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This page is for the many lovable monsters that I share my life with. Pictures will soon be uploaded if I can get them to stay still for two seconds. |
First we have Sammy. His full name is Samhain. Sammy and his brother (Mistofelees) came to us by way of my mother after I had decided I couldn't have any more cats. Before they came into our lives we had 3 precious babies. Oreo succumed to feline Lukemia, Sly decided to go back to the wild, and Rajah passed away one night while we were out of the house. I had decided the heartache was too much to bare, albeit it did happen over a few years span. My mom had some strays outside of her home in the country that she fed and found that one of them was heavy with kittens. She called me one night and asked me to come to my Grandmother's house because she had something for me. Unknowingly I walked into her trap. LOL When I got to my Grandmother's house there she and her husband were. Each of them holding a pair of kittens. One pair was black and white (like the kitty in the picture) and one pair was calico. She said we could either choose the boys (b/w) or the girls (calico). My husband decided that since Oreo was his baby he wanted the black and white ones and that is how Samhain and Mistofelees came into our lives. Sammy is now a fat (and I do mean FAT! LOL) and happy 6 yr old and though his misses his brother (who passed on a few months after we got him due to some heart problems) he loves his new little brothers and mothers them to death.
Next we have Presto. Presto is 5. He was the only pet we've ever gotten from a pet store. One day (about 8 months or so after we lost Mistofelees) I took my friend to a pet store because she wanted to get a kitten. When we walked in there were 4 kittens in this one little cage. One happened to be a long haired black and white who looked just like my little Mistofelees. My heart caught in my throat and I told her I needed to step out. I stood outside the "Petting Room" waiting for her to come out. I saw her walking out with an orange kitten in her hand but behind her came one of the workers with the little b&w kitten in her hands. The worker walked up to me and put the baby in my arms. Tears flooded my eyes as I held this scared little baby and felt him relax and purr in my hands. It turns out my friend had put the poor employee up to it. It killed me to hand him back to her but I had to. I had never bought a pet at a pet store before, preferring to take in strays off the street to help them. I went home that night and told my husband about this sweet little baby and the next day we went to see him. The moment my honey saw him he said "I want him." We paid $63 and brought our new little one home. Sammy was a bit confused at first but took to him in no time.
After Presto comes Pagan. Pagan is 4 and came to us through a bit of fate. His mother, Pandora, had been wandering around outside my cousin's home. My cousin called me because the cat looked very haggard and she wanted to know what she could do for her. I came over to look at her. She was barely more than a kitten herself and had recently had a litter from the looks of it. She was skin and bones and engorged with milk. We fed her as often as she would eat but as the days passed she wasn't losing any of her milk and began to cry because it hurt so much. She began to stay around the apartment 24/7 so I could only guess that the litter had either died or been taken away from her. I gave her something to help with the engorgement. At the time I had the two other cats in my home so I wasn't able to take her home with me but I planned on opening a store where she would be welcome to live. I asked my cousin if she could keep her for me until I got that store open. I came to visit her often bringing her treats and love. She snuck out of the apartment a couple of times and ended up being pregnant again. I hadn't been able to save up the money to have her spayed yet. We watched her everyday grow bigger and bigger. She seemed so happy to be a mommy again. One night I was lying in bed asleep, I think it was about 3 in the morning, when I got a call saying that she was going to have the kittens. I rushed over to keep an eye on her and witness this miracle. She was having some trouble getting the first one out and was getting so exhausted. I didn't have any rubber gloves with me so I asked my cousin for some plastic wrap. I wrapped the plastic around my hands and made makeshift gloves. I carefully helped her ease the first kitten out and she immediately started tearing the sack open and licking the baby clean. It was a black one. After a few more hours and a little help from me she delivered 3 more kittens. All black. My cousin and her sister decided that they each wanted one and my brother and his girlfriend had told me that they wanted one also. Since there was only one left I agreed to keep him. We had 3 boys and 1 girl. They're names turned out to be Pagan (my baby), Yoda (named for his long ears), Wicca and Little Witch. That is how Pagan came into our lives. His mother is sadly no longer with us nor any of his litter mates but we always have a part of them in our little one.
