Pets Oh Well

[geist1223]

So for many years Patti and I said that when our pets died that would be it. Being retired and traveling more, pets added to the hassle and expense of traveling. When we retired just over 5 years ago we had 2 Corgis and 2 Siamese Cats. Three of them were Senior Animals. Over the last 15 months we lost both dogs and the older cat. Ming the surviving cat was a bit lonely. Since he was a kitten Ming thought he was a dog. He would sleep with the dogs, clean their ears, clean their eyes, etc. But now traveling was going to be a bit easier.

As we were driving by last Saturday Patti asked if we could swing into the Willamette Valley Humane Society. Just to play, you know.

So she saw a beautiful little Siamese Kitten. I always say hi to all the dogs. Patti really wanted the kitten. I reminded her of our previous pet discussions and retirement. So she decided to sleep on it.

Sunday we went back. The kitten was still available. But could not be adopted until she was spayed. So while Patti was doing the paper work to put a hold and adopt the kitten I went and visited the dogs again. I had a visit with Felix. A German Short Hair Pointer that had only arrived on Friday from Maui. When Patti tracked me down to the dog visit room she came in and sat down. Felix being a smart dog went over, put his head in her lap, and leaned against Patti.

We could not take Felix home as he had not had his Vet check. So on Monday we took Felix home. He knows basic commands, is house broken, let's you know when he needs to go out, etc. He sticks really close to Patti as if he knows he is to protect her. I would not want to be inn the wrong side of those teeth.

We can't believe he was a true stray on Maui. He was 15 pounds over weight when he went into shelter on Maui last August. He is now down to 72 pounds and is fit and trim. Also the fact he knows basic commands and is house broken. Some one turned in a beautiful dog.

Oh well maybe these will be our last pets.

 

[Passepartout]

In January, our closest friend couple retired. They have 3 dogs and at least one cat. They want to travel and fortunately have someone who lives in for a reasonable cost. Last Sunday, their sweet standard poodle, Sadie lost her footing on the wood floor. Len helped her get to a rug and she simply collapsed dead. They have already alerted a couple of trusted small breeders to hold them another standard.

When you're a pet person, the house just isn't complete without them.

Jim

 

[geist1223]

While looking up information on the Breed Felix is disqualified by the AKC because of the Black in his coat. Also he is on the large end (45 - 75 pounds) of the Breed. But whom ever was taking care of him at the Humane Society in Maui did a good job. He went from 86 pounds to 72 pounds. Looking at him and watching him run he is in very good shape.

 

[MuranoJo]

I know it may sound weird to the OP, but your post made me a bit teary-eyed. Quite a bit to be honest.
We lost our last German Short-Haired pointer 2 1/2 years ago, and I still miss her. We always had two...one older and one a couple of years younger--we've had 3 pairs over the years. And we gradually decided in our early retirement, like you, to just not get any more. Sure makes it a lot easier for travel and less expensive for house sitters, etc. Plus it was so, so hard to lose them. But, geez, we both miss having pets around, so it was heart-warming to read your post.

Re. Felix's black in his coat, there is a line of Shorthairs which are black...I've only seen two of them, so maybe some inter-breeding?
Re. weight, 45-75 sounds more normal to me--all of our dogs were in that range, and they were slim and used in bird hunting, so they weren't overweight. They're very athletic dogs so need lots of exercise and room to run, but they're terrific family & house dogs.

 

[Jan M.]

Our last cat passed in November. Our magic number is three, two cats and a dog. Our cats acted more like dogs from being raised with a dog and were very social. We've had two sets of three in the 39.5 years we'd been married as of last November. When I added up the amount of time we hadn't had a pet it came to only a little over 2 years.

I don't know if it is my age, 66, but going through the age related decline and health issues with this three really hit me hard. I joke about having been running an animal nursing home over the last few years but it is the truth. This last cat, Nicky, was a Momma's boy and such a sweetheart. But there isn't one of all six of them that wasn't special to us and all of them will always have a place in our hearts.

