Another tough day at work. Photo by PhDork
I got seriously smacked down yesterday afternoon with a migraine that is only now ebbing, so I spent the day doped up and trying to sleep through it, missing a whole lot of funny going on here yesterday, prompted by our latest troll.
On the few occasions I did wake up, I was always greeted with the sight of my littlest cat, Foot Foot, curled up in the crook of my arm, or draped over my side. I may have been feeling awful, but she was thrilled to have her momma all warm and still and supine in the daytime. Footie is a snuggler and a darling, and sometimes a horrible little beast (especially to her two big brothers), but her snoozy presence was a great comfort yesterday, as it is most days. I spend a lot of time sitting and reading or writing, and a warm kitty is a wonderful companion. Except when it isn’t, because it wants to sleep on your keyboard or chew on the pen you’re trying to write with.
In any case, today’s FFT is a chance for you to brag about your pets (or pets you have known), past or present. Cats, dogs, fish, ferrets, rats, birds, horses, turtles, whatever you got. Tell us a story, link to a picture or a video*, admit all the stupid lovey-dovey nicknames you give them (Foot Foot is usually called “Weasle” or “Squeezle,” and she answers to both), whatever. Warm fuzzies about our warm fuzzies.
Harpies love pets. And not just for dinner!
*Your comment might go into the mod queue depending on your link. We’ll keep an eye on it, but if it doesn’t go up right away, give it a little time.
FOOTIE IS MY BUD. She likes Pad Thai a lot.
I’ll put up a pic of my furbaby in a bit, who is bitey but otherwise quite lovely, as I think the other Harpies will attest. She has been thrilled about having her momma home to talk to since my job’s more or less wound down.
Love this topic!!
My unwedded husband and I have two furbabies, a cat and a dog. The cat was my husband’s, he actually adopted him around the same time we started dating, and up until a year ago he barely tolerated me. Now I think I’m up to the level of his consolation companion when the man isn’t around.
The dog we adopted from a shelter last year. She’s a nutcase and on her way to being a dog agility superstar! My Shivie-poo takes up the vast majority of my time these days and I adore her for it. The website above is a Flickr-stream I recently dedicated to my doggy. It’s going to take some time to upload everything!
I have a sweet sweet dog (my first!) who is quite old now, and yet still thinks he is a puppy. Adorable how he still gets so excited to ride in the car, and when I walk in the door after being gone for 5 minutes
He makes any day great.
One of my kitties will curl up in my arm after I get up to take pain meds in the middle of the night. Her purring always helps me go back to sleep. She is AWESOME! The other two are relaxing in that they are furring purring lazy blobs. Love them too!
My 9yo got 3 gerbils last year, and they are the most adorable little things, esp. when they hold a tiny seed in their paws and nibble it carefully.
Sigh. Love all the pets. Can’t imagine life without them.
I’ve mentioned Hoagie, my 10 year old beagle, before. I adopted him three years ago this month and I love him madly. My manpanion has a 2 year old pit bull mix named Barry, who is also my baby. Here is a picture of the two of them.
And of course I try to foster mom when I can. Speaking of which, Miley got adopted by a family!
I’ve got 2 spoiled cats! Cally and Tucker. They both have a laundry list of ridiculous names that I come up with on the fly. Mrs. Badcrumble. Mrs Nesbit. Mrs Krimblesins. Cally-choo. Agent Choo. Mrs Snib. Madame Sniboo. Bumboes. Clunkers. Tubbylovebucket. Chester Chubbins. And the stupidity goes on. Somedays I wonder if they respond to their real names anymore. I have a video of Tucker, set to the music from Brokeback, as he eversogently kneads a stuffed otter. It is on my facebook page, and if I had any idea how to get it up on here, I’d do it.
The Hoageroo is my favourite dog.
@ PH.Dork: Ii hope you feel better soon. Migraines are hell, even with a snuggly puss to comfort you. That picture is adorable, btw.
@SarahMC: too sweet! Give them pets for me!
We currently have 3 cats: Jessie, aka JJ, an 18 year old male marmalade tabby; Scout, a 10-ish year old female tuxedo cat, and Norrin, a 5 year old male who’s part Maine coon. We lost Jessie’s brother, our beloved Spiderman, the day after last Thanksgiving and I miss him every day. A few details about the cats: Jess will reach up his front legs and give you hugs. He’s also very generous with his licks. Scout is an escape artist. Our cats are indoor ones, but she was a stray for the first 5 or so years of her life and she’s forever trying to get outside. Norrin is a huge cat, about 20 lbs, but he was also a stray and he’s convinced that he will always be a tiny, helpless kitten. He’s afraid of cat toys-that’s how jumpy he is.
