My Furry Children
I have always been an animal lover and since I got my own house I have indulged myself with pets...within reason. I am currently the door-opener and food-provider to two cats and two dogs.
(In case you're wondering, yes, he is standing on the toilet. Such a fascination with water I have never seen in a cat before.)
One cat, Jamie, is an orange longhaired male. He is named for Jamie Fraser, the male main character in Diana Gabaldon's series of novels. My friend Belinda found him on the way to work one day when we both worked for an animal hospital here in Starke. He was in the clinic maybe thirty seconds before I had him in the sink getting a bath and cleaning up his cruddy eyes. He might have been all of six weeks old, if that, at the time. He fought me every step of the way with the bath and whatnot, so I thought the character's name fit my Jamie as well, since he also was a male redhead with an attitude.
Sophie is my lone female ally in this house. She and Jamie are very close in age, though not from the same litter. Sophie, her six brothers and sisters and her mother, forevermore to be known as Mama-Cat, were dumped at our animal hospital. The kittens were about a week old since their eyes weren't even open yet. Mama-Cat would come and feed the babies where they were left on our back porch, but she wasn't open to the idea of human contact just yet. She even went so far as to start stealing ther kittens and hiding them in the woods behind the clinic. Well, I wasn't too fond of the idea of a colony of feral cats hanging oout behind the clinic and breeding, so armed with the few kittens she hadn't yet stolen, I went on a safari. Squealing kittens make great Mama-Cat bait so I found her, backtracked her steps and found the whole clan. Mama-Cat chose well-- there was a bunch of rocks and brush in a pile that she had chosen for her den. Jamming all seven kittens into the various pockets of my scrub top and getting her by the scruff, I took them inside. We found homes for all concerned, including Mama-Cat; she still ives with the veterinarians whose clinic it was. Sophie came home with me. She is a definite snuggle/lap kitty, sometimes to the point that you have to push her away because you're hot or suffocating on cat fur.
Grizz was given to me by Belinda, the aforementioned kitten-rescuer. He belonged to her dad, but he was in poor health and not really able to take care of a big dog properly. I was in the process of getting a house and was suckered into taking him. He had pretty serious heartworm disease and should be the poster child for the treatment, since he tried to die during every aspect of it, including anaphylaxis at the very end, getting the microfilaricide treatment. But he survived well and is a healthy happy dog. My dad called him "Cujo" at first, since Dad and Grizz didn't get along. You see, Dad is essentially afraid of dogs, or at least mistrustful, and Grizz knew it. So, while we were working on my falling-apart house (but that's another story), Grizz would watch Dad, usually through the sliding glass door onto the porch. As soon as Dad became oblivious to Grizz's presence again, the dog would launch himself at the glass, rearing to his full, impressive height and bark ferociously. Dad would teleport about six feet in the opposite direction and come down cursing. They have since worked out their differences and Grizz no longer terrorizes my dad. He now understands that Dad will throw the ball for him until one of them faints, and that, to a dog, is a Very Good Thing. As you can see, Grizz has a very close relationship with his basketball.
And this is my little foundling, Angus. About 5 months after I had to euthanize my Great Dane, Pluto, one of my co-workers at LAKEWATCH told me about this puppy that had shown up at his house. As soon as Eric said, "He looks like a full-blooded German Shepherd to me," I had already made up my mind. He brought the puppy to me the next day or two and I took him home. Grizz was terribly lonely after Pluto was gone and was very happy to have company again. If Angus doesn't stop chewing everything is sight, however....
I love my animals and want to take good care of them. King Wholesale Pet Supplies has excellent prices and great stuff.
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