I said I wouldn't consider getting another pet until we had a couple years to do some traveling after my husband retired but the truth is I'm just not ready to take on another pet yet. I'm sure my husband is breathing a sigh of relief because he's never had any say about getting our pets, just the one cat and then I tricked him. I told he we were going to our son's friend's house to meet his parents and when the mom came to the door she said "Oh, you're here to see the kittens." He kept telling the poor lady he didn't want to see the kittens and I stood behind him mouthing yes he does. She brought two of the kittens out to the porch and before she could get through the door he was taking Binks from her saying I want this one. She teased my husband so bad about that and we both laughed at him. He told her why do you think I said I didn't want to see them.

Just the other day our next door neighbor told us she had a dream about us. We were all standing in our connected driveway talking and we were holding the puppy we had just got. My husband and I just looked at each other nonplussed as we've never had nor contemplated having a puppy. Our first dog, Sparky our Lab, was about 9-10 months old but already the size of most full grown Labs. The second dog, Missy, was about a year and a half old. Of the six pets we've had only the last two cats, uncle and nephew, did we choose. The rest came to us in different ways, all with their own stories. If we are meant to have another pet, one will come to us again.

When I visit our son I'm so tempted to bring one of his cats back with me. The older one lived with us for several years and would be very happy to do so again. She is very happy when I'm at our son's and comes running to the door when I arrive. My husband just glares at me when I mention bringing her back with me because when she was younger she had a meow that was like a shriek. A nails on a chalkboard kind of sound that got to him. It was so bad that we referred to her as Shrieky. I keep telling him that she has outgrown it but he still gives me a dirty look. He is a cat person and she liked sitting on his lap and getting pets and taking walks with the dog and our other cats when she lived with us. Our poor Nicky, the last of our second three, had a hard time being an only child after our dog and his uncle passed but she would be completely happy being an only.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Another shorthair pointer fan ... smart and willing to learn dog. But smart also goes along with sneaky. She loved napping on my bed but always slept at night on the floor between the door and my bed .. if I was in the bed. During the day, if I noticed she was missing, I would look for her by moving my head but then calmly say (normal tone), "get off my bed!" TUNK ... and then her head would appear around a door jam ... I could swear she was grinning. And I would say, STAY OFF MY BED!" and over she would come to nuzzle me for 'forgiveness'. Stay around me for several hours and eventually, disappear again.

REPEAT above.

She loved the car/truck and travelling.

 

[artringwald]

We were down to 0 pets... for awhile. It was easier to travel without worrying about a house sitter. Last week DW and our two granddaughters went into a pet store and surprise, came out with a parakeet. He's green so we named him Kermit. Certainly easier to care for than a dog or cat while we're away, but hopefully, he can go visit the granddaughters while we're gone.

 

[Egret1986]

Congratulations to the OP! Thank you for sharing about the addition of your two new family members.

We have two dogs that are older, ours and my Mom's. I adamantly want to be pet-free for easier travel when they are no longer with us. We are currently away for a week and they are being cared for by my Mom's former caregiver. We planned to leave for our drive-to vacation on Monday, so we dropped them off that morning. We were unable to get out-of-town until Tuesday afternoon. We sure missed them Monday evening. Just one of those things that gives your life purpose. Someone to care for and love, that gives it right back to you.

Like most of you.....it all looks good on paper, but the reality is if you're a "pet person", your life would be missing something without them to share it.

My really biggest concern is when owners become too ill or pass away, and there's no one willing, able or available to take the pet. It's heartbreaking to think about it. My Mom's older pets were fortunate that we were near, able and willing to take them when they were old with age-related issues and she was unable to care for them any longer.

 

[iwanttoflyaway]

Aww! I love this story. We have two cats - though we both also like dogs, we travel a lot and are doomed to apartments/condos for awhile, so cats we keep.

One of ours is fifteen and one is eight - the elder is in great health for his age, but he's still fifteen. We have been considering getting another cat (maybe a kitten this time!) sometime in the vaguely near future - as we don't want the younger one to be alone, I know it would take quite some time for us to be ready to find another when Severus passes, and I think a new friend would be easier on him now than later. Our cats are our babies, I can't imagine our world without them.

Congrats on bringing home your two new friends. I can't describe how much we value their unending love for us.

 

[geist1223]

We have always crate trained our dogs. They would sleep in them at night. Felix was too big our our large crate. Plus it was a shipping crate so just a few airholes. He did not like it. So for the first 2 nights Felix and I slept on the TV room couch together. Felix took up most of the couch. Then we got the larger metal frame crate so he has lots of visibility. So for the past 2 nights Felix has slept in his new crate in the TV Room and I slept on the couch so he would not be alone. He cries for a couple minutes and then goes to sleep. Tonight I will move back to my bed with Patti.