My cats have brought me so much joy and pleasure. I only hope I’ve given them as much as they’ve given me.
MM described the cats at my childhood home, but here are some pics (I’m going to be brave and try html…):
Jessie and Spidey curled on the couch.
Just JJ
Just Spidey
My boyfriend’s father’s family has two cats, an older one named Horse Cat, who loves pets but hates to be picked up, and a younger one named Lynx, who is extremely playful.
Here at school, we have a campus cat who goes by various names (our campus safety people call her Hemingway for some reason). I feed her, so she likes me and hangs out in my room a lot, like right now for example. As she lives outside, I often have to perform basic vet services for her — I’ve taken two ticks off her, given her tapeworm meds, and nursed an infected wound near her eye. She gets into trouble, this one! Here are some pics:
Curled up on my sweater pile.
She honestly sleeps like this sometimes.
I had many dogs growing up, ranging from purebred toy dogs to big scruffy mutts, and I absolutely love all members of the canine family. My current doglessness makes me sad, but I’d have to significantly change my life—especially my traveling—in order to have a dog right now, so it will just have to wait.
For years now, I’ve had a casual-but-fraught relationship with an African gray parrot, Humphrey, who belongs to one of my not-boyfriends. Humphrey, for unexplained reasons, is a little obsessed with me. When he’s out of his cage, he follows me around the NB’s apartment, creeping along on the floor, since African grays like to walk instead of fly (they are a ground-feeding species). He will come sit on the sofa next to me and tug on my clothes, or perch on my lap, and he’s even taken to tweaking my toes when I’m standing at the sink brushing my teeth. The NB says that Humphrey has never done that with anyone else. Unfortunately, Humphrey is the jealous type, and the NB has to cover his cage when we get frisky, or Humphrey goes nuts–squawking and whistling. Parrots are strange animals.
I love hearing about and seeing people’s pets.
Becky– my parents have had an Amazon Parrot for most of my life. I always hated her. She only bonded with my mom, so none of the rest of us can even interact with her without fear of losing a finger, she flies around the house and will “buzz” your head like an fighter jet pilot buzzes a tower. And she screams. Oh god, the screaming. It’s ear piercing. She also talks and is very beautiful, but she lacks all of the things I find appealing in a pet, largely friendliness and fur.
That said, I have two puppygirls. We adopted Bessie (the red one) three years ago, when we got our first house. She’s a catahoula/lab mix and has a hilarious slightly curmudgeonly personality. She only wants affection on her terms, and gets irritated with me if I try to snuggle her while she’s sleeping. She also likes to hang out on the backyard picnic table like a weirdo.
We adopted Olive not this past Christmas but the one before. We went home to see my parents, and they had “black puppy” hanging out at their house after she’d been found in the woods so starved the people who found her thought she was DEAD. My parents already had a parrot, an airedale, and an autistic child, so they weren’t looking to add another source of chaos to the house. We had Bessie with us, and she and Olive hit it off, so we brought her home. We think she’s a border collie/lab mix, and she has the softest fur ever, which is good news for her because she’s a Lovah and wants to be loved on all the time. She also jumps like a crazy acrobat and can be a bit of an escape artist. She and Bessie are bffs and play constantly. Sometimes Bessie even lets Olive snuggle her.
@Funnyface: Yeah, African Grays are beautiful, highly intelligent and sort of fascinating, but not cuddly at all. Plus, they have those cold reptilian eyes. And the noise! Jeebus, the NOISE. Humphrey doesn’t talk, but he imitates all kinds of electronic noises–sirens, whistles, the microwave beeping. It’s irritating as hell.
Your puppehs are adorable!
Love this post and comment thread! I’m hoping/planning to get a kitten soon and I love these pet stories!
This was what I looked like when I started this post. But when someone asks me for pictures of my pets, I tend to get a bit overzealous. I love looking at other people’s animals, because I feel like every time I see a picture of a cute cat or dog (or whatever), my bloodpressure drops. So what follows is a plethora of evidence that most of my hard drive is take up by pictures of furry animals.
This is how Faulkner (aka Bubba, Bubba Boy, The Bubs, Bubs, Bubba Beau-Beau Boy)sits on me when I try to do work. This is what happens after he’s successfully knocked me down.
Here he is soon after I got him, when we were falling in love. Here he is looking at a squirrel outside the window. This is his favorite toy, and he sits with it on his paw all the time. This is what he looks like when I hide the toy under my pajama pants and he can’t get it but knows it’s there.
