Well, Teyla (my avvy) is now up to 9 pounds, 4 ounces! And will be 7 months old in 2 days! We had to have her hair trimmed on her face; it was starting to get into her eyes; ahh the fun of a wire-haired dog!
I now know where the phrase "follows me around like a puppy" came from, because Teyla is always following me! Or if I'm stationery, then my mom; or sometimes she follows Vala (my big dog) around!
Teyla seems so small to me (even in comparison to my cats), but we were at the dog park the other day and there was a Chihuahua, and even though Teyla was shorter, she looked so much bigger than the Chihuahua!

I've heard them described as the water version of the saint Bernard. They are also used in search and rescue sometimes, they have been known to insist on saving swimmers who do not need to be saved. A well trained Newfoundland can detect a body over 200 feet deep in water. Sorry, I just like to flaunt my knowledge in areas I'm smart in (which are few and far between)

Hehe, well you are correct. Newfies are sometimes trained for water rescue as it's an instinctive thing for them to do already. I ran across this picture of a Newfy in action when I was researching the breed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/uk_enl_1185973667/html/1.stm And if you ever get to catch the Dogs 101: Newfoundland episode on Animal Planet, they're special feature dog is a water rescue Newfy. (Unfortunately it's not on the YouTube version)

I still haven't had the opportunity to get Fiona to swim. I took her to the lake one time and she certainly didn't have any fear of the water, but once she started realizing that she wouldn't be able to touch the bottom of the lake and the waves were hitting her, she'd dart back out of the water. I'm certain I'll get her to swim this upcoming summer though.

Really the worlds biggest German Shepherd? or just a big German Shepherd?

The biggest German Shepherd that I have personally ever seen.

Meanwhile, Fiona has definitely hit her "teenager" stage. We got her fixed two weeks ago and it seemed to jump-start her into a rebellious streak. Oh, she's still not a bad dog by any means, but she's definitely being more ornery than usual.

This afternoon I left my shoes outside in the backyard with her. I don't know what I was thinking. They are nowhere to be seen.

Plus when we went to my in-laws farm last weekend, she suddenly realized that she's now bigger than the farm dogs and doesn't have to take anything from them. She started getting all growly on them when they tried to push her around.

I am HOPING that because she's a large breed dog, she will pass through her "teens" quickly and become the huge huggy floppy dog I've been hoping for. And the breeder I purchased her from said she'll probably hit her "adult" stage at about 9-10 months. Woohoo!

I have a tabby cat named Texy and my family has a Samoyed (its a dog) named Sally( shes as big as my dad when she stands on her hind legs) and another cat named Maggie...

Managed to snap this super cute pic of my kitties last night...

The irony is that this usually ends with Murky being annoyed at getting a bath and a massive fight ensues. LOL

FANTASIA_KITTY: Your cats are soooooooo cute! I wish we had cats!!!!!

FK: Very cute picture!

My boys do the same thing; one will start giving the other one a bath (they take turns starting this) and they end up fighting! They have been doing this for years! It's so funny.

Oh, and Saturday is Vala's "birthday." I adopted her one year ago!!! We are going to have a little "party."

That's such a cute picture. My rabbit's the same way spmetime if I try to pet him and he doesn't feel like it he'll run and hide, come back out again, hide again, and so forth. It makes me dizzy

