At this time you'll have to wait for pictures, because all of my pets have passed on, and none of my pictures of them are digital. I'll have to scan them in order to post them.

For some reason, all our cats have been gray. Never black, white or yellow. Well, I take that back. Zoe was a tailless tortoiseshell stray we found in front of our office building. She had gray and gold and black, was always a small cat. We had to oust her out of the house, though, because she quit using her litter box, no matter how often we cleaned it. We even gave her a box of her own that she didn't have to share, but she just went wherever she felt like. She usually stayed close to home, but one day just disappeared. It's been about 3 years now.

Pipper was our big, fat baby. He was gray with a white belly and feet, and was about 15 lbs at his biggest. One of our tenants got him from her boyfriend who worked on a ranch, and she couldn't afford to keep him, so we took him in. He was such a baby! He bonded to me, and would get nervous if we were gone very long. He finally settled down, and started growing, and growing, and growing. He was always a big baby. He'd sit on the arm of the recliner, and let you pet him. If you stopped, he's grab your hand with his teeth (very gently!), and move your hand back to pet him more, until he'd had enough. He'd also lie next to you on the couch and let you rub his belly, he absolutely loved it.

He came down with feline AIDS, probably from one of the strays that lurk in the area, and who would pick fights with him. We almost lost him once, but he rallied for a couple more years. When he was at his sickest, Zoe would lie next to him on the bed and lick his ears, trying to make him feel better. We were out of town one summer and our son-in-law called to say that Pipper was really sick, so he took him to the vet, and he had to be euthanized. I really felt bad, because he was my baby, and I would have liked to have been there.

Before Pipper & Zoe was Bernadette. We got her from my uncle's woods when we still lived in Ohio. She was a tiny, fuzzy blue gray ball, scared of her own shadow. She eventually got used to us and the dog, and settled in to become a very good little pet. As we added cats to the household, she'd tolerate them, but didn't care for them. She finally got to where she'd share a double bed with Pip, but on opposite corners.

One day we had a mole in the basement, showed it to her, and she ran away! After we moved to Texas, we rented a house for 2 years where the owners did not allow inside pets, so she was left outside for those 2 years, and she learned to catch all kinds of critters. She often brought me blue jays that she'd caught. And sparrows. She was always proud of her gifts to me. She finally just got old, we think she had a stroke, and we had to put her down. She was 18 at the time, a nice old lady.

We also had a cat called Starkist, that an older friend gave us. She was gray and white, with a white diamond on her back. She wasn't the greatest of pets, not terribly affectionate, but was gentle with the kids, and Bernie tolerated her. And she also brought me gifts, once bringing me a live lizard that she let loose in the house. Starkist is long gone, too.

Melba was our Yankee dog, she and Bernie moved to Texas with us. Melba was the runt of the litter from my brother's dog, that was part spaniel of some sort. Melba was nearly all black, with long, skinny legs. A good dog, too. Easily housebroken, and very sweet-natured and loving. When she was tiny, my husband took her with him when he visited my brother, and their son got so excited that he was dancing around and accidentally stepped on her foot and broke it. (He is mentally retarded, definitely not to blame for this accident.) So she went to the vet, and he put a splint on her little front leg. She hobbled quite well with it, and tolerated the pain very well. She felt very sorry for herself, too, and we really babied her. She lived for 16 years before she left us.

So, those were most of the pets we had that we have pictures to share, and as soon as I have time to scan them, I'll post some. Some of them have deteriorated some, too, so they might not post well, but I'll do my best.

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Nita

Wow! That's quite a menagerie you describe, Nita...I"m looking forward to when you're able to share some pix.

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that....i've had a kitty run off, too. he wasn't with us long, though, and really didn't adjust well to the kids. since he was a beautiful cat, i always like to think that he was adopted by a family that suited him better...
Oh, Pipper sounds SO cute...and how could you resist his gentle "nudge" for the petting machine to get turned back on? our old lady cat, poupon, will tap you on the face with her paw when she wants more attention.

How sweet that Zoe tried to comfort him. It's always so hard to lose them, especially when it's one of 'em that has picked you as their human, y'kno?

We often joke that my Smokey closes her eyes and says to herself, "I'm an only cat. I'm an only cat."
yankee dog?

if you have problems with the quallity of the pix, nita, you can holler at me and i may be able to clean them up a bit, brighten them if they're too dark, or adjust the color, whatever. i do some of that for my day job, after all.

thanks for sharing some of your animal stories, nita. sounds like you've had quite a troop over the years...

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Fat Baggage- Is Yours Packed?

Great stories Nita-and no matter how much time or how many pets have come and gone, we always remember them all, don't we? They all leave a mark on our hearts.

Nita - your stories remind me that our pets never really leave us! They will always be a part of us as long as we remember them. Thanks for sharing!

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