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frangipani
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Location: South Africa
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Post by frangipani »

This is my current cat, Rom:
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She's two years old, but still looks kittenish because she's a runt. She is quite a wild little cat (I often call her a rat - in a loving way, of course! - because she looks and acts like one) and is very good at catching birds. Here in SA, we get a lovely bird called a Natal robin (of the European, rather than American robin family). They are quite territorial, so you generally only get one in an area. One moved in here, then Rom's mother Maisy killed it. The next two were killed by Rom. None have moved into the garden since then.

Rom is very bossy, and has no respect for any other cats, who she likes to bully (though she's really a coward and doesn't like to get into a fight). She likes to go off and not be bothered by anyone, so if she's out in the garden, she runs away from me. She loves to visit a garden over the road (why, I don't know - there's nothing there but lawn) which annoys me because I don't like her crossing the road.

She makes up for all her naughtiness by being the most loving, cute, pathetic little cat when she's inside. She'll sit outside my door and howl until I let her in. She then climbs onto my lap or curls up on my pillow. She is like Nermal from the Garfield comics - due to her small size, she remains kitten-like, and knows how to turn on the cuteness when she wants to. And she annoys the other cats like anything.

This is the cat I had before Rom, Buddy:
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He wasn't naughty like Rom. He very sweet, friendly and wimpy. He got frightened by many things (large birds, for example), but was a fearless rat hunter. That's part of the reason why I don't have him anymore. He liked to go over the road to hunt rats, and moved over there permanantly after Maisy and Rom moved in, because Maisy attacked him. I don't know what happened to Buddy - I looked for him, but never found him. I hope he found a new home somewhere. He was such a wonderful cat. He also had a pathetic streak like Rom - he wailed his heart out whenever I flea-powdered him.

This is Albert, a cat who had to be put down last month:

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He was a stray who had obviously been owned at one point, because he didn't mind being touched. He was a bit bossy and demanding, but he had such a friendly nature that one couldn't help but love him. He was a very aristocratic animal, hence the royal-sounding name. He was very fond of Rom (who, despite being spayed, has had no less than FIVE boyfriends from all over the neighbourhood), and she rather liked him.

He developed an abcess, which he recovered from, but he had mouth ulcers that wouldn't heal, and the vet discovered he had feline aids, which can't be cured. I still miss him a lot. He was a beautiful, loving animal, who must have somehow gotten separated from his owner and been forced to live a hard life on his own. At least his last year was a happy one.
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stevo3214
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Location: South Dakota

Post by stevo3214 »

In the past I've had four snakes, a few tortoises and tarantulas, and a colony of Emperor scorpions. And some lizards, too, including a Savannah monitor and an iguana. Lovebirds, parakeets, finches...funny thing is, my favorite is dogs.
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*Barracuda_52*
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Post by *Barracuda_52* »

Newest member of the family..

We got Cassie a Pug puppy for her birthday and boy was she surpised, everything went great that day.. Heres her new baby..

Meet "Hazelnut" Hazel for short.. :P

Cassies bday, right after she was haded the pup..
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and random pics..
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looky the flat mug.. LOL!! :D
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A rescue dog is never to old to learn to be a real dog. Image
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CelticRose
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Post by CelticRose »

Awww... What a cutie! :)
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Red66
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Post by Red66 »

Heres my pitiful and his boss Image
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paulzie32
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Post by paulzie32 »

Great Thread! I never saw this one! So many Great Pets!
Well, here's my two. The first one is Dolly and she's a Ragdoll. I consider her a rescue as we contacted a breeder near by who said she only had one available kitten at the time that 3 others put a deposit on but kept passing on.
We felt bad for her and couldn't figure out why anyone would pass on a kitten even after putting down a deposit! When we got to the breeders house, we found out why.
We were greeted by an out of control poodle puppy that she said she "Just" came home with, not more than 20 minutes before we got there. As we looked to the right side of the house, on our way up the walk, we saw Huge cages with what I think were Ocicats or maybe Bengals. She said she couldn't get rid of them and were too wild for the house.
Inside were about 8 large cages with Mommies with babies, a few cats walking around, Two doors that were shut that we could hear more cats behind but weren't permitted behind. The Ammonia smell was overwhelming! She appologized for not being able to bathe the little girl we were getting but also offered to show us other kittens. We did play with some others but took the one no one else wanted. She insisted on putting drops in her ears first though and just asked us to bathe her when we get home. Several hundred dollars later and we were home at the sink and were DISGUSTED by the DIRT that came off this kitten that never left a house!
Her ears were Caked with ear mites and her fur was so dirty it took 2 baths to get her clean!
She (from what we've been told by others) must not have been held much as she does not like being held and didn't even like us for a while, but is now becoming a real sweet heart. She's 4. but the pictures are not too recent. She was about 2
The second one is Maddy. She was also a rescue. They didn't think she'd make it through the night as she was found in some ones garage and he didn't know how long she was there but was so dehydrated and sick. She was covered in diarrhea when we saw her at the adoption fair she was dropped off at. They said many people asked for her but none followed up but me. She was so small when we took her home a week later, that I had to keep her on the bed with us so I would know when she needed to go potty as she had never been taught how to use a litter box. I also had to get up during the night to "Make" her food. I took dry kitten food and moistened it in the microwave with water and then cooled it. This was because she didn't know how to drink out of a bowl and really wet food was how she was getting her fluids. We really babied her! She is still a real baby and sleeps with us EVERY night right in the middle! She also only drinks from the faucet when the water runs off my finger. She touches the stream and licks it off her paw. We even have to clean her nose regularly for her as she doesn't seem to know how.

