Comfort Reads discussion

We seem to be a group of animal lovers so if anyone wants to share, feel welcome to do so here.

Okay, I'll start. Buddy, is 13 years old, and as my husband likes to say: he is an American brown dog. You know, the kind they always list as shepherd-cross. He could be part boxer and beagle and who knows. He was around one-year-old when we took him home from the shelter. He was so depressed-looking that I told my husband we either took him or he would die! He still has this kind of sad look about him. Now he is greying, losing his hearing and vision, and can't run with us on the bikes anymore. He's attached to me -- he thinks I'm mom.

One year after we got the dog, I brought home the devil cats. Two brothers, 8-weeks old. I only wanted the orange one, but the little black guy cried so pathetically that I took them both (what a sucker!). My daughter loves them. I have had cats I have loved more, but that's how it is with cats -- luck of the draw. :)

Neither my daughter nor my husband has lost a pet, so I am hoping the dog lasts a few more years! I know the cats will!

Jeannette, I know it is so hard to resist those little kittens when they are tiny and mewling at you!

We have a lovely tabby cat named Jerjer (I know, I know). Don't ask me about the name it's a long and complicated story. He's very shy and wouldn't come near my daughter for about 2 and a half years. We used to have four cats but we lost Thea to old age, and George and Francis to misadventure in the last two years. We miss them lots. :-(

My cats stay indoors, so they should live a long time. We named them Sweety and Blacky (obvious to a 4 year old girl, who wanted them to both be named Sweety). My computer geekoid husband wanted to name them A & B.

(I have had a variety of pets over the years, some belonging to boyfriends of the time. I miss some of those animals still.)

Barb,

I find it easiest to upload from my computer to my profile section. I have picture of my pets in my Profile page, as do a few other members. I still can't figure out how to embed photos! :(

Barb! How adorable! Thanks for sharing!

Of course, you all know that Dixie has her dog blog, so there are gobs of pictures there along with her commentary.

My two cats are Sophie (the world's laziest, but also cutest ragdoll) and Maxie (the world's grumpiest pixiebob).

Such cute dogs, Barb! I'm glad the posting worked!

I don't have any pets at the moment (except my wild raccoons that come begging at my door and even bring their little babies along in the summer, they are so cute). I also have lots of deer and a whole group of about 20-30 wild turkeys which come by quite often (I don't do anything in my garden, I just leave the vegetation for the wild animals, and I have NO HUNTING signs posted everywhere). I love wild birds with a passion and that is one of the main reasons that I will never get a cat as a pet. I love cats, but if they are outside they often are quite detrimental to the native wild bird population. Nevertheless, I have a few black and white cats which have made themselves a home in an abandoned shed on my property. They seem to get along rather well with the raccoons and the squirrels, even sharing table scraps.

Oh, this is horrible..... I don't have time to write anything but I want too. I will be back. I promise. I do not know how to put pictures here like you guys have. I have pics of Oscar and Skye who died a year ago on my profile, until I have time to learn more.

Barb, I love the terri-poo, hadn't seen one before. My dog, Abbie, is a mix of mostly Australian Cattle dog and we're not sure what else. She has a softer, less muscular face than the cattle dogs usually do. She's 10 and a half and is starting to have some hip problems. She is a great dog, very sweet and so well-behaved.

Our pets! I have a German Shepherd who is 4, and 3 cats all rescued. The youngest is just over 1, and is quite a scamp. Have any of you found that male cats are quite the characters? Whereas the females are quieter and just plain sweet.

Raider, my best friend in the whole world.


Crazy Gizmo!


I have to upload to Photobucket my favorite picture of sweet chirping Annabelle and grumpy Moxie later.

I've never seen a terripoo either!

What a fine looking German Shepherd! And Crazy definitely suits that cat!

As Chrissie said, she and I have pet photos in our profiles. Check out our profiles and click on the profile picture to see the gallery. I don't have my photos online, and I think that is why we can't embed them in the post!

I love hearing about all of these wonderful animal friends! :)

Thanks for sharing all the photos you guys! They are ALL beautiful creatures! I have a picture of my cat and daughter together on my profile too. I must figure out this photo uploading thing on the threads too.

Ohhhhhhhhhh!!! They're all so gorgeous! I prefer animals to humans most of the time. I am going to post photos of my cats tomorrow when I get some time.

Boof wrote: "Ohhhhhhhhhh!!! They're all so gorgeous! I prefer animals to humans most of the time. I am going to post photos of my cats tomorrow when I get some time."

I looked at your profile photos! Did little Dexter come home? He's so cute!

That's a wonderful topic here on comfort reads !!! I am like Chrissie I don't know how to upload pics here but there are two of Arsène , my tux cat on my profile !!!

Yes Boof I was wondering about your Dexter........

I, too, need to look into how to upload pictures to discussions. I can upload to my profile, but I haven't tried to do so on discussion threads yet. I do have Photobucket but haven't used it yet.

I haven't figured it out either but I know you do need to get them via the web, from a place such as Photobucket. Unlike profile pictures and book covers, you can't upload them directly from your computer desktop.