 

[puppymommo]

Great thread, great stories! I have 3 senior cats, one 15 year old and two 14 year olds. I plan to retire in about 4 years, so I expect at least some of them will be gone. Right now I think I will not replace them when they pass so I can be more free to travel. In fact, I plan to live overseas for a year or two after I retire, and don't know what I would do with pets. If my dear ones are still living when I retire, I don't know what I will do either. And of course, there is the issue of how lonely life without pets would be. As a single person, even more so. So it will be interesting to see how it all works out.

 

[Patri]

Geist, can you get the two new family members to pose for a photo?

 

[VacationForever]

I grew up around cats and they were my mother's cats and she adopted them when they were strays and took care of their vaccines etc. The first of these cats died and broke my heart when I was about 15 and I swore off ever having any pets of my own because it is heartbreaking when they die.

A little more than 10 years ago, I told my husband about not wanting pets and why and he dragged me off to an animal shelter right away and we picked out 2 cats and they have been with us ever since. One is now abut 16 yo and the other 11 yo. The 16 yo cat was diagnosed with renal failure 8 years ago (stage 2/3) and guess what, we have kept him so healthy with all sorts of concoctions, and no IV, that his numbers are back to normal. He is the one who every month or so, we worry whether he is going to pass when he stops eating and then I will bring him back to eating and be somewhat normal again. We travel alot and we worry about him in particular. We have a cat sitter who comes in each day to give them canned food, clean their litter boxes and play with them.

They are great cats and behave more like dogs, very loyal and affectionate, always wanting to be on my lap. The issue is that I was tested to be terribly allergic to cats 3 years ago. I have tremendous health issues and most of it is related to allergies/autoimmune. My husband and friends asked me to turn them into no-kill shelter or re-home them but I know it will break their hearts. The 11 yo one certainly would not survive the transition as he becomes crazy and stressed when he is taken out of our home. The 16 yo would die quickly from renal failure. So we keep them with us, continue to love them and certainly we won't be having replacement pets when they are both gone.

 

[iwanttoflyaway]

VacationForever, you are a good soul. My other half is also terribly allergic, and his doctor recommended we rehome them... I was never do glad to have chosen the kind of man I did when his response was to tell his doctor to never suggest that again or he'd find a new doctor. We did consider shaving them at one point (aww!) but fortunately he got somewhat used to them again and as long as I keep the house clean, he's OK on Allegra. I took allergy shots for years, so I'm mostly OK no matter what. We'd shave them in a heartbeat before we gave them up.

We had a diabetic cat when I was young, was a lot of hassle and my stepfather had very little patience, but in my family you don't just abandon family members no matter how many legs they have.

 

[VacationForever]

VacationForever, you are a good soul. My other half is also terribly allergic, and his doctor recommended we rehome them... I was never do glad to have chosen the kind of man I did when his response was to tell his doctor to never suggest that again or he'd find a new doctor. We did consider shaving them at one point (aww!) but fortunately he got somewhat used to them again and as long as I keep the house clean, he's OK on Allegra. I took allergy shots for years, so I'm mostly OK no matter what. We'd shave them in a heartbeat before we gave them up.

We had a diabetic cat when I was young, was a lot of hassle and my stepfather had very little patience, but in my family you don't just abandon family members no matter how many legs they have.

Both of you have good souls too. My allergist asks me at every visit if I have "gotten rid" of the cats. My answer to him is always no, and cats aren't the only cause of my allergies.

 

[DaveNV]

After having my previous Longhaired Mini Dachshund, a chocolate and tan named Hairy (because he was...) for over thirteen years, and losing two sibling rescue cats a short time later, I said, "No more." I wanted to travel, and I knew pets would hold me back. Then, four and a half years ago, I fell head over heels with this little guy, and it was all over but the cuddles:

And then, 18 months later, I knew Cody needed a buddy. Enter younger sibling Kona, a full brother from the same parents, from a later litter:

It was love at first sight between them. The McPaddlefeet Brothers were an instant pair. Size differences didn't matter:

And then, just a few months later, a cat rescue in Seattle advertised this little guy was up for adoption:

How could we say No? Enter Kai McUnderfoot, the Wonder Kitty. All too soon, the house was full again. They play like children, and it's really great.

