How many Pets ?

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Loving reading all your stories ! Goodness some of you have had so many pets over the years....and when they leave us they take such a chunk of our heats don't they....never forgotten .

Had lots of pets over the years, dogs,lots of cats, usually two at a time.Children had gerbils, hamsters and goldfish as well.The last cat sadly died a couple of years ago, he was very old, so now we are pet free for a while.I must say, it's a lot easier without one around, also cleaner, and we can go away at the drop of a hat, so don't know if we ever will get another one.

We have owned one dog over the years - the only lab I ever met who didn't like water! We have had several cats. When DD was small (4) we lived next door to a couple who had a cat that DD took to kidnapping because she wanted a cat and we said no. Being a service family made pet owning impractical. She would bring the poor thing into the house and say "Sooty says she wants to live here now", and howled the place down when we took it back! Once, she shut it in the wardrobe. My neighbour was very understanding! When we had a permanent home, we got a cat which we had for seventeen years, during which time, we decided to get another from the RSPCA. He was a poor little runt of a thing, in a pen, soaked in his own urine and my heart went out to him immediately. He ran sideways like a crab and we called him Skipper, but he came with all sorts of health difficulties that eventually finished him off at an early age. I cried buckets. Each time we have lost a cat, I swore we wouldn't have another, and with our last one, I stuck to my guns. Animals tie you down and eventually break your heart but when they are with you they're a joy.

We have Poppy now who was a rescued Lhasa Apso she came to us after being left in a house with her owner who had sadly died,before Poppy we had the handsome Barney The JR who had the most scruffy coat you could imagine he was also a rescue boy and so so loyal and loved he had the best 5 years of his life when he was here sadly died in his bed surrounded by his favourite toys.
When we had the family house we fostered hard to place dogs and also had our own Bassets and Labrador one month we had as many as 9 fosters to look after but we managed fine and they all found new forever homes,we have always had animals whilst the children where growing up its just part of our lifestyle.

Oh downtoearth so sad for what Ellie is going through. Sending hugs to you and hope she gets through Wednesday OK. .

numberplease, my goodness, how unlucky you have been with your family pets. Here's to a long and uneventful life for little Mia

When I was expecting our first baby, we looked after my sister's golden lab for a few days while they went away and oh, how bereft we felt when they returned for her! We decided then and there to get a dog of our own, and that's how Bunty, our scatter-brained Dalmatian, came into our lives. Or more popularly referred to as a Damnation . Brain-dead, she would escape and run off at the slightest sniff of fresh air coming through the tiniest gap in the front door. The children grew up to the constant refrain, "mind the dog!" every time someone came to the front door. But what a wonderful companion she was, so gentle with the children, so affectionate. She had 8 puppies at 3 years old and was a lovely mother.
After she left us, following a stroke at 14, we bought a Golden Retriever, named Bella after the last of Bunty's puppies to leave us. Sadly she died at only 4 years old of pyometra. Looking back, we realised she was never really a healthy dog, never ran around as a tiny pup, very sedate and solitary in her behaviour. She had been the runt of the litter and we'd taken pity, but it was a mistake. We loved her so much though, and it took me a long while to come to terms with how she died, alone and with strangers at the veterinary hospital.
Next came Sadie, another Goldie. She was the most entertaining animal, always playing with toys, amusing herself and everyone in the room, or chasing sun pennies around the room - she never cottoned on to what they were!

Now we have no pets of our own, but our DS has a gorgeous, crazy 18 month old Retriever/Red Fox Lab cross who stays with us when they go away. And our DD has a beautiful Black Lab who I'm sure thinks this is her second home. They visit so frequently, several times a week, and DH is always walking Connie - we always keep a sack of her food in the cupboard for her as well! She is as near to being 'our' dog as it gets, so we don't feel that we are dog free, but we don't have all the expenses of pet insurance, boarding kennels and so on - perfect

We always had pets when our children were growing up and many tales about them - e.g. our big beautiful Brutus (cross ridge-back) was literally my daughter's "blanky" when she needed a nap! He would stretch out so she could sleep on his flank and stroke his tummy with one hand as she plugged in (she was a thumb sucker).

Now we are pet free unless we are baby sitting our children's pets - a win-win situation.

I have a friend who has three retired racing greyhounds - she has her own business and they are lined up in their baskets in her office! Lovely doggies.

Rubylady Maggie looks like Chewbacca from Star Wars in the "smiley" pic. She is a cutie.

Gosh numberplease you've been very unlucky with pets! So sorry to hear the sad tales. Pets really matter don't they. I'd hate to be without one (although I do wish our giant cat didn't feel it was so important to make sure we're all awake at the crack of dawn every day. Annoyingly once we're up he goes back to sleep!)

On our honeymoon nearly 30 years ago, we were on a farm in the Lake District and outside, tethered to a kennel was a lovely little dog. I would have took it there and then but couldn't. It was raining and so we decided, since we then had our own house to go back to, to head home after three days. Instead of going home, we went straight to the animal shelter, where we adopted our lovely Heinz 57, Scruffy for a grand sum of £3.00.