I had wondered why NarniaWeb didn’t have a place to talk about pets. I was looking for it in the Spare Oom and not here. But, now (obviously) I’ve found it. I’ve enjoyed reading the past pages. Now to introduce my pets.
(I have no idea why she was siting in the sink)
Name: Mystery (When I was really into mystery stories (they were practically all I was reading), I thought it would be cool to have a black cat named Mystery and a white cat named Detective)
Nicknames: Myst, Miss Mystery, Jerky Tail (she has a very expressive tail)
“Owner”: Me (Although you couldn’t tell because she spends more time with my sister. )
Age: 9 (She doesn't act that old)
Birthday: April 19, 2000
Rank / size: We call Mystery the princess because she isn’t the top cat, but she is higher in the pecking order than our third cat. I pushed for calling her the duchess but that didn’t stick. We think she was the runt of the litter. I jokingly say that fits because I’m the runt too. Although I’m older than my sister, I’m shorter and have a smaller build. She is actually only a little bit smaller than her sister.
Sounds: Mystery doesn’t meow (sometimes she almost does but not quite); she squeaks. She howls a little too. When she is sniffing something intently she sounds a little like the black riders in LotR only a lot cuter. She also purrs.
Favorite Toys: Catnip toys (especially a corduroy bell we made for her one Christmas), balls, crumpled up paper, small pieces of food, the “fishing pole” (a pole with a string with a piece of denim tied to the bottom (the fabric has got considerable smaller over the years))
Playing style: She likes to have toys rolled or thrown to her so she can catch them. She will toss catnip toys in the air and catch them. Sometimes when I roll toys for her she will pretend not to be interested and then several minutes later, after I have given up on her doing anything with it, she will start playing. She likes to lie on her side hold a ball with her front legs and pummel it with her hind legs. Often she will pause in the middle of playing to lick herself. She will play on her own too. She loves being chased, either by us or by the other cats. It is so funny; if whoever is chasing her gets too far behind she will wait for a little bit. If the person or cat doesn’t come she will sometimes continue the run herself.
Petting Preference: She likes to be petted on her terms. If we try to pet her when she is walking by or doesn’t want to be petted, she will slink down and get a look like “Yuck, human germs.” Often she will tip her head up when we try to pet her to sniff our hands. When she wants to be petted she will squeak at us and lead us around the house until she finds a suitable spot to flop on her side. Sometimes she never gets petted because we get tired of following her around. If we pet her when she is on her “throne” she will often have to lick herself afterward, although often she is licking places we never touched. If she gets over stimulated, she starts to nip / bite. She will grab the persons arm with her paws and pull towards her if she can’t reach the arm with her mouth.
Rubbing Style: Mystery often gives us air rubs. In other words, she moves like she would if she were rubbing her side up against us, but she is not close enough to make contact. Sometimes we get actual rubs or head butts.
Health: Mystery is allergic to vaccinations and beef. It is really hard to find cat food that doesn’t have beef in it. She has to have Benadryl before she gets her shots.
Favorite places to sleep: Her “throne” Her throne is a folded up quilt that is put on the foot of my parent’s bed. My mom tries to cover as much of the bed as possible with “cat beds” because the comforter is too big for our washing machine and cats do sometimes get sick. I have some pictures of the bed with the various sleeping places that I will post another time. If the bed hasn’t been made yet, she doesn’t know what to do and is restless. Sometimes she will sit where her throne is supposed to be. She will squeak at whoever is making the bed to hurry up. In the afternoon she will move to the snuggle bag and tunnel into it.
Snuggling: Mystery tends not to get into laps. She likes to go into my sister’s room with her at night and sometimes will lie in the crook of my sister’s leg. This only lasts until it is time for Mystery to go to bed. If we are sitting on a bed with legs stretched out and a fleece throw on our legs, she will sometimes sit on our laps or curl up next to us.
Miscellaneous: She likes to lick stuffed animals. Occasionally, we find her curled up on the counter. She does not like any human food and will not eat cat treats. She is very serious when she kneads and uses her shoulders.

