, though.

Licorice (Black Shorthair, 5th attachment) Rescued from a tree near where myself and a coworker were working. Handed to me and attached himself instantly. Brought home as a playmate for Romeo. He loved to be picked up after coming in from doing whatever cats do.

[blas]

Fat Cat, my beloved obese tortie, used to go plowing down the stairs every time the microwave went off.

She also loved to try to beat the dog to getting a plate of scraps.

She also loved to rub her entire body along shoes on the floor.

She was so warm and her purr put you right to sleep.

[Jack]

I remember Dakota the German Shepherd. He was very friendly. And rowdy. Probably because he wasn't fixed. I was 7 or 8; he would grab the ankle of my jeans and drag me around the yard. It was really great fun. When I took him for walks he would sometimes start running and drag me along the sidewalk. Not so much fun. This one kid laughed at me after I got all scraped up when Dakota did that so I got mad and threw a large chisel at him. I got in trouble.

[Fire_on_High]

By this time, however, the rabbit had jumped up on my lap, and by an amazing display of effort from the brain cell that hadn't died of loneliness yet, stuck his head next to my mouth, preventing me from eating my banana (I'm not eating something that an animal that eats its own faeces has nibbled on), and completely ignoring the piece I was holding out for him.

Mugged by a rabbit, just ouch.

We had a rat who was allowed supervised time out and my grandmother wasn't watching her stuff too closely.....Bear was valiantly trying to drag along a jelly doughnut as least as big as she was that she'd swiped from my gran.

Now our current lot...there isn't a sane one among em, but Inky managed a good one last night. I'm meandering down the hall with a glass of milk in one hand and a snickerdoodle in the other, and he does his usual bolt and hop up thing. I go over, pet him, holding the cookie in my teeth to free up a hand for his scrawny self....he proceeds to stick his face in mine and try to grab the cookie out of my mouth.

Yup, mugged by the cat!

(We all learned some time ago that around here, if you're too fussy about a bit of cat slobber, you won't be eating too much. May as well just hope the last thing they licked wasn't their rear and go along with things.)

[Mytical]

I've had a lot of them, but a lot of bad luck also. Then there was Blacky.

Looked like a Golden Retriever (but with long Black hair)..this dog came up to my chest. His mom was a Beagle, and SMALL, so no clue how she managed to have such a large pup. Loved to walk in front of us, and growl at anything (even a butterfly) that dared to get in our way.

He walked with a swagger, and was the king of the street lol. One of the funniest things I witnessed, was our neighbors. They had a junk yard, and somehow Blacky managed to get into it. They had some trained German Shepard, 3 of them, that guarded the yard. I lost sight of Blacky (trying to get him back on my side of the fence), and then the Shepards. Heard some yelping, and then the 3 Shepard's running for their lives. I swear when Blacky came out of that yard I could hear him say "Uh huh, that's right..I'm bad." by the way he was walking. Not a scratch on him.

[Dreamstalker]

We used to keep the catnip (in a plastic jug) up on top of the fridge. Next to the fridge there was a butcher block cart; neither of the cats had ever tried to use it to scale the fridge so we thought nothing of it. We thought they didn't know it was up there.

We come home one day and the jug of catnip is strewn all over the kitchen floor, with McGriff lying in the middle of the mess stoned out of his gourd

How he managed to not only get on top of the fridge without knocking anything else down, but to also get the screw lid off the catnip we have no idea (unless whoever took it down last didn't put it back on properly).

[ShinyGreenApple]

Cookie - you were our family dog. You weren't friendly to everyone, but you loved us all, and some of my best memories of my brothers and sister was when we were out playing ball with you in the yard until it got too dark to see.

Major - you were a rottweiler trapped in the body of a pomapoo. You gave us lots of laughs and amused the neighbors just as much. It was really nice of Mary to bring you back when we'd first moved here and she found you in her yard, but I noticed she never brought you back again after she brought you home that first time, you ran up into our yard, and then promptly turned around to bark at her to go away

Murray - my special boy. You were the first dog I bought and raised on my own, and I'll never find another like you. We were definitely kindred spirits. You were so funny, how you weren't afraid to chase after 15+ hand horses, but were terrified of sheep. Not the typical Border Collie, that's for sure!

[Skelly]

Leo the first. A wonderful, cheerful black tom who figured out how to open the door. Loved spagetti bolognese. Would jump up on one of the chairs whenever it was served, his little paws up on the table, expecting to have a portion. Was happy enough with leftovers though . The plates would be licked clean .

Leo the second. Again, a black tom who also learned how to open the door, and who also loved spagetti bolognese. Also enjoyed jumping on our older female cat and wrestle with her, even after we had neutered him. He would often lie in wait inside the kitchen, up to the point where our old cat would no longer walk into the kitchen without peeking around the corner first to see if he was standing there . He also fought valiantly (and won) against a neighbour's dachshound who came to our house and harassed our older cat. Never saw that dog at our place again. Brave little fellow, that kitten .

Nils was a much later kitteh. Striped in black, brown and gray. You could tell that he had been raised quite a bit by our dog. Very social, very friendly, would follow you when you took the dog for a walk, although being a cat, he'd be too proud to admit it, and would walk 10-15 meters behind you or in front of you. Definetly not walking with you, just walking, and by pure coincidence he would take the same route that you were taking the dog to. He died a year ago .