She was with us when both children were born and died at around 15 years old. We then, after a while, got a little Jack Russell, but my ex wouldn't let me bring him with me when I divorced. He was a little snappy (the dog. . . and the ex!) and eventually bit my ex's new wife on the hand. (Good boy! ).

I phoned over a beautiful little puppy but was told that she was promised to another lady. Sitting outside a cafe, waiting for the bus to drop off my DS and his friend and for my DD to come to visit by train, (it was DS's birthday), I was telephoned by the owner and told that the lady hadn't turned up for the puppy and she was ours if we wanted her. I gathered everyone together and we set off on the train to go and see her. Five weeks old, not more than six inches long, beautiful black coat and very, very lovely. She is now just turned six years old and can be seen on my profile, my darling little Maggie. She is with me through any bad day, gives me lots of cuddles and sleeps with me. I love her more than anything and anyone.

I have two budgies too, but one is very naughty, Graham. Lily is sweet and quiet but he is a little monkey.

When we were first married, we had the most gorgeous kitten, called Smokey. His mum was a tortoiseshell, but he was a beautiful blue/grey colour, with blue eyes. Sadly, he was quite vicious, even when tiny, and when our baby daughter arrived, hubby said we weren`t taking any chances, and took him to the RSPCA, hoping he could be re-homed. Our next pet was a German Shepherd dog, called Rex, he was 19 months old when we bought him, and a lovely dog, he`d let anyone into our house, but woe betide them if they wanted to leave! But he didn`t get on with other dogs, or cats, and it became a constant struggle when walking him, particularly as there were a lot of loose dogs in our area. In the end, we gave him to a place that trained guard dogs for factories, hopefully he lived out his life happily. This all doesn`t sound too good on our part, but we really are animal lovers. Next on the scene was a beautiful tortie and white kitten, called Sherry. She had 5 kittens, we homed 4 of them, kept the tortie and white who looked like her mum, named her Patch. A few months after this, Sherry was taken ill one day, and died before we could get her to the vet, we suspect she was poisoned, and thought we knew the culprits, but no proof. The following year, Patch had her own little family of 4, but we homed them all. Then our neighbours` German Shepherd was illegally accosted by a rather large mongrel dog that got into their garden, and she gave birth to 3 lovely puppies, and we had one, we named her Tina. Tina was lovely, but had a tendency to bark a lot whenever she was outside, and neighbours complained, so unfortunately she didn`t get out as often as she would have liked, so one day, the kids were coming in from school, forgot to be careful about Tina, she got out, we went after her, but she ran into the road and was run over, she died before the vet arrived. We decided against any more dogs, and carried on for years with just our Patch, who died aged 12 from kidney problems. Then a few months later we acquired Bonny, a pretty black kitten. She had kittens, we kept a little barred tabby, named Trixie, but she unfortunately contracted hepatitis aged 1 year, and was put to sleep. Bonny was joined a couple of years later by Heidi, a gorgeous greyhound cross, never knew what her father was, she was the most beautiful natured dog, no trouble, hardly ever barked, no vices whatsoever, apart from being incurably greedy! We had to feed her and Bonny in separate locations, and stand guard whilst Bonny ate her food, or she would have starved. Bonnie was with us until she was 16, then one night she went out, didn`t come back, and was found dead in the factory yard next door, by my son-in-law, we think she just died, she had no injuries. A couple of years later, Heidi was poorly, she was 15, had had one operation to remove a lump from her nipple, she just went downhill rapidly, so we deemed it kinder to have her put out of her misery. After that, my husband said no more pets, even though I really did want another cat. Then just over 3 years ago, we acquired some unwanted pets, mice, and hubby said, right, we`re getting a cat. We took in Pepper, a beautiful ginger boy, from a rescue society, and we adored him, but he went and got himself run over after just a few months. A few weeks later, we got our lovely Mia from another rescue organisation, she`s all white, except when she`s been underneath a car, which happens at least once a week! We`ve had her just over 2 and a half years, and hope to have her for many more. Here endeth my saga.

I was never allowed pets as a child so the first thing I did when married was to get a cat he met an untimely end at just two. Then we had a mongrel joined by a stray cat, they both died of old age. Then a JR, who we had to rehome. Now have a cat who is 13.

Our younger dog is four. I am fully expecting that she will be our last because Jack Russells can live well into their teens. It's a weird thought.

There was a newspaper article a little while ago about the Queen declining the 'kind offer' of a Yorkshire terrier puppy because she might trip over it!
Her old corgis have gradually died off. I think she only has one or two now but the thought of the 89 year old Queen cursing a terrier getting under her feet made me

I have had cats for years. Tara the present one is very intelligent. I do not think that I will have another once she goes. Insurance is very expensive and I do worry if I am ever taken to hospital as an emergency. Good neighbours of mine would look after her but the fellow is allergic to cats which does not help.

downtoearth

Over the years we've had a dog (chocolate retriever/lab cross), a cat and her five kittens (they triggered a cat allergy in me), several goldfish, several guinea pigs/gerbils/hamsters and a couple of rabbits. And now our son has moved back home for the summer bringing his 6ft corn snake.