okay... this one is well off topic...

Had the unplesant responsibility of having our family cat put down today. Not meaning to be a bummer to anyone, but it got me thinking.

Certainly there are other pet owners and animal lovers who grace our forums with their presence. WB has a very smart looking assistant who has made it into at least one of his posts.

So who all has or has had a pet or pets near and dear to their heart? I for one would appreciate hearing a tale or two recounted.

Patch had a good LONG run BTW, so tears did come but did not wear out their welcome. She was able to log 21 & 3/4 years, and only used 3 of her lives doing so.

I had a one-eyed, old pug bitch - Kali, the Indian goddess of war and destruction!! - who used to hunt with my terriers; she even once caught a rabbit that the "real" hunters had missed!! Many, many funny stories about our various non-human companions - a sheep, axolotls, many dogs, calves, birds and guinea pigs - and at some stages because of where we lived, at times I had to put injured or sick animals down myself. Not the most pleasant of tasks but one i considered honourable and besides, I hated taking animals to the vets to be put down; they know what's happening, eh, well, mine did, and to just go and sit on a sunny hillside with them and let them go to sleep in the sun, well.... I ask you: which is better?!!

Wow, Ice. I had a cat named Patch too! She passed on very suddenly last year, didn't see it coming at all. Softest fur I'd ever touched. She was a quirky old girl, but I miss her a lot. One of the only kitties that would just come sit with me.

In the last few weeks an old stray tom that hung around our house disappeared after looking sickly for a couple of months. We let him come in from the cold during the winter and he warmed up to us real quick for that. He'll be missed too. We do have one of his daughters, though, and I think most of the town strays are his children, so he's left a legacy.

We are lucky enough to have a good friend who is a retired vet who helped us out. She was able to move along without alot of fuss or drama.

Patch was much more of a dog than a cat most of the time. She enjoyed fetching toys rather than batting them about and played tug with yarn instead of chasing ends.

What an interesting connection Warrn, how long was your gal around for?

And how exactly "cold" can Florida get, anyway?

So sorry to hear that, Ice. I know how hard that can be.

My Wife and I are big animal lovers and have 3 giant fluffy cats right now, but I did have the best dog in the world. Cherokee was his name, half Husky and half Black Lab. He looked like a big, fluffy, black and silver Husky with brown eyes! People always mistook him for part wolf. Was just a ball of fur with a tongue and huge paws when he was a puppy. I raised him, he had the coolest personality of any dog and was super smart and sensitive. He was one of those dogs that seemed to look into your soul when he looked at you and never left your side, you dog lovers will know what I mean. Loved that dog very, very deeply. When Cherokee was 11 yrs old, I went to Bible College in Texas and sadly had to leave him with my parents until I was back in Pennsylvania. They loved it though, He and my Dad would always go walking in the woods together, and Cherokee would flop about in the creeks. They had a blast together. 4 months before I was able to leave Texas and come back home, my Dad told me over the phone that Cherokee was really slowing down (he was 16 by that time, I had been in Texas longer than I'd expected), that he was getting out of breath and laying down a lot during their walks. He put me on the phone with him and when I talked to Cherokee he yipped and mumbled and "talked" to me the way that dogs do. I told him to hold out because I'd be back home with him again soon. My dad used to let me talk to Cherokee often, but this time his dog talk was different, like he was trying to tell me something, and that worried me. The next day my Mom had called me crying, said that Dad sat outside with Cherokee overnight to hold and be with him, and that Cherokee had passed that morning away shortly after daybreak, with his head on my Dad's lap. My Dad knew it was going to be the end that night, he'd stayed up with him he told me because I wasn't able to. He loved that dog as much as I did. I missed him by only 4 months, and man that tore me up inside. Glad I got to talk to him the day before, I guess that was him saying goodbye or something. And now I'm crying because of writing this. We feel for ya, Ice.

We used to have a cat named Gigi who had bunny rabbit fur - seriously that's what it was like - different from most cats. She was a domestic short hair with some tabby markings and also spots, mainly gray. You know how many cats (not all of course) can be aloof - non-interactive. This cat would follow you everywhere you went just like a dog and better than many dogs. She loved to play fetch. When we moved into our first house she was on the back deck looking in the window. Apparently the previous homeowner fed her. We brought her in the house, took her to the vet, and she became an indoor cat. But she was fast and sneaky and would sneak out sometimes when you had the door open. One time she didn't come back.

We have a little terrier mix now, we call him an American Mohawk Terrier because he has a tuft of fur along his spine that is coarse, long, curly, and black, and it looks like a mohawk - very unlike the fur on the rest of his body. He is an excellent companion and also an excellent terrier. His name is Sully and he is named after the singer of Godsmack - they're both short, dark, and hairy. He had his yearly exam and shots on Saturday. He felt puny for the rest of the day after getting the shots as they often do. That evening, he wanted something, and like dogs are, couldn't tell you what it was. Outside? No. Hungry? No. Fetch? Bingo! So I start throwing the ball and he very slowly and painfully shuffles through the house to fetch it. We did this 10-12 times, each time slower than the first. Funny...he wanted the attention even though he felt bad and was moving slowly.

Iceman wrote:What an interesting connection Warrn, how long was your gal around for?

And how exactly "cold" can Florida get, anyway?

I can't say for sure how old she was, as we found her and what we assumed to be her brother in a trash bag on the side of the road and although young she wasn't near newborn either. She certainly wasn't as long lived as your Patch was, I'd say she was probably around 15 when she went. Her brother went to a different family member and ran away when they moved to a new house; his name was BB because he had a BB pellet stuck in his back when we found him. As for how cold it gets, I think it hit 13F one night in January, and dipped below 20 for ten or so days. Might not be cold for Minniesohtah, but it's frigid for us!

Hey Polly! Poppy winked at me!! My wife's Australian Shepherd Remme does that all the time.

That is one very personable cat you posted. I can see that she felt very comfortable in your home if her "perch" in your picture is any indication.

We had a rescue Aussie who died on the way to the vet. Rio had suffered from grand mal seizures as a result of her epilepsy. We adopted her as we had no success in finding anyone willing to take on such baggage in a pet. She had been with us for only about 6 months or so.

Amazing how they can carve out a place in your heart in even a relatively short amount of time, in'nit?

Glad you were able to tear yourself away from the chickens and share Poppy with us. Please continue to do so as you are able. I believe you are missed 'round these parts...