This (and this) was taken right after I got him washed for Christmas–he smells like gingerbread. Here he is on the couch again–he likes the couch a lot. This is what he does at 2 in the morning when I’m writing papers. Here he is with my partner’s brand new, expensive and inexplicable captain’s hat.
Here’s Beauregard, my partner’s cat (and now mine) in one of his favorite spots (bonus picture of me!). He’s also known as Beau, Beau-Beau, Beau-beau-regard, Beau-beau-boy, Beau-Beau-Bubba-Boy.
Here he is looking majestic. This is what he looks like in the summer when we shave him. And this is what he looks like when he goes a’huntin’ in the summer. Here he is getting into my bag. Here you can tell we’re related because we look alike (check out the hair). This (and this is him sleeping on the couch on a warm summer day (I’m jealous).
I think this might be my favorite picture ever taken of me.
Here’s Milkshake (aka Milkshake Man, Milky Shake, Milky Man, Man, Little Man) in a box (he loves small spaces). Here he is looking pissed off by my books. Here he is sleeping on my pile of clean sheets. He’s hard to get pictures of, because he’s the most energetic and most pictures we take end up being quite blurry.
These are our Robot Cats.
Thank you to everyone who posted pictures. I am actually, literally squeeing out loud over here. They make me feel warm on fuzzy when it’s freezing and fixing to snow outside.
funnyface, that picture of Bessie on the table is beyond adorable.
@PhDork: May I just say that Foot Foot is one of the sweetest pet names I’ve heard! She sounds like a darling.
@SarahMC: Yay for Miley being adopted! And your pups are beautiful! This Philadelphian is very excited by Hoagie’s name.
I have a 1.5 year old cat named Rutherford Buster Hayes. The deal was, if I got to adopt the kitten I wanted, my boyfriend got to name him. I inserted the Buster in honor of Buster Keaton and Buster Bluth. He’s B&W with white paws and a black diamond nose. He’s unbelievably sweet and cuddly and a purrer. But he can also be a total beast and chews through any cord he can get his little paws on. We discovered when our apartment developed a moth infestation that he’s an excellent moth hunter. Pulls them right out of the air.
My parents had a black Lab who always wanted to be wherever you were. When we were reshingling the roof, she taught herself to climb the extension ladder and would hang out with Dad on the scaffold, 2 stories above ground.
I have a wonderful friend who rescues distressed animals and then gives me the ones that are so annoying that she can’t keep them. So, I have a cat, Mena, and a lab/border collie puppy, Milo. I just got Milo about a year ago, and the two of them have not solidified their relationship beyond Milo jumping around and wanting to play and Mena pretending to hate the attention.
Milo: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31123580&id=1185204023
I love all the pics and stories! I may have to get a digital camera to take kittie pictures.
Cimorene, Beauregard is absolutely stunning. And yeah, I loved funnyface’s picture of Bessie on the table too. She looks like she’s waiting for the fashion shoot to begin.
I am the current proud owner of two little monsters of the night: chibiko and pothier, the sugar gliders. They make my life more interesting than I should ever admit.
Delurking to increase the hamster quotient slightly. I give you the Great and Terrible Motley, Escapologist Extraordinaire!
(10 seconds later, I was juggling a very displeased hamster at 110 km/h down the motorway. Not recommended, entertainment of passing children notwithstanding. Ungnawable plastic boxes for the win!)
It’s like Noah’s Ark up in here! Kisses to all the babies, big and small.
Awww, such cute pics. I don’t have any pets now – I wish I could, but I travel too much. My boyfriend has an adorable cat named Elvis, a shorthair gray-and-white tabby with an adorable pink nose, who’s almost as wide as he is long! Yes, he spoils the little guy to death. ‘Little E’ (or ‘Big E’, as I call him) is very bonded with the boy, but I’m beginning to win him over – the few times he’s slept on my side of the bed my heart nearly melted!
I had a Maine coon / Persian mix growing up – the cat was 20+ pounds of pure muscle and bone, and was the unchallenged king of the neighborhood. He was the bane of the neighbors’ cats’ and dogs’ existences for years, and we believe he even took on a raccoon once, but he was such a softie with me that I could dress him in Cabbage Patch Kids clothes. Yes, even hats and pants! He made it to 24 before finally passing on a couple years ago.
A friend of mine has a HUGE gray Persian – the thing must weigh 25 pounds, and has that classic pissed-off flat Persian face and pissy attitude. The best thing about the cat? It’s name: John McCain!
I love that your cat is named Foot Foot. (Like the Shaggs song, right>) She looks a little like a younger version of my cat, Sara:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kperfetto/2320866161/
She’s ten, but still an excellent jumper/mouser.