Name: Shadow (named because she has white sections and one needs light to see shadows)
Nicknames: Shad, Shadrach, Dowshad
“Owner”: My sister (although she spends more time with me and my mom and I are the ones who end up giving her medicines )
Age: 9 (She doesn't act that old either)
Birthday: April 19, 2000
Rank / size: Queen, because she is the top cat. She also has a queen like look at times. She used to be noticeable bigger than Mystery (they are littermates) but she has lost weight. She is more muscular than Mystery and a little bigger.
Sounds: Shadow meows, howls, purrs, and makes clicking noises at the birds and squirrels
Favorite Toys: catnip, fishing pole, her tail (She is so cute and funny when she chases her tail ). She used to play fetch with Blackie or Greyie her two favorite mice but Blackie got vacuumed up and she got tired of the other one.
Playing Style: She usually will attack toys on her own but will sometimes chase them if they are thrown. She likes to randomly run through the house. She likes to chase or be chased by the other cats. She lets us chase her too.
Petting Preference: Very similar to Mystery’s although she doesn’t bite if she gets over stimulated and finds places to flop sooner.
Rubbing Style: She will rub up against us and then pause with her side against our leg. She also will rub objects. Also, she likes to rub people’s legs after they get out of the shower.
Health: Shadow has epilepsy. We have to give her part of a pill twice a day. She really is very good about it. Sometimes she toys with us and runs away but she always goes somewhere we can get her. Sometimes she spits it back out (if we see her do it we pop it back in but we often find pills places)
Favorite places to sleep: She likes to sleep on towels, especially if they have just come out of the dryer. She has a towel on my parent’s bed to sleep on. She also likes to sleep in front of heat vents. Her favorite heat vent is in the entry way. Anyone going to the front door or using the stairs has to pass her. She will lie on her side and look longingly at us and we will pay a “tummy toll” i.e. we will rub her tummy. She also likes to sleep in the sun or just lie in the hall upstairs.
Snuggling: She also isn’t much of a lap cat, but lately she has been getting in my lap more, especially if I have an afghan on my lap. She kneads and purrs for a long time before she will sit down. At night, she visits me in my room and curls up next to me. Sometimes she will knead one person and then go and curl up next to another.
Miscellaneous: She likes to “help” me make dinner. She rubs me and begs for food. Many times she will howl before she gets into trouble. Usually this is before she jumps up on the counter. We have to be very careful not to leave food unattended on the counter because she will help herself. She started liking a pizza right around a piece of red pepper once. She likes margarine and we let her like the butter dish when it is empty. She comes anytime she hears the butter dish or the toaster. I don’t like margarine that much so I usually just put jelly on my toast. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her I’m not using margarine. One day I held the knife down to show her I was using jelly. She also loves to lick Vaseline. We give her some once a week to help prevent hairballs. However, I regularly use Vaseline at night (I put it in my nose to prevent nosebleeds) and Shadow thinks she should get some too. She has almost licked it of my face before. (The other cats will run away when I offer them Vaseline)

Name: Blitzen (Blitzen is a SHE. People seem to think she is a he. We didn’t name her. She arrived at the Humane Society around Christmas and they were naming the animals Christmassy names. Actually, it fits because Blitzen means lightening or flash in German and she is fast)
Nicknames: Blitz, Miss Blitz, Purrball
Miscellaneous: Blitzen was a feral kitten that ended up at the Humane Society when we were volunteering there. I first met her when she had escaped from her cage and I was trying to get her back in. She clawed my hand and I was very upset I couldn’t handle this little kitten. She was very wild and fierce. As you can see in the “before” picture she is not happy. They were going to send her to a farm because “she couldn’t be tamed” and “was wrong in the head.” We didn’t want her to go to a farm because she was just a kitten and cats on farms have short lives. We ended up fostering her to tame her. If we got too close to her she would swat us with her paw (claws out). It would happen so fast that we wouldn’t see it or feel it. We would just look down and see blood. At first she wouldn’t even eat off of a spoon I held out to her until one of the other foster cats we had ate first. Eventually, she would eat off of the spoon. Then she would play with us some. Finally, she let us touch her a little. It progressed until she would let us pet her and would get our laps. We had planned to take her back to the Humane Society when she was tamed but it took a good year and by the time she was ready to go back we were too attached to get rid of her. By that time, we couldn’t change her name because she knew it. A lot of the time she will actually come when she is called. She is actually friendlier than the other two who have been around humans their whole lives. (< about Myst and Shad not Blitz) She will come out when we have company and Myst and Shad rarely do.
“Owner”: My mom
Age: 7
Birthday: October 2002
Rank / size: Commoner She is bigger and rounder than the other two but as the new cat on the block she is ranked lowest, although at times the other two allow her to push them around. She is a bit of a bully. She also doesn't have the royal air the other two do.
Sounds: Meows, purrs, howls, murrs (she murrs when the other two get too close to her. It sounds friendly to us but from the way Myst and Shad act it must be a threat in cat speak ).
Favorite Toys: Her two balls, catnip, sparklily puffballs
Playing style: She likes to fetch her balls and the puffballs. Sometimes she brings them to us other times she brings them within a few feet. Other times she comes running back without them and we end up fetching. She likes us to balance a puffball on the back of the computer chair so she can grab it or send it flying. Most of the time my mom and I do this it is when we are exercising and want to keep her out from under foot. She also likes the fishing pole and to randomly run through the house. She likes to chase the other cats (at times she gets aggressive when she does this) and to be chased by them but tends to get scared when we try to chase her. She has trouble keeping Myst and Shad in sight and will go one way when they have gone the other or wait for them to come around a corner when they have taken another route.
Petting Preference: She loves to be petted. If we don’t pet her enough she will nuzzle our hands and push her nose under them. Sometimes she likes to be behind us when we are petting her.
Rubbing Style: She rubs with her head and her side. Occasionally, she just rubs us with her tail.
Health: She is on special food and could stand to lose a little weight.
Favorite places to sleep: Wherever Myst or Shad want to sleep. She likes to take over their current favorite spots. Not all the time but often. She likes to sleep in the cat condo next to the heat, people’s laps, the cat bed on the bed, and tunneled into the snuggle bag.
Snuggling: loves to get into people’s laps, even if there really isn’t any room for her. She’ll just lie on top of what is in her way or push her way in.

