How many Pets ?

ruby; would you believe it that, after I asked you about Maggie the other week I was out walking and bumped into a family that had two dogs..one looked like a Yorkie but I wasn't sure about the other and, guess what..it was a Yorkie/Maltese cross..this time it's colour was more Yorkie! Interesting the easiest dog that number ever had was a greyhound cross; I wish more people realised what super pets they make. Every pet I have I seem to make a terrible mistake with, health wise, and, when I think I've learned from that I make another mistake.

Over the years I have had many pets, cats, dogs, budgies, hamsters the lot but my most memorable was a little cat called 'clootie dumpling', she was just like a baby and wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in my arms, she followed me everywhere and I was devastated when she was diagnosed as having a heart murmur, however she was doing well on medication until one day we had returned from her check up and the y said she was doing well, I left her in the living room and dashed off to a dental appointment, my DD rang me to say clootie was dying, I hurried back to find her normally white face blue and her tongue blue I knew it was too late for the vet but rang them for advice and they said to bring her in, she died in DDs arms in the car. she had had a massive heart attack, however when we got home we found a huge bee buzzing around where the cat had fallen and as it was march we thought it had been hibernating behind the radiator and clootie must have caught it in her mouth and been stung, this is the only explanation for what happened. So please everyone be careful of bees and wasps with your pets.

oh etheltbags..such a sad story for little "clootie dumpling"..and so sad for you.

One of our cats died whilst at the vet's..he was having a dressing changed after a tumour removal on his leg..and had to be sedated to do this....our vet was devastated that the poor cat had literally died on his table. Big shock all round.

The most pets that we have had at any one time was 4 - first along came Toby the Persian who had behaviour difficulties so we decided to get another cat to help him (I know better now since the cat programme) then we went to get Tim another Persian who never went anywhere without Tabitha his sister so guess what - three cats. Then DH put on too much weight so we got a Westie Thomas to help him exercise more (that worked)

What was really miserable though is that they all died within about 6 months of each other - dreadful year.

That is so sad for you whitewave...I can completely sympathise how bad that was for you.....we lost one of our labradors to spleen cancer and within 4 weeks our other gorgeous lab died whilst being operated on for a tumour growing on the side of her stomach and adhering to her liver....we were devastated .

I know lots of people can't do this...they need time to grieve, but we aren't like that..we go straight out and give another poor soul a home.....we call it "moving on"....never replacing...but a new dog helps us through the grief...gives us a focus.

Oh no!! I've just been out to feed my beautiful ghost koi in the pond and they're dead. My husband washed all the paths with jeyes fluid yesterday and some of it must have got into the pond. It's the second time he's done this and he's really sorry, but I am upset that it's happened again.

I had a small koi called Chang years ago and was distraught when he died; I'd bought him as an investment for the future thinking he might grow into one of those that are worth thousands. I'd even nursed him through a sore on his side at one time. I was doing something to another fish once [my fish seemed to have a lot of problems] and it nearly slipped down the overflow of the sink...thankfully I caught him in time. I was never very lucky with fish . I did have to euthanise a very poorly fish of my daughters a few years ago and a fisherman friend was very impressed with my knowledge of doing such things.

Oh ga, that's so sad.
I'd be really upset too if my pond fish died, two of the goldfish were given to me in a tank 12 years ago - they were 15 years old then!
One's almost pure white, the other's a fantail.

sheena we lost out westie in the February to Westie lung, and said never again, then Toby went - cancer- in March. Then Tim went in June - liver disease. By this time we had decided to have another dog and began to look at the possibilities and what breed etc. Then Tabitha simply pined away and was dead by August - she eventually refused and food or fluid, she spent all the last couple of months calling for Tim. It was absolutely heart breaking.

Duncan joined us in early October of that year at 10 weeks old. He is now 5 and an ass.

I've never heard of Westie lung before; surely they're doing something to breed it out of them?

I have had pets as long as I can remember. Just now we have 4 dogs. All rescue. Dot, my princess who is a really tiny Jack Russell, William a cairn terrier who was so close to death when we got him that we had to hand feed him wee bits at a time, Heactor who is some kind of spaniel terrier mix and Roddy a very clumsy Jack Russell. Added to that we have 2cats, 3rescue ponies, a sheep who thinks she is a dog, and 2 pet coos who would rather be in the garden than the field with the rest of our cattle if they could get away with it.

I still have photos of me with a sheep I met on holiday in Greece when I was @ 19; she used to follow people around like a dog...I hadn't realised till then how sweet they could be.

popped in yesterday quickly before my littlest GD was delivered to my care while mum was at work to say thank you for Ellies good wishes ,only to find this morning that it didn't send....so thank you all..
its true as was said earlier animals take a piece of your heart with them when they go,we have had rabbits,guinea pigs,ducks,chickens,all with personality...we got Ells shortly after my daughter died those of you who remember me as Nellie may remember I had posted several times about this,my GD was then aged 4 and I believed that children should grow up with animals hence all the above,last two of the litter Ells chose me and she has been with us as a constant friend,confidante,for the last 10 years,especially during the early years with the 2am screaming ab dabs that happen sometimes....so poor old lady now we will see what comes forth Wednesday/Thursday...animal lovers and doggy people are so friendly,when I am out and about can never resist stopping and asking to stroke all the lovely furry friends out,and enjoy a quick chat with their human family as well,I feel for all of you that have lost beloved pets xxxx

I agree with all the people who say that children should have animals in their lives. So, we have had an Afghan hound, a beagle, a cocker spaniel, two basset hounds and two miniature schnauzers, probably 25 cats, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, gold fish and tropical fish.

