Gizmo's Mom: Introducing Our Other Pets

[Allison]

Thanks to everyone who wrote condolences about our loss of Gizmo this past spring. Now that there is some distance between that moment and now, I'd like to introduce our other pets.

Our oldest is Barnaby. A silver toy poodle, he loves agility and has competed successfully in many trials. He's now a senior with finicky appetite and lackluster energy, but he still enjoys playtime, walks, and his human owners.

Next up is Cinder. A Tortoiseshell cat, she loves to play and do tricks but isn't much of a lap cat. She will devour pretty much any food offered her, which is an irony because our first cat pretty much refused anything offered her. At night, Cinder sleeps with me, but during the day she prefers to explore the house.

Then there's Bootsie. A friendly feral, she loves to snuggle beside me or watch the world from a high spot in the our house. She too will devour pretty much any food offered her. We're fostering her, but I kind of think we might "fail" at it. Bootsie is so sweet, she's stolen our hearts.

I grew up being a dog owner. One of those was a senior given to us, who became my best friend. He inspired my desire to foster and adopt Gizmo. Since living in Nebraska, I've owned three guinea pigs and a cat who have passed. My first cat was a stray who showed up in my yard and changed my life. My husband is now the one tends to dogs, while I collect the cats.

In addition to all of the above, we currently have a foster kitten named Rain. A friend rescued her during a storm. Rain will go to our local no-kill shelter, after she's been spayed, but will forever be part of our hearts.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Allison!

AWWWW, what a wonderful bunch of furbabies that you have! Growing up we had a black tortoiseshell cat, which my dad named Goofy, she hung around his auto-body shop.

I now have a cat that really doesn't like to be held but let me have something sweet in my hand and he is my best buddy!

Thanks so much for sharing your sweet babes with us.

Hugs, Lori

[labblab]

Oh Allison, this is great! You've definitely got a full house, and I'm sure you love it that way! ;) :)

We always had kitties while I was growing up, too, and I love them dearly. Unfortunately, though, my hubby is horribly allergic so I can only love on my friends cats now. :o

But I bet every day is an adventure with your household and we'll look forward to hearing many more stories about your gang!

Welcome to them all,
Marianne

[Allison]

Lori, hi.

Goofy is such a fun name! I bet you have a lot of entertaining memories of her. Thank you for sharing too!

Our critters do show love in their own unique ways, don't they? Barnaby and Cinder will greet me at the door when I come home. He dances around my feet and she sniffs my nose. In the morning, Bootsie will join me when I exercise and also when I work on my laptop. At night, Cinder will wait for me to play with her and tuck her into a bed on the tower. In contrast, Barnaby will snuggle next to my husband and I in bed. If I am gone for a long time, or have spent a lot of time with other pets, Cinder will curl up beside me. As for our kitten, she is just always underfoot or on a lap or meowing up a storm. It's a full house of love!


Hi Allison!

AWWWW, what a wonderful bunch of furbabies that you have! Growing up we had a black tortoiseshell cat, which my dad named Goofy, she hung around his auto-body shop.

I now have a cat that really doesn't like to be held but let me have something sweet in my hand and he is my best buddy!

Thanks so much for sharing your sweet babes with us.

Hugs, Lori

[Allison]

Marianne, hi.

Each new addition has taken an adjustment. Definitely though, my husband and I enjoy our critter family.

I didn't have cats growing up. My dad was a dog person. When I met my husband, he had allergies and so initially I was a guinea pig person. Then the right cat came along, one to which he didn't have allergies, and now we dote on felines.

I look forward to reading about households of others here too. All of us are so blessed with our furry friends.


Oh Allison, this is great! You've definitely got a full house, and I'm sure you love it that way! ;) :)

We always had kitties while I was growing up, too, and I love them dearly. Unfortunately, though, my hubby is horribly allergic so I can only love on my friends cats now. :o

But I bet every day is an adventure with your household and we'll look forward to hearing many more stories about your gang!