I really Need to get some new pictures.

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Image I wasn't raised a Cactolic but converted to Cactolicism later in life ImageImage
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cactihunter
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Post by cactihunter »

Paulzie...they are just BEAUTIFUL.... :love7: :love10:

I hope that either you reported the breeder or that one dark night the cats all escaped and got their revenge :evil:
There's no 12 step programme for Cactaholics...so I shall just have to get some more!!
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paulzie32
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Post by paulzie32 »

Thanks :) I wouldn't trade them for anything!
Unfortunately, I belonged to a Ragdoll group before and right after I got Dolly and they (other breeders) all warned me against doing that as she could then take me to court for destroying her business. At least that's what they all said they would do. They wouldn't even let me put her name on the group. As soon as I did, they deleted it. Oh well.
Here's one when Maddy was little and one of our favorites. Dolly still, to this day, treats Maddy like her baby.
And yes, if you haven't put it together yet, they are Dolly and Madison :roll:
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CelticRose
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Post by CelticRose »

I think an anonymous tip to the local authorities would have been in order. Say you were driving by and saw "wild animals" in cages. The police would have had to investigate and would have shut her down and rescued all those poor animals.

Also, I would steer clear of that ragdoll group. They obviously care more about their wallets than about the animals.

Poor kitty! Imagine a ragdoll that didn't like to be held! She and her friend sure are lucky to have found good people like you.
My mind works in mysterious ways.

I'm all a-Twitter: http://twitter.com/RosCeilteach

My needlework blog: http://rainbowpincushion.blogspot.com
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paulzie32
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Post by paulzie32 »

Thanks, I really should have. Dolly is getting much better about being held and about getting attention.

And I did stop visiting that group. Now I'm here all the time :)
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daiv
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Post by daiv »

paulzie32 wrote:Thanks, I really should have.
Hey, I'll chime in and say - you still should do it. We watch those "Animal Cops" shows from Animal Planet a lot and no doubt, people that do that seem addicted to it. Very few of them change even when threatened with fines, etc. I'm sure none change on their own - except for the worse.

At the same time, I think the Humane societies are almost always more than fair. Probably because they know these people really do like animals, but just don't have the sense to realize they are harming them. Sounds unbelievable, but I believe it to be true.
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
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paulzie32
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Post by paulzie32 »

I've never been to a cat breeders home before, so I do not know what is a normal smell. If the breeder has dozens of cats, is it normal to have a high ammonia smell? The floors were tile and there were no fur balls blowing around... other than kittens. And Since I've never "bought" a cat from a breeder, is it normal for them to get really dirty from being in a cage with several litter mates all playing in the litter box and then jumping all over each other?
Ear mites may also be a difficult thing to control with so many cats in the house... Like spidermites on my cactus! I just don't know.
She's a single older woman... maybe it's her only form of income? She did have a huge GORGEOUS Male that was SO friendly! He wouldn't stop looking for attention from us! He just wanted to snuggle and play! I'm talking about a cat by the way ;)
But my point is she must treat them well for him to be so friendly. Also, with so many kittens, maybe it's difficult to give them all the amount of handling or attention necessary to make them all lap cats.
I Just don't know. Does anyone else on here have much experience with Cat breeding or breeders?
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Harriet
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Post by Harriet »

I'm not a cat person, but those girls are lovely! In my experience there is no better pet than a rescue, I think I posted pictures of my rescued dog several pages ago... Mindy is the most loving pet ever, and I think it is because she was so badly treated that she knew a soft touch when she met me. The point is that the gorgeous male may have been asking you to take him home!

As to the ammonia smell, I would guess that it is from a lack of cleaning the litter boxes. From the state of the cat when you got her home, I would suspect that those poor animals were in pretty bad conditions.

You and your cats are very lucky to have found each other!
Last edited by Harriet on Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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CelticRose
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Post by CelticRose »

Harriet wrote:As to the ammonia smell, I would guess that it is from a lack of cleaning the litter boxes. From the state of the cat when you got her home, I would suspect that those poor animals were in pretty bad conditions.
This.

Also, the fact that she insisted on putting drops in the cat's ears before letting you take her home tells me that she was well aware of the mite problem.
My mind works in mysterious ways.

I'm all a-Twitter: http://twitter.com/RosCeilteach

My needlework blog: http://rainbowpincushion.blogspot.com
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amanzed
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Leenah in 20 sec video

Post by amanzed »

This 20 second video of our dog Leenah hosted on Photobucket doesn't play in Firefox on my system, but does play properly in Safari (with correct aspect ratio).
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