My dad doesn’t have a pet. After my mom ended up with Blitz, she offered to get my dad a dog (my dad likes dogs and claims he doesn’t like cats (his actions belie his words )), but he didn’t think it was the right time. He didn’t want the cat we offered to get him either. My mom, sister, and I didn’t want a dog anyway. My mom thought that since we ended up with an extra cat it would be nice to consent to a dog.

Well, I think I wrote more than enough for my first post on this thread. I'm out of time anyway.

What wonderful cats! And I'm glad you found this thread to you can share them with us!

Ohhh Patterwig's Pal your cats are ADORABLE!
They're so cute. My mom wants a cat, but we can't get one because a) we have Patchy and b) I'm slightly allergic- I can be around cats as long as I'm not sick, but if I am sick cats argrivates my asthma and make me sicker.

Pattertwigs Pal I love your cats (especially the one in the sink )

wolfloversk we have a similar situation, my older sister is a cat fan and really wants another cat (as the one we had ran away) but my eldest sister has an allergy to cats so we can't get one

HOORAY!!!!!! I finally was able to get some decent pictures of my turtles (I sat for half an hour by their tank taking endless photos till I finally got three that looked more or less ok)
this is Bartholomew or Bart for short, he's lazy and rather slow in everything. Prefers to lie in the sunshine (oops lampshine) and take long naps

And this is Fedya or Fed as I affectionately call him. He's extremely active, usually eats part of Bart's portion of food as well as his own (Bart is a little too slow when it comes to feeding), takes an amazing interest in everything I am doing and I don't know who made up the theory that turtles are slow cause both Bart and Fed are very fast when it comes to crawling around on the floor. Once I pulled Fed out of the tank and put him on the table, I was just put my hand back in the tank to get Bart when I heard a plunk, looking over I saw that Fed and fallen over the edge of the table (I put him in the center of the table). Bart is shy of people and very grumpy, he's even tried to bite me a couple of times, but Fed is easy going, loves to meet new people and is my favorite of the two of them.

The two of them together Fed is the one in the water
People usually ask me how I tell the two of them apart since they are both so green and look very similar. I can tell at first glance who is who, Fed is bigger, a darker shade of green, and his tale is slightly longer. Also the two of them have different markings on their shells

wild rose, I love your turtles! And it's so funny that you added how you tell them apart, because I was thinking that while I was reading about them. And it's amazing to know that even turtles have their own personalities!

My mom wants a cat, but we can't get one because a) we have Patchy and b) I'm slightly allergic- I can be around cats as long as I'm not sick, but if I am sick cats argrivates my asthma and make me sicker.

I’m allergic to cats and have asthma too. The degree of my allergy isn’t clear though. When I was little, I was allergy tested. I reacted to the control (distilled water) and then the doctor asked my mom if we had cats before “reading” the results. He then said that I was severely allergic. He wanted us to get rid of the cats, but my mom refused. Much later when I went to another doctor, he told me that as long as I always have cats I will be okay but if I don’t have cats for a while and then try to have them again I will have trouble. I’m not supposed to sleep with them though. Allergies to cats can be kind of weird. If any of the cats are going to bother my allergies, it is Blitzen. Myst and Shad only bothered me right after we got them. I think it took my system a while to adjust. My mom read a study that said that light colored cats are less like to cause reactions than dark colored cats. Of course since Myst is almost all black and Shad