Welcome to them all,
Marianne

[Allison]

Just wanted to announce that we officially adopted our foster kitten, Rain, this past week. My husband doted on her her personality, but we kept trying to be logical. We're saving for a house and don't need another critter mouth to feed.

The first couple of weeks too, it seemed as if our three cats would do nothing but fight. Except then they gradually started to change. Now all our three cats seem to do is play with one another, eat, sleep, and play with one another.

When I saw how much Rain pulled our felines together, my resolve broke too. There was no way we could lose Rainy. Now she's forever ours!

[molly muffin]

What a great house full of animals you have. I love cats and dogs and have always had both, until our Molly came along. She did okay with our cat until she passed but we haven't added any others.

I can just see your home full of laughter and smiles due to these furbabies.

[Allison]

Oh, yes, I do love our house full of critters underfoot! Growing up, our family almost never had more than one pet at a time. Now I don't think I could return to just one pet. They make for such happy chaos. :-)


What a great house full of animals you have. I love cats and dogs and have always had both, until our Molly came along. She did okay with our cat until she passed but we haven't added any others.

I can just see your home full of laughter and smiles due to these furbabies.

[Buffy & Trixie's Mom]

I am exploring the possibility of adopting a little sis for Buffy, my MN Collie-mix. I have passed the Brittany rescue evaluation and am awaiting a call from the Sheltie evaluators.

My precious Cushing's angels were FluffyBuffy (Brittany/Sheltie mix) and her sibling Trixie (Sheltie/Brittany mix).

I wondered how I would know, though, what SmartBuffy wanted. This is about him, too. He was a rescue from Heart of KY Sheltie Rescue and a little needy.

Our (in Cincinnati) PetTalk radio vet said that dogs enjoy the companionship of another dog because they like to "play dog games."

So we'll see.

Nice story. KA & Buffy

[Allison]

Exciting news! Keep us posted.

The one time while I was growing up that our family had two pets, it was two dogs. We got them about the same time, but they were from two different shelters and they were two different breeds. They liked to play together, and that in itself was good, but I don't know that they ever bonded. They didn't sleep together and often competed. So, I think you're smart to consider what Buffy wants.

Many of my dog friends have several dogs, several of whom have bonded. When a bond happens, as it has for two of my cats, there's something very special about it. I'm not sure how one tells if it will happen. With Rainy, she has such a winning personality that my other cats couldn't resist. ;-) I hope it works out!

[Allison]

Just a few quick stories about pets! First up is our dog, Barnaby. As I search through the multitude of photos we’ve collected of him over the years, one trait that stands out is Barnaby’s tolerance. No matter what photo pose my husband and I ask of him, he seems to accept it. There have been photos of him at our dog club where big dogs of various breeds towered over him. There have been photos of him with strays cats to whom we have offered food and temporary shelter. There have been photos of him at all heights nestled into the family collection of plush animals. In this particular photo, taken in 2008, we had asked him to act like a bosom buddy to my first two guinea pigs. The last of my guinea pigs having died in 2013, this photo serves as a sweet reminder of how often Barnaby accepts our other critters as members of the family. When it comes to our guinea pigs, he used to sniff them, listen to their wheeks, and even sometimes tried playing with them. Due to size differences, we always supervised such interactions. Yet one of Barnaby’s other wonderful traits is that he’s always a gentle dog, with whom our guinea pigs were always safe. Here’s to Barnaby!
https://allisonsbookbag.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/barnabyguineapigs.jpg

Next, I’ll introduce you to our cats in order of arrival. First up is Cinder! From the moment we met her at the shelter, Cinder liked to explore. When we finally brought her home, Cinder rejected the idea that a new cat should get kept in contained room to allow time to settle into a new environment. Cinder instead wanted to explore the rest of our house. In this photo, she’s discovered by plush dragons on top of my bookcase shaped like a dollhouse.
https://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/2015/11/09/critter-photo-1/olympus-digital-camera-349/

