So do you have pets?

[patman post]

as long as they're on a lead and I can hand them back their owner at the end of the walk!

I used to think the same about children...

[HDQQ]

I love cats. We have cats. Our sofa has the scars to prove it.

I like dogs too - as long as they're on a lead and I can hand them back their owner at the end of the walk!

[johnofgwent]

<r><QUOTE author="papasmurf" post_id="14598" time="1580307098" user_id="89">>

My wife and I like animals too much to have a pet.
<e>

</e></QUOTE>

Oh dear it's not that difficult.</r>

I'll resurrect this because there's a point i am not sure i made earlier which i should have

As a kid there were various animals in our house, but none were mine.

The vagaries of my job, and the travelling, meant i was never in a position to look after animals. Moira's father was never in the best of health and would have an asthma attack almost at the thought of something furry in the house so she never had any pets.

I basically took the view i did not have the time to make a commitment to look after any, so I did not get any, and I think the various animal charities would have a LOT less to do if more people thought like i did.

[Nalaar]

We have Several, but not enough!



The oldest is our Bearded Dragon, Marr, not certain what age she is as we adopted her, but we've had her for 10 years this summer which is a good age for Dragons. We have twelve Degu, the oldest of which is about 5 years old (hopefully only middle-aged) and the youngest is almost 2. We also have a Goldfish that came from my partners work about 3 years ago, and (while not strictly pets) a number of regular visiting birds, who are as much a part of the household as any!

[Borchester]

We never had pets as such. There is a piece of wasteland near us where the strays seemed to have their kittens and one day my daughter brought one home. My wife has terrible asthma and the very sight of a cat, dog or anything else brings on an attack. But my eight year old daughter stood there holding the kitten (and with my four year old son holding her hand for extra schmultz) and asked, "Can I keep him mum?"



And my poor wife, who could barely breathe, said "Of course you can sweetheart."



Sam was lovely but dim. I think that his mother had abandoned him because he was the runt of the litter. Apart from being as thick as two short planks he had every complaint except woodworm. But the kids adored him and that was all that counted. Anyway, they kept him safe and happy for about four years before he quietly took himself off to that Great Cattery in the Sky.



Afterwards then the children picked up a succession of the cat world's walking wounded. A couple wandered off in search of better billets but the rest decided that the rations warranted staying. They never seemed to be pets, just guests who came and went as the mood took them.



One thing about them was that they usually had trouble with their plumbing, so carpets were out. That said, the continual scrubbing has brought the wooden floors up a treat

[boggart]

Have to say its one of the stranger crusades that PETA have embarked on (woof woof).

[T00ts]

Toots, very un-PC of you....... :shock:



https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-morgan-goes-town-woman-arguing-word-pet-harmful-12178244/">https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-mo ... -12178244/">https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-morgan-goes-town-woman-arguing-word-pet-harmful-12178244/

 ::  ::  ::  ::  Do I care?

[boggart]

Toots, very un-PC of you....... :shock:



https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-morgan-goes-town-woman-arguing-word-pet-harmful-12178244/">https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-mo ... -12178244/">https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/04/piers-morgan-goes-town-woman-arguing-word-pet-harmful-12178244/

[T00ts]

What lovely stories and how nice to know a little bit about the person behind the avatar. Thank you all.

I feel a bit guilty because I left out the rabbits (taken by a fox), several cats, gerbils, rat (yuk) that earned my children's love over the years. I guess I kind of tolerated them for the kid's sake but now they are grown they both have dogs - oh and one cat but she is for the rat's/mice in the country so earns her keep.

[johnofgwent]

I suppose I should add the cat 'millie' came from cats protection at bridgend, a small litter brought in by a woman who had the mother spayed ...



They didnt have a price tag but they did ask for a donation to cover the cost of spaying, vaccination and a couple of check ups.



In my childhood I was terrorised by dogs, I still hate owners who fail to control them.... in my teens my brother had a west highland white terrier I used to use as an excuse to go for long walks in the suburban woods of cardiff with more than one  girlfriend (not at the same time, alas)

[Barry]

I make no apology for trying to lift the gloom so do you have pets?

I think this might be a long post, and not all happy, so apologies in advance.

When we got married in our teens we didn't have much money. We went to a dog pound where the police sent found dogs and found a beautiful collie cross who we called Sally. She was the most intelligent, acrobatic loving dog. Someone told us we didn't have enough money to feed ourselves, let alone a dog, but we didn't starve. We called her Sally and we paid 15 shillings for her upkeep since she had been found.



About a year on, I was working for Nat West Bank and one of the clerks said she'd found some kittens and wanted homes for them. We went to her house and there was this female tabby kitten, and she became our first cat. We called her Tigger.



My wife decided that she liked Burmese cats and found a local breeder. When I was out at work she drove over to the breeders and picked up a blue cream tortie with a pedigree certificate. She was very expensive and my wife was hoping to get her home before I got home. But she broke down on the way home and I got called out to fix the car, with very expensive "Suzy" miaowing in the car whilst I was fixing it!