Dave, smiling.

 

[VacationForever]

After having my previous Longhaired Mini Dachshund, a chocolate and tan named Hairy (because he was...) for over thirteen years, and losing two sibling rescue cats a short time later, I said, "No more." I wanted to travel, and I knew pets would hold me back. Then, four and a half years ago, I fell head over heels with this little guy, and it was all over but the cuddles:

View attachment 6000

And then, 18 months later, I knew Cody needed a buddy. Enter younger sibling Kona, a full brother from the same parents, from a later litter:

View attachment 6001

It was love at first sight between brothers. The McPaddlefeet Brothers were an instant pair. Size differences didn't matter:

View attachment 6002

And then, just a few months later, a cat rescue in Seattle advertised this little guy was up for adoption:

View attachment 6003

How could we say No? Enter Kai McUnderfoot, the Wonder Kitty. All too soon, the house was full again. They play like children, and it's really great.

View attachment 6004

Dave, smiling.

OMG, they are adorable!

 

[geist1223]

So here are the new pets. Mahlee is the Siamese Kitten. In Thai this means Flower.

 

[Iggyearl]

My money says this thread gets really long. I won't talk about my deceased friends - 3 cats and a dog. We made a pact when they passed, and so far it's working. Free to travel with no schedule.

I think pets are like drugs. They make you feel real good. You don't mind spending money on them. AND - they don't last long enough.

 

[DeniseM]

Going to the Humane Society is just like going to a timeshare presentation - if you don't want to get a new timeshare/pet - don't go!

 

[bluehende]

Wow
This thread pops up and 2 of the 3 cats in my extended family passed today. Both were rescues by my brother and son and lived 14 and 16 years. A sad day that we can hopefully see the bright side of a long well lived life that was in jeopardy without some kindness.

 

[heathpack]

So here are the new pets.

Love

 

[VacationForever]

Funny how many of you name your pets. Our 11yo is part Siamese, we named him "Pad Thai". Our 16 yo is medium hair domestic cat and is like a lump, and much like a Ragdoll, he is very flexible and he lets you do whatever you want to do with him, flop him over your shoulder etc and we called him "Dumpling". They were named together as we got them home a couple of days apart. Yes, my husband and I both love to eat.

 

[DaveNV]

Funny how many of you name your pets. Our 11yo is part Siamese, we named him "Pad Thai". Our 16 yo is medium hair domestic cat and is like a lump, and much like a Ragdoll, he is very flexible and he lets you do whatever you want to do with him, flop him over your shoulder etc and we called him "Dumpling". They were named together as we got them home a couple of days apart. Yes, my husband and I both love to eat.

Great names. There's a method to the madness with ours. Cody was named for Cody, Wyoming, the town we were visiting when he was born. Kona was named for Kona, Hawaii, of course, which happened to be the town we were heading to the week after we brought him home. And Kai is the Hawaiian word for Ocean - he is the colors you'd see on the beach in Hawaii - light and dark sand, brown of tree bark, the white of puffy clouds, and the beautiful bright blue skies. That they all ended up with "K" names was pretty much a coincidence.

The last names describe the thing about them I think of the most. The dogs have huge feet, and the cat is ALWAYS getting stepped on. He loves to run right in front of us, and flop down on his side to get petted. Not fun when he does it at the top of the staircase.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Great names. There's a method to the madness with ours. Cody was named for Cody, Wyoming, the town we were visiting when he was born. Kona was named for Kona, Hawaii, of course, which happened to be the town we were heading to the week after we brought him home. And Kai is the Hawaiian word for Ocean - he is the colors you'd see on the beach in Hawaii - light and dark sand, brown of tree bark, the white of puffy clouds, and the beautiful bright blue skies. That they all ended up with "K" names was pretty much a coincidence.

The last names describe the thing about them I think of the most. The dogs have huge feet, and the cat is ALWAYS getting stepped on. He loves to run right in front of us, and flop down on his side to get petted. Not fun when he does it at the top of the staircase.

Dave

My husband complains that Dumpling will get him injured one day as Dumpling does not move out of the way and we sometimes don't see him. He is also like Kai as he loves to flop down to get petted.