From the moment I met her as a feral in a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) colony, she stole my heart. What photo of her to pick for this post proved tough. There is one of her outside when she allowed herself for a brief moment to play. When my husband saw that photo, he agreed for me to pick her home. There is also one of her feeling content in our office chair. It’s the first photo I posted to update local colony feeders of her progress. For this post, I ended up picking the below photo. This photo won our beautiful Bootsie second prize in a TNR contest.
https://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/critter-photo-2/olympus-digital-camera-350/

Last but not least is Rainy! She was meant to be part of our family. By this I mean, the timing was perfect. Because I got involved with a local Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) group, my husband and I had the opportunity to see several kittens. This led Andy to want to foster a kitten. I also gained a reputation with my friends of being involved with animal welfare. This led to a friend of a friend contacting me when she found a kitten. Long story short, Andy and I fell in love with our foster kitten. After a couple of weeks, it was clear that our other pets loved Rainy too. We took the next natural step of adopting Rainy.
https://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/critter-photo-3/olympus-digital-camera-358/

Merry Christmas everyone from our family to yours! https://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/2015/11/14/six-word-saturday-68/familyportrait2015/

[Allison]

I thought it time to give a little update on our family. As Sharlene predicted, our house has become full of laughter and smiles due to our four fur babies. Life is messy, chaotic, silly, and fun. At any time in the day, our fur babies might be getting into trouble, romping together, or cuddled all on the bed. My husband and I love it!

There have been a few bumps. My grandmother died in January. I lost my teaching position this month. And our toy poodle has cataracts, besides the beginnings of other ailments.

Yet there's also been great developments. As some of you know, I've been blogging for a local animal welfare group. The past few months I started enlisting guest bloggers too and recently I was asked to write press releases. I'm also volunteering as a caretaker for campus cats. A few months ago, I was asked to coordinate the operations in our small side of campus. There are so many ways to give back to the animal world and to help animals in need.

Thanks everyone for making me feel welcome, even now months after our senior adopted dog died. I've been posting condolences now and then. As suggested by the Pay It Forward post, I might get brave and welcome some of our newcomers. Have a good spring season!

[molly muffin]

Awww, Alison, so sorry to hear about the teaching position, but it sure seems that you are on one busy lady and all for good causes and activities.
I know the animal house is a fun one, they always are.
There will always be bumps in the road with a full crew, but oh the rewards, they are limitless.

My condolences on the passing of your grandmother . :( I'm sorry to hear that. It's always hard to lose one of the elders of the family. It is like a passing of a time that can never come back fully. Just make new traditions.

[Allison]

Big news! I have a new teaching position. The principal is warm and friendly. The school is small and cozy.

On other news....

Our dog Barnaby had an ultrasound done recently, due to drinking and peeing more, but also eating less and having less energy. Turns out his gall badder isn't great. We're off later today to get medication. He still has issues with cataracts but a treatment will apparently come out in January of next year.

Two of our cats received a clean bill of health, except our feral could lose weight. She tends to easily pile on calories. Our third will have her annual test this fall.

And now that the stress of the past year is behind me, maybe I can pop in this board more often. :)

[molly muffin]

hmmm, a new treatment for cataracts? Do tell.

Yay on the new job. Sounds like a lovely place to go to each day. That always makes such a huge difference.

[kanga]

Hello Allison, sounds great keep welcome to Barnaby, Cinder, Bootsie and to your cat. Glad to hear that your okay now. Keep us update take care and good luck:)

[Allison]

Here's the only article I could find about the new treatment for cataracts:
https://consumer.healthday.com/eye-care-information-13/cataracts-health-news-116/success-in-dogs-points-to-nonsurgical-cataract-treatment-701580.html

My husband also gave me this one: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/07/eye-drops-could-dissolve-cataracts

Otherwise, all we know is what our vet and a friend who works with animals told us.


hmmm, a new treatment for cataracts? Do tell.