Pets

[orin stepanek]

Sassy; my dog, loves to chill out on the wicker seat. She is a great friend and keeps me company and loves to be near wherever I go!

[starstruck]

Aw!, I really like Sassy and she looks very chic in her red scarf; this year's colour, red is the new black!
I have 2 dogs and 7 cats, I'm a cat person and a dog person! . . it makes for an interesting household

[Ann]

Aaaawwww!!!

(And thank you, Starstruck, for the lovely video you posted of one of your cats a while ago!)

Ann

[Beyond]

...this year's colour, red is the new black

You don't realize how much red is in the color black, until you throw a new pair of black pants into the wash and your white underwear comes out rather pink Bummer. Kinda makes you want to nails.
So, starstruck, you're a and person. I'm not much for pets anymore. I'm all i can handle now-a-days. And besides, cats are always bringing home dead mice and dogs are always commenting on the top of your house. roof-roof

[starstruck]

Wow!, it had actually slipped my mind that I'd posted that video . . but thanks for saying so Ann, you're welcome!

Beyond those are such fun cat and dog emoticons . . I didn't even know they were available, , thanks!

[orin stepanek]

Aw!, I really like Sassy and she looks very chic in her red scarf; this year's colour, red is the new black!
I have 2 dogs and 7 cats, I'm a cat person and a dog person! . . it makes for an interesting household

Thanks; and I'll bet Sassy would like you! Dogs can tell if someone is an animal lover! I think the mail man is the only person she doesn't like; and that's probably because he is so afraid of dogs! Of course he probably meets some mean ones on his route.

[Chris Peterson]

Adora, Ilana, Hidalgo, Haley, Robin, Tevya, Yentl, Chili, Kaz, Rigel, Prince. And not shown, a couple of barn cats to timid to pose for pictures. And we're looking to rescue another Great Dane in the next few weeks.

[geckzilla]

Hidalgo! <3

I don't have any pets right now unless you count a baby millipede I have captive in a jar because it somehow ended up in my bathtub and I didn't think it could survive winter outside.

[Chris Peterson]

Hidalgo!

Yup... a goat named for a Hollywood horse (because of his coat).

[Ann]

I'm impressed, Chris. I love seeing Kaz and Rigel together. (Shouldn't he have been named Betelgeuse, though, because of his color?)

Ann

[orin stepanek]

You get kudos for helping animals Chris!

[Chris Peterson]

I'm impressed, Chris. I love seeing Kaz and Rigel together. (Shouldn't he have been named Betelgeuse, though, because of his color?)

Our other Dane, who died a few months ago (the "floating" dog in my Solstice tree image) was named Bella- full name Bellatrix Gamma Orionis, and Rigel is Rigel Beta Orionis. Our next Dane, if it needs renaming, will probably be Betelgeuse Alpha Orionis, and is likely to go by BJ or Beej.

It's true that the fawn color would be a good match for orange stars, and there are also blue Danes. But that's juggling too much.

(Guess who is responsible for naming our dogs in this house? <g> Got to be careful, though... I don't see my wife going for Azelfafage or Zubenelgenubi. There are some great choices in the Pleiades, though.)

[owlice]

I claim two cats; an indeterminate number may claim me, and at this point, all of the indeterminate number are black cats.

[attachment=0]lentil.jpg[/attachment]

Lentil, our three-legged half-tailed apple-headed Himalayan; he was in this state (tripod halftail) when we got him, the result of a traumatic injury he'd suffered that nearly killed him and necessitated amputation of body parts. He's a lovely, polite cat except for his occasionally treating humans as prey and having no problem whatsoever biting the hand that feeds him (which accounts for my trip to a hand surgeon last year).

And Pudds (as in Puddems, because he really does have the personality necessary for that otherwise wretched name); he was born of a feral very pretty little tabby, and one day walked through my kitchen door and decided he'd stay.

[attachment=1]pudds2.jpg[/attachment]

He's a very affectionate, somewhat impolite cat who is getting more impolite in full adulthood. He is (still) fascinated by the flushing of the toilet, has taken to occasionally sleeping in the bathroom sink, and has declared full-out war on all feral fluffies in his domain (which accounts for several trips to an emergency vet and my learning new and improved ways to dose a cat).

The two cats are very different from one another, with Lentil being one to happily sit in the middle of a social gathering to be fawned over, and Pudds being one who has never been seen by any of my friends because he's extremely skittish with anyone he doesn't know well (read: anyone who doesn't regularly feed him). The two cats hate each other and the household exists mostly in a state of uneasy detente punctuated by occasional skirmishes.

There are various other cats around, because, as my son once observed, if you ever want to know how many cats are in your neighborhood, feed one. Right now I feed one catch-and-release regularly, but have recently discovered several others skulking around. The one I feed regularly really wants to belong to someone. As I'm not enthusiastic about becoming the neighborhood's crazy cat lady allergic to cats and want to travel a lot after I retire, I am resisting adopting him.

I love dogs, too (and actually, especially), but would need to be a better person to have one.

[Ann]

Three thumbs up for taking care of three-legged Lentil, owlice!

But what's wrong with being the neighborhood's crazy cat lady? I think cats and owls should go well together. They have the same kind of ears, or pretty much.

Chris, I think Azelfafage is too much of a mouthful - especially since I can't remember what star would claim such a name - but Zubenelgenubi certainly has a ring to it. Besides, I remember that the star that bears this name is either Alpha or Beta Libra. It wouldn't be a bad name for a dog, either, even though I think its shortened version - Zub - doesn't sound so good.