Suzy got killed by a car within a year of having her and in 1980 we did eventually get a second burmese, blue, and called her "Penny".

Sally met her demise about 1988, due to becoming sick and incontinent, by which time we had moved house twice and had three children under five.



Tigger died about 1990 as she had organ failure.



In 1992 we got a free to good home puppy, which we also called "Sally", as another name didn't stick. She was just like a Briard.

In 1998 we moved to Spain and took Sally number 2 and Penny with us.

Penny was already nearly 18. She enjoyed a couple of good years in the prickly pear and avoiding snakes, but her kidneys failed in 2000 and we said goodbye to her.



Around the same time we were having a garage built and a young adult dog turned up in June using the garage for shade from the fierce heat. We gave him water and food as he was very thin. Took scores of lice off his skin and took him to the vets and got him vaccinated.

2 years later, in 2002, he was stolen from outside our house. His name was Owen after Michael Owen for his running. He was a Spanish "podenco" identical to a Pharaoh Hound. He never really was ours as he remained a stray in his crazy doggy head.



By this time, my wife had seen a lovely Siamese kitten (no pedigree) in a pet shop in the city. She got her, and that was a male, we named Rio after Rio Ferdinand.

In 2003 our vet called to say there was an identical "podenco" puppy in a field near where we lived. We went with  a friend and caught him, and called him Owen II. As he was a puppy he was much easier to train and he was a joy. I took him for a long walk in the countryside every day. He was physically identical to the first "Owen":

https://vetstreet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/832eae1/2147483647/thumbnail/645x380/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvetstreet-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2Fc5%2F3931e0ae4e64b335655da4af7509%2Fpharaoh-hound-ap-1mqdun.jpg">



In 2008 Sally number two was pts due to organ failure at the age of 16.



In December 2013 a lady friend in Spain was dying of cancer and she had several cats. She returned to England. Her female cat called Pizca (means pinch, scrap, tot or trifle) had been found as a tiny kitten at Almeria airport and she always jumped on my lap when we visited. So we decided to take her, by which time she was 10 years old.

Add to these about 40 canaries my wife bred and 2 chickens which kept us in eggs for years.



So in 2014, when we moved back to England we had Owen II, an 11 years old hound with arthritis, Rio, a 12 years old Siamese, and Pizca an 11 years old all black cat. We drove back to the UK with all three in the back of the car!

Unfortunately the first winter aggravated Owen's arthritis and he turned nasty so 3 months after arriving he had to be put to sleep. That was a very depressing time.



This year both Rio and Pizca have succumbed to kidney failure. Our house is empty of all pets after 45 years owning dogs and cats.

So the short answer, is, "No, we don't have pets", but we do love animals, especially dogs.

[Baron von Lotsov]

My garden is a cat bypass. There's a hole in the fence one side and a tunnel through the hedge on the other, so any fine day you get all these cats cruising past. They have to sometimes hang about in my garden waiting for when the coast is clear because there are two dogs in the next garden to mine, so whilst waiting for the dogs to get lost they will do a bit of sunbathing or hang out near the pond. I know so many cats that I really don't need any more.

[T00ts]

Had many dogs big,small,pedigree,rescue loved them all,got a spaniel now who like me is clocking on.





No I didn't either,you got an eye patch crutch and peg leg?......ooooh arrrr me hearties  ::

I am working on it. I tried teaching him 'brexit' but suspect he was a remainer!  

[cromwell]

I make no apology for trying to lift the gloom so do you have pets? I have had dogs all my adult life. BIG dogs. More alsatians than anything else and always obedience trained. My last dog was my first rescue. It was only after DNA testing that we found he was Alsatian/Weinmaraner having been carefully told he was Lab/Collie. A big black horror about 1 yr old when I first brought him home. Terrified of many things he had behaviour to match and all my dog walking acquaintances carefully avoided us.

I look back and wonder how I managed it but he ended up a much loved gent by everyone who met him.He was a gentle giant who got on with everyone. It was one day in a park with my grandkids with the rain belting down when I realised that he had positioned himself between them and the only other people daft enough to be there and was obviously keeping a watchful eye. I lost him to cancer two years ago.

What to do? I can no longer walk a dog as I would like so I have a small parrot (Green Cheek Conure). As a companion bird he talks and has a real bond. More often than not he's on my shoulder.

Had many dogs big,small,pedigree,rescue loved them all,got a spaniel now who like me is clocking on.

I never saw me as a parrot lady - but there you go.

No I didn't either,you got an eye patch crutch and peg leg?......ooooh arrrr me hearties  ::

[T00ts]

It is a matter of showing no fear.

Absolutely right! People rarely understand that manic dogs are usually trying to take a role that they feel in-equipped for. The minute they realise that you are capable of being a pack leader they will usually fall in behind and follow.