@SarahMC
I have two beagles, also. One is five and the other an eight month puppy. My favorite Friday night activity is relaxing in a beagle pile. They’re such happy dogs!
misscalculate! I must see pictures! My favorite activity, period, is relaxing in a beagle pile.
@viajera: Yes, but is John Mccain the cat a maverick?
SarahMC – so glad to hear the good news about Miley!
Becky – We have a blue Amazon parrot named Babe. He’s actually fairly quiet, but he does this one “OH MY GOD” routine that is hysterical. The first time I heard him do it, my husband (at the time just a friend) said the bird was imitating his ex-girlfriend’s orgasms. I just raised an eyebrow and thought, “So your ex was a porn star?” Seriously – if I could just upload audio, y’all would die laughing. Another interesting thing about Babe – when he wants my attention, he makes his voice higher (funny, but the OMG screeches are in his regular voice). He’s never done this with the two other women he lived with. Problem is, I’m a little scared of him and he does bite sometimes. He’s kind of a rescue situation and we think his first owner abused or tormented or neglected him
Although, I have to say he’s come a long way in the last 7 years and will now cuddle with my husband. He rarely flies or walks on the ground and prefers to hang out on his cage.
Then, of course, we have Lucy, the toy poodle, and if I knew how to post her adorable picture, I would (SOALG has seen her on my FB page!) Her nickname is Boo and she answers to it. Of course we also called her Boo-head and Boo-face and Lucy-Boo and Boodley. My dad calls her Lucifer sometimes. I swear, my parents must have realized that at 38 and married to a dude in his early 50s they ain’t getting any grandkids, because they treat Lucy like a little baby! They gift us fucking handmade “gift certificates” for her to spend the weekend at their house and NAG us if they don’t get to see her often enough!
Good call, Kathy. The Dude and I discovered the Shaggs some 5 or 6 years ago, and thought “if/when we get another kitty, we’ll name it Foot Foot.” By the time we got the Little One, we had pretty much forgotten, and were considering calling her Pickle, but once we realized that she does this little happy dance, picking up one foot, then the other, when she’s flirting for food or pets, we remembered. It’s really the perfect name for her.
Your Sara is a pretty lady. She looks lovely in that leopard-print headscarf. Very Bardot.
Thanks for sharing your furbabies, harpies, they are all so cute!
Growing up in a large family, we always had pets, mostly the kind that “followed us home from school, we swear that we didn’t pick it up and carry it home, mum”. We largely had cats and dogs, but as we all got older my mum turned into the local *crazy* cat lady.
So after sharing pets with my brothers and sisters, when I moved out of home, I got a rottweiler named Bashere (it rhymes with “come here”, and was the name of general in a fantasy novel I really enjoyed). He was just the best, we would hang out together, go for runs, and we would talk. He was also very protective of me on account of an ex-boyfriend. This protection extended to the rest of my family when he moved into my mum’s place because I moved interstate.
Bashere had this habit of picking up any tissues or clothes (clean or dirty it didn’t matter) that were on the ground in shared areas of the house and claiming them as his. I think he figured if it was on the ground it was fair game.
In the summer Bashere would *surprise* whoever it was in the shower, when the door was left open, and join them for a shower.
He unfortuantely passed away a couple of years ago, about a week after I went to visit my mum and Bashere. During that time, he used to follow me around mum’s house and would snuggle me as soon as I stopped. I still miss him, and have pictures of him on my noticeboard.
At the moment, I share the parental responsibilities my boyfriend’s cat, Lily. Initially she didn’t like me at all, and once even coughed up a furball on my feet – so she had the nickname Lilzebub for a while.
She warmed up to me eventually, that now she is quite happy to come to me for cuddles and anything else, will sleep on my side of the bed, and purr merrily. Lily and I also shoot the breeze quite a bit, and thanks to her input, I have written some pretty amazing essays.
The bf and I for fun were talking about a potential comic book that had the 3 of us in it – Lily’s name in it was “Fangclaw the Black”. Since she lost one of her canine teeth, sometimes she gets called “Threefang” or “Threeclaw”.
@mischiefmanager: my 15 pound cat is named scout too! she’s adorable and terribly destructive. She likes to climb door frames, gets pretty high too. i can never seem to get a good picture of this crazy feline activity, just a spotted blur and she bolts away.
my other kitty is atticus. she’s a lovey little beast. loves me, but has sucker punched my mom several times. i’ll go on little vacations, mom will pop by to make sure they have food and this apparently gets under atticus’s skin. there’s always a panicked phone call… “she got me again!!” ‘mom, stop touching her. she’s lying to you. doesn’t matter that she was purring.’