But if you happen to get two new dogs at the same time, and if they are a boy or a girl, why not call then Scheherazade and Zubenelgenubi? Sounds good to me!

A female cat, especially if she has blue eyes, would certainly do justice to the name Alcyone of the Pleiades!

Ann

[Beyond]

How about Zuben as short for Zubenelgenubi

[Ann]

How about Zuben as short for Zubenelgenubi

You said it. Of course!

Ann

[rstevenson]

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
...

The Naming Of Cats by T. S. Eliot

Rob
(... whose late friend Alyx Allenby Beauregard was so named because of fond memories of this poem. As was his late successor, Augustine Bertram Capulet. His successor, Marcel, arrived already named and wouldn't tell us the rest.)

[orin stepanek]

owlice your black cat reminds me of a cat we had when I was a boy! We called him Potato. I don't know how he got that moniker. He lost a paw in a rat trap and held the foot up quit a bit. The result was that it got him lots of treats. The other cats caught on to that gesture and soon whenever they wanted a treat they held a foot up also.

[geckzilla]

This is a pic of my dad's current cat that I took the last time I visited. This scene is from about two years ago and he's being an adolescent terror. Dad's previous cat died and my brother brought this one to him in a pillow sack. I think his friend had a litter of unwanted kittens on his farm. He has a solitary white patch hidden on his belly. Kind of like how Smaug has a secret weak point...

[starstruck]

the kittens.jpg (42.08 KiB) Viewed 112201 times

Four of ours all came as a 'job-lot', together, a litter from a friends farm too. We were originally only going to have two, but when it came down to choosing, we didn't have the heart to split them up!

This picture was taken about 7 years ago, when they were about three months old. Although all grown up nowadays, we still collectively call them "the kittens", just by force of habit.

The one at the front, resting her chin on the chair is Mia (aka Chunky Monkey), then Becky (Bex) on the left, Sabina (Sabster) right and Ginger Bob (or GB) fearlessly hiding behind his three sisters!

With that little group of four tear-aways you can imagine what the curtains and upholstery looked like within pretty short order!

[TNT]

I'm allergic to cats and dogs. I try to avoid spending too much time with them. It is really unfortunate.

I remember when I was younger, I used to have a bird (can't remember what kind of bird it was) and several fish. It was fun having them.

[owlice]

geckzilla, I swear I've owned that cat! (And have the scars to prove it.)

starstruck, that's a lovely family portrait!

TNT, I've had a lot of different animals, including birds (a vicious parakeet, a lovebird, and zebra finches) and gerbils (the latter supposedly my son's), and when I was younger, my family had not only cats and a dog, but tropical fish, seahorses, turtles, salamanders, and a hamster (which we were ill-equipped for). I wanted a snake, but was not allowed to have one, and of course I wanted a horse! The dog, turtles, and salamanders were mine, the hamster and tropical fish my older brother's, the seahorses and cats, oh, so many cats!, were everyone's.

When my younger brother was 36 and very ill, I brought some old photographs to the hospital, among them one of a great dunderheaded grey tabby we had as children; Grey Baby, as we called him, was a particular favorite of my brother's. (Well, of everyone's, but especially my younger brother.) Pictures of family members and friends, various animals, good times, he enjoyed seeing, but it was the black-and-white photo of Grey Baby that choked him with emotion; my older brother and I slipped that photograph in his pocket at the funeral.

Ann, I may have to clarify something. Lentil was injured before we got him; it was his former owner who dealt with (and paid wads and wads o' money for; I've purchased cars for less) his injuries. We got him a year or two after his use of perhaps eight of his nine lives. My son, then small, wanted a cat, but as he had gerbils at the time, I was reluctant to get one. Someone at work sent me an email notice about a three-legged cat needing a new home, and... well... he was at least 25% less likely to get into the gerbil cages, so we took him sight unseen (as in, he was already in a carrier to be rehomed when we went to see him). The gerbils were housed in what we referred to as the "gerbilopolis," which was multiple cages (6-8 usually) connected with tubes, with several levels. Lentil used to drape himself on top of one cage in particular; the gerbils were completely fearless and just didn't care he was there. (I did, though, and used to drag him off.)

Re: crazy neighborhood cat lady, the title has too many syllables, costs too much, and I do want to someday know what it's like to breath normally! That's not going to happen while I have cats.

Rob, my cats kind of name themselves. Names evolve out of their behavior or features, usually. Someday maybe I'll be old enough to give an animal a proper moniker; I'd be embarrassed about "Puddems" except that it just fits him so well! (He is the felinification of cute. Darn cat!)

Orin, wow, curiosity caught your childhood tuxedo cat! Poor thing, but good for him for the treat trick! (And good for the others, too, to learn the behavior!)

[Chris Peterson]

How about Zuben as short for Zubenelgenubi :?:

That's not bad. There's a "rule" for naming dogs and cats (or any other animal smart enough to respond to its own name): two syllables is best. It creates a sort of rhythm that they respond to.

[owlice]

I think I'd be tempted to go with Zubi-nubi.

[Chris Peterson]

I think I'd be tempted to go with Zubi-nubi. :D

I'm having a hard time selling the wife on that.

It looks like the dog on our short list already has a name- Mya. So if we get her, maybe I'll change her name to Twenty Tauri Maia. That works for my naming system, and the dog won't know the difference. She's a fawn, but I doubt she'd mind being named for a very blue star! <g>