Kathy wrote: "I, too, need to look into how to upload pictures to discussions. I can upload to my profile, but I haven't tried to do so on discussion threads yet. I do have Photobucket but haven't used it yet."

Your profile is set to private, so I hope you'll be able to post your pet photos here soon. I am enjoying these pictures!

I just posted two more kitty photos on my profile. They are pretty normal cats, but we love them (well, most of the time!) I haven't ventured into photobucket yet. Thanks for the instructions, Barb! :)

Thanks Barb! I guess I'll have to check out photobucket too.

Jeannette wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I, too, need to look into how to upload pictures to discussions. I can upload to my profile, but I haven't tried to do so on discussion threads yet. I do have Photobucket but haven'..."

Oh, it is? I will have to check on it.

Barb wrote: "In order to post pics, here's what you need to do:
If you don't already have a photobucket account, get one (free), and upload pictures to your account.
Once you have some pictures in your album,..."

Thanks so much, Barb for the information! I will give it a try this coming week.

Thanks, Barb! Someday I'll try it out!

I just found out that my sister-in-law got a puppy yesterday. He's adorable. I posted a picture on Dixie's dog blog, but I haven't tried posting here yet. She swore that she would never get a dog so this is pretty funny. She (my SIL) is shocked that the dog didn't sleep through the night, and she's so tired, yada yada. The puppy is 9 weeks and in a new house, of course he isn't sleeping all night. Haha!

Christine wrote: "I just found out that my sister-in-law got a puppy yesterday. He's adorable. I posted a picture on Dixie's dog blog, but I haven't tried posting here yet. She swore that she would never get a do..."

Oh, boy, does she know about the chewing and the peeing part?? lol

Jeannette wrote: "Christine wrote: "I just found out that my sister-in-law got a puppy yesterday. He's adorable. I posted a picture on Dixie's dog blog, but I haven't tried posting here yet. She swore that she wo..."

If she doesn't know about those things, she'll figure them out soon enough, especially if she has not put shoes and slippers in safe places or not put newspapers down. I remember when I was about 11 and our first dog (a beautiful and loyal Rottweiler which we had brought over from Germany with us) died, sigh. We finally got a new Rottweiler puppy, and because it was summer, we were living in a small trailer on a grain farm. The puppy slept in the kitchen, and I was sleeping in the living room which was separated by from the kitchen by just a small partition; I didn't get much sleep for the first few weeks, but he sure was cute.

Jeannette wrote: "Christine wrote: "I just found out that my sister-in-law got a puppy yesterday. He's adorable. I posted a picture on Dixie's dog blog, but I haven't tried posting here yet. She swore that she wo..."

She keeps texting me questions...the poor thing is like a new mom to her first child.

Christine wrote: "Jeannette wrote: "Christine wrote: "I just found out that my sister-in-law got a puppy yesterday. He's adorable. I posted a picture on Dixie's dog blog, but I haven't tried posting here yet. She..."

Tell her to make sure to keep toxic substances etc. out of the reach of puppies. They are just about as curious and unpredictable as children. And, they love to eat stuffed animals.

I think puppies love to eat anything! :)

Yep, I remember that! Dixie would rip the head off any stuffed toy that crossed her path for a while. Now she has learned to stick to her own toybox though.

Skip is a cutie! What kind of dog is he?

she said he is a shih tzu teddy bear???? I'm not sure what the teddy bear part means.

Maybe she meant panda bear?? Those little black eye patches are interesting!

I know! I love your comment about sunglasses, they do look like that. I'll have to call and check up on him this morning.

My dog, Abbie, has never really chewed on things or torn anything up, except for a rug that I had under my computer chair. That was so strange and just happened recently in the last year. Keep in mind that Abbie is going on 11 years old and never been destructive. When I had been gone from the house and would return, I would find the strands torn from the rug and the rug in general disarray. I finally just removed the rug. It was like this easy-going, mild-mannered dog suddenly turned into a rug-hating/destroying machine while I was gone. Very puzzling to me.

Now, my daughter's pugs will chew anything anywhere if given a chance.

My daughter was three when we got our dog (he was about a year old). My daughter was on a "Jungle Book: jag at the time, so she really wanted a toy Shere Khan. You cannot believe how long it took me to find a plastic tiger! And, guess what the dog chewed up? We got more careful about picking up toys after that! :) The kittens liked to chew on Barbie doll hands. Even now the orange cat chews on those "boingy" door stopper things. They are absolutely mangled.

Jeannette wrote: "My daughter was three when we got our dog (he was about a year old). My daughter was on a "Jungle Book: jag at the time, so she really wanted a toy Shere Khan. You cannot believe how long it took..."

The Rottweiler puppy used to decapitate flowers and chew on any newly planted trees. Kipper also simply loved to kidnap stuffed animals from our beds to play with them (unfortunately, he always returned them in less than pristine condition). And, until the end of his life, he had this thing about wheels and tires. No wheelbarrow and no bicycle wheel was safe from from him, but they had to be in motion for him to "attack." My mother actually got him his own personal tire, and while this was a favourite toy, it did not stop Kipper from running after any and all moving wheels. They just drove him bananas.