[lobo94]

Pansy-my first pet. Got her as a kitten when I was five.

Lobo-found him as a kitten when I was ten. Had him for 15 years. Black longhair. Very lovable. We were very vlose.

Cthulhu-found him as a kitten when I was 17. Named him after the head evil god from HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories, which had inspired a role playing game I was into at the time.

Vlad-black and white tuxedo, a Hemingway-had extra toes. My little brother named him after Vlad Tepes...the kid was going through a vampire phase.

Igor-black and white cow-patterned cat. Smart as all get out. One time, I was running some water to mix up some milk, and Igor jumped into the cabinet, then back out with a packet of milk. As I was mixing it up, he meowed, like he was trying to say, "Now don't forget where that's gonna go, Dad."

Count Dracula and Toonces-little brothers. Drac was a black and white tuxedo, Toonces a gray and white tuxedo. One time, I saw Dracula trying to have his way with Toonces. I know, realistically, he was just trying to show dominance. Though Toonces did look happy.

Anastasia and Blackjack. Brother and sister Siamese mixes. Anastasia looked Siamese, Blackjack was black. Anastasia was named Boris until I got a better look at her. Blackjack was named Rasputin until some friends questioned my choice in name.

Taggy-black and white cow patterned. Got him from my mother when she moved elsewhere and couldn't take him. Cute little fella.

Nipper-the one that owns me now. Black, with orange streaks. Tortoiseshell, calico variant. Found her six years ago. She named herself-to wit, she still tries to nurse. Very lovable, and a sweetheart. A handful at times.

[ralerin]

Charlemagne. My beagle boy.

I remember seeing you in your cage at Debby's Petland looking up at us in that gentle way you had, with those gentle brown eyes. I had begged mum and dad for a dog that summer. I guess that, combined with your price (because you were five months old) made us get you. The minute you came out of your cage you knew you were coming home. I remember the old guy who was sitting on the bench outside the pet store saying, "Well you guys take care of him, you hear!"

And we did.

You were the only dog who ATE your bed that we bought for you, the only one that my brother and I fought over who would get to sleep on whose bed (brother won that one), and you and Sally LOVED each other. Whoever said that dogs don't feel passion or love or emotions was dead wrong. I have a picture of the two of you somewhere where Sally is looking down at you with the most tender gaze and you are looking up at her like, "What? I know you love me."

You didn't like toys, you loved your rawhide. You loved cantaloupe and oh my god did you love your gravy and your yogurt and especially your ice cream. You also were the only dog to jump onto the chairs and sit like a proper human being. If I didn't feed you at 6:30 on the dot every morning, you would come clicking into my room and sit on the floor and stare at me, your brown eyes boring a hole through me until I would get up. If I put a head out, you would give that hand a gentle lick.

You had some favorite places, namely that stretch of wall between the bathroom and my room, or in front of the fridge, or on the side of the fridge, or in front of the fan in the living room, or the rug. You also enjoyed Dad's pillow. If Sally wanted to play and you didn't want to, well you would run away from her and bury your face under the pillows.

You loved your belly scratches, your head rubs, your chin scratches and your ear rubs, taking it all in with an "ephhhhhh" of pure beagle pleasure every time I did it. You were also HIGHLY intelligent, and I wish I had learned that sooner than the two weeks before your death in which I was teaching you to sit. You got it in less than 30 minutes and were always happy to sit when I did the proper hand motion. Of course you enjoyed the kibble treat, too.

You were my "Mang-Mang," my "Mango-kiwi", my "Buried puppy", my "Dorito Dog", and countless, countless others. You had the softest ears of any of the dogs I've had, ever. I love you still and I miss you, so much and I wish you hadn't died such a tragic death. We had you for nine years and it was TOO SHORT. You were taken too soon. Yes, I believe you had to die so that J.J could live; but it doesn't lessen the pain of losing you, dog.

God I am a wreck after having written this. Tears pouring down my face and my nose dripping like a faucet. But in a sense, his death was the first time I had ever experienced death in the flesh. It was real and it hit me hard and I still hurt over a year later.

[Magpie]

Mugged by a rabbit, just ouch.

No, it's the cockatiel who used to mug me. She was a really grumpy bird (especially when she was older, her mate had died, and she had hit a wall so she didn't fly that well). She'd sit on the door of her cage, and if I walked buy with cheese or graham crackers or Alphabits, or anything else she thought was yummy, she would give me this look. I was fairly young at the time, so I shared, because she scared me!

Speaking of animals just taking what they want, my landlords one workterm had a cat. The cat was the kind who would take stealth pets. Doing pushups? Better lock the cat out, or else he'll decide that your chin is a convenient height, and rub his back along it. And so on and so forth.

[XCashier]

Speaking of animals just taking what they want, my landlords one workterm had a cat. The cat was the kind who would take stealth pets. Doing pushups? Better lock the cat out, or else he'll decide that your chin is a convenient height, and rub his back along it. And so on and so forth.

Did he do the Tail Tickle as well? My Chessie is an expert at that. If you're wearing shorts or a skirt, she'll walk behind you and drag her tail across the backs of your knees or your ankles.