Last but certainly not least is in the feline category is Mordred. Mordred was our emergency case. My best friend called me one day because some little girls had found a kitten laying in the bushes outside. He wasn't really moving. They brought him to her because the neighborhood knows she's the resident animal lover. She called me immediately and asked me what to do. I told her that I needed to take a look at him. She wrapped him up in a baby blanket and layed him in an Easter basket and rushed him to my house. He was so small and dehydrated. He could fit in the palm of your hand. We ran to the grocery store and got a can of kitten milk and a bottle. We brought it out to the car and tried to get him to drink it. He was so lethargic at first and we were really worried. My friend could not keep him so I offered to hold onto him until she found his owners. I made him a little bed in my office, away from the other cats. The next day he was feeling much better he was up and purring. We bought some kitten chow and mixed it with the milk. He gobbled it down. Within a few days he was eating the kitten chow straight. He was very playful and loving. My friend asked around her neighborhood but no one claimed him. We put out flyers for a free kitten to a good home but got no takers. We fell in love with this cute little orange and white kitten with the big M on his head. We ended up naming him Mordred. He is a loving part of our family now. Since my last writing of this Mordred has decided that he prefers to live outside. He has now become our garage cat and is fat and happy!
It's quite interesting having 3 cats in the house. I have to say there is never a dull moment! :)
And now for our canine companions:
First we have Buddy. Buddy has been with us for about 7 years or so. He is a Chow Chow and Golden Retriever mix. We were at a friend's house down the street when he came to us. He was very loving and wanted attention so badly. We played with him and scratched his ears and belly and then we headed home leaving him behind. Our roommate/best friend had never had a pet of his own before so I told the friend whose house we were visiting to let me know if no one claimed the dog and we would give him a good home. Time passed and he was left unclaimed so we decided to take him home. On the way there he was cuddled up to our roommate and we were trying find a name for him. I looked at them in the backseat all snuggled up together and said "All, he's already your little buddy." The name stuck and the rest is history.
Next we have Blackie (aka Daddy). Blackie came to us under some interesting circumstances. We had a female Siberian Husky, named Jaboa, that we kept in the backyard. One day we noticed that this Black Lab kept coming into the yard. We kept an eye on them. It appears he had decided to make Jaboa his mate. He rarely left her side unless we came outside and then he would run. Unfortunately we lost Jaboa (there had been some people in the area kidnapping dogs to take to research labs and we believe that might be what happened to her or someone took her because they recognized she was full blooded Husky) but Blackie stuck around. He still wouldn't come near us. We ended up getting another female dog (I'm not sure what breed) named Black Diamond and sure enough, Blackie made her his next mate. When Diamond left us we decided we were not going to get another dog. We had Buddy and that was enough. Blackie stuck around and eventually became more and more used to us so much so that he came into the house. He is now another member of the family.
We recently rescued two black Chow mix puppies. They were roaming the streets and I just could not see them getting hit by a car. We found out who owned them and he was fine with us taking them. Originally we were only going to be taking the female but a friend wanted her brother as well and so we agreed to hold onto him until the friend was able to take him. Shadow (female) and Darkness (male) are the youngest members of the family. Darkness has found a loving new home and Shadow (aka Piglet because of her grunting like noises) has become a valued member of the family. She is training well and we're so happy to have her.
And the smallest member of our family came to us about 2 years ago. Her name is Isabel, Izzy for short. She is a ferret. I have always wanted a ferret but never ended up getting one. One day some friends of ours who knew that I helped to find animals homes told us that they had to get rid of her. It was fate. She sleeps in our bedroom in her very large cage and loves to cuddle up in our jacket sleeves or hoodie pockets! She's my little weasel baby.