Yay for me! I posted a picture (on another group thread)! Now I know how to do this. :)

We have 4 pets in our house. First there is Asher, the oldest pet and cat. He's like 3/4 years old, long black fur. We think hes a siberian..he fits the description. Second is Tinker, an orange and white tabby who is about the same age as Asher. We adopted Tinker when Asher was 6 months old. Third is Bailey, a black and tan dachshund. We got him a year after Tinker. Bailey is almost 2 years old. Finally there's Bella, a red dapple, mini dachshund. We got her a year afte Bailey. This is how I like to describe all my pets:

Asher- The pissy and independent one
Tinker-The sensitive and loving one
Bailey-The strong, protective and energetic one
Bella- The baby and the diva

http://www.facebook.com/readerandwriter

heres my facebook. you can see pictures of my pets in my photos.

Ashley, it sounds like a typical family!

Sorry I vanished for a bit there! I took a trip back to Michigan to visit with DH and my cats (I'm in Pittsburgh looking for work, because there ain't much to go around in SE Michigan).

We have three cats: Audrey, Isabella and Noodle. All girls. Audrey is a tortie, and accordingly grumpy and picky. Really, I'm the only one she likes, and to me she is one of those pets I just have a special bond with. She will be 7 in may. Isabella (always called Kitten) is 4, a silver tabby with white socks and quite shy. It took years to convince her to socialize with people, and now she can be really demanding about getting pets and treats. And Noodle is still a baby, a year old and full of energy. Her foster mom said she was in the top 1% of cats she'd ever seen for being energetic, and uh... yeah. She pretty much bounces off the walls and requires lots of toys and interactions. In return she is a total sweetheart, loves snuggles and being held, and sings to us.

I miss them horribly :( and can't wait until we are all living in the same city again!

I have also had other pets in the past; my greyhound, Lovey, who passed away due to cancer way too young (retired racer); my herding mutt Kia, adopted when I was in 7th grade -- she lived to be about 23 and was a really special dog; our cat Sam Henry, who is still alive but really getting up there at 18. Not to mention my mom's Papillons, the greyhounds I met doing GUR runs, and all the animals I've met volunteering at shelters.

If I weren't allergic to them I'd be a vet or vet tech! Ha!

What is it with torties? My sister had one and it didn't like anyone but my sister. And it used to bite her all the time! I was afraid of that cat!

Are you allergic to dogs? My daughter just developed allergies (at 15) to the cats, but she loves them enough to take Claritin every night. They are only 12 years old, so we'll have them for a while.

I've met quite a few rescued greyhounds. A few years back ISU had some lab animals for adoption, too. They hadn't been abused, per se, but they all seemed rather shy to me. They are an interesting breed of dog.

Yup, I'm allergic to dogs too. I take Allegra, Flonase and Sudafed when the cats are around... it's worth it, though.

Greyhounds can be pretty laid-back dogs, for the most part. They're not very typically dog-like. Almost more like a Very Large Cat, really! I had more people ask me why I wasn't feeding my dog... I assured them that she ate quite a lot and that they're meant to look that way. Ha! Lovey had an autoimmune disorder that required a lot of medication and was probably exacerbated by the poor diet she was fed at the tracks.

Oh, and yeah, torties are just like that (like orange cats tend to be climbers and very social, cats with socks are very elegant and refined, etc.) for the most part. I love it. Audrey was a serious biter when I got her and is largely reformed now but you really have to pay attention to her signals. If she doesn't want attention, she doesn't want attention, and she may still nip. Mostly she just ignores everyone else, though she's come to love DH as well.

I have 11 pets.
1 dog a 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever names Annie
2 cats 13 year old Stormy and 9 month old Squirrel
1 bird a 2 1/2 year old budgie named Chimo
2 hamsters both 2 1/2 years old Merlin and Hannibal
2 gerbils sisters that are 1 1/2 years old Oliver and Poe
3 fantail goldfish named Myron, Buggy and Win.
All of them are female (fish not included we have no idea what they are)

Kimberly wrote: "I have 11 pets.
1 dog a 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever names Annie
2 cats 13 year old Stormy and 9 month old Squirrel
1 bird a 2 1/2 year old budgie named Chimo
2 hamsters both 2 1/2 years ol..."

Holy cow! Wait, do you have a cow? I need to recheck your list. ;)

Kimberly wrote: "I have 11 pets.
1 dog a 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever names Annie
2 cats 13 year old Stormy and 9 month old Squirrel
1 bird a 2 1/2 year old budgie named Chimo
2 hamsters both 2 1/2 years ol..."

I love their names! That is quite a menagerie you have there. Keeping any kind of small mammal as a pet would drive my dog crazy.

My daughter has two dwarf hamsters, and the dog loves to watch them. Wait, I just called her "the dog"...don't tell her...she's very sensitive. ;)

My dog loves the little critters except the budgie. It's absolutely terrified of the bird because the bird seems to think that its appropriate to dive bomb Annie. Chimo tries to landon Annies face so Annie tends to hide downstairs when Chimo comes out. She's also terrified of the cat Stormy who rules the household with an iron fist.