Currently, we have one black cat, called Kiwi! We are debating getting another dog but are not sure we want the commitment. I'd love a couple more cats but DH is neurotic about them scratching the furniture!

GA

I cannot imagine a home without an animal sharing it. I've four small dogs here at the moment having agreed to look after next door's and my granddogs as they are all away this weekend. They seem to have bonded as a small pack and there's only been one fight - at feeding time.

When my children were little we had a succession of small rodents, hamsters, guinea pigs, but none of them lasted very long. The best one was my DD's hamster, it was nearly 3 when it died. We had a black toy poodle named Coco by my 3 yr. old DD. We lived in the country but moved into a small market town when he was about 10. He never learned any road sense, and hated cats! One night my DH let him out in the garden for the usual reason, he spotted a cat and was off. He ran into the road and was killed by a very upset lady in her car. Wevthen were given a parson Russell terrier. He was beautiful to look at, but a very angry dog. When he hit puberty he developed what the vet thought could be "rage syndrome". He was certain the house belonged to him. We couldn't move around, or sit on the floor! With regret we had him put to sleep, the vet thought this was the only solution. We found out later that all his siblings had suffered the same fate. We now have another Parson, a bitch called Weiser. She has been a fantastic dog, very gentle and loving, would let all my grandchildren fuss about with her, very longsuffering. She is 16 now and getting rather doddery and incontinent. I think she is nearing the end of her life. We want to move next year, into a retirement property of some sort, and mist of these stipulate no pets, so I think she will be out last dog. Oh! I nearly forgot about Magic. She was a cockatiel we had for a few years. Very loud bird, better than a guard dog! She gave a loud squark one day and fell dead in the cage. Must have been a heart attack we think. We buried her under a tree outside our house. Well that has been our pet saga.

I agree with everyone who believes children should have pets in their lives. We have had some real characters living with us as the children were growing up, particularly the two African Grey parrots who mimicked all our voices and household sounds and would drive the dogs potty by telling them in my voice that it was 'walkies time - where's your lead?'

We've had tropical fish, pond fish, two cats, two clumber spaniels (one rescued), two cocker spaniels (one rescued), a German shepherd, a couple of rescue Heinz 57s, and now my basset hound, who is adored by all the grandchildren and is written about and drawn in schoolbooks and on the classroom walls. Yesterday, she spent most of the afternoon playing on the stairs with my two grandsons, happily sitting between them and wagging her tail at me when I invited her to come down - not interested!

Our bassets were brilliant with the children when.

We had a really long sofa bed in the playroom which the dogs would lie on, end to end. It was nothing to find a child using the front and back legs of a sleeping basset as 'arms' whilst using the dogs tummy as a back rest. The dogs never took, or attempted to take, any food the child might be eating. On the other hand, my mother made a chocolate and orange cake and, mindful of the dogs, put it in the middle of the kitchen table. She came back to the kitchen a short while later and found both dogs ON the table but no cake!

Ells is also very long suffering she is pillow n blanket to an active 2 year old god bless our doggy family x

Once again I have to say how I am enjoying reading all your stories..goodness some of them tug at the heart strings too....I wonder if, like me, writing about your various past pets has brought up some lovely memories? and for those of us who have pets here and now...well I truly think we are blessed... and I don't mean that in a syrup -y sort of way ...

For all of you who have three or four dogs...how do you find it walking them all? As you know I have the two greyhounds who are always on the lead, and little Penny who we can let off in the park with no worries...she's a very good little girl despite her terrifying Romanian background.
I did foster dogs last year and would love to do so again, but it's the walking them that I find hard..I run out of hands !!

I hope you keep the stories coming....it is amazing the different sort of pets we have all had .
whenim64 you mentioning your African greys..... brought back childhood memories for me...my uncle had one called Cocoa...and oh boy could he talk (and swear !) and sing "oh I do like to be beside the seaside" I can hear him now ! Mind you I was terrified of him when they let him out of his cage !
downtoearth I'm sure we will all be thinking of Ellie on Wednesday..please do let us know how she gets on .

Can you let dogs off in the park now? Someone at the vets last week told me that it is now illegal to let a dog off a lead in a public place such as a park; also that an owner must know the exact place where a dogs identichip is and could get in trouble if it's migrated without informing the powers that be [whoever they are].

I think it is lovely that so many take rescue dogs we have 3 and one unwanted at the moment our last rescue who we have had for a year is in pain going for xrays Tuesday the vet thinks its the way she was treated before could be spine trouble we will wait for the outcome.

Tegan, there`s been a sign on the park gates in Boston for several years now, saying no loose dogs, but nobody seems to take any notice, whether it`s actually law or not, I don`t know. And if a rescue animal has been chipped already, how is the new owner supposed to know where the chip is?

The vet scans it when the dog or cat has it's vaccinations.

I've never been without cats and dogs and I never said No to any pet my children wanted. Now I have two little dogs and one cat and as I get older they are more important to me than ever. They cost a lot to keep and it's difficult to go away even for a night or two but they give me love and companionship every day.
Each time I've lost a dog the worst thing has been returning to a silent empty house. I never want to live without a pet to love and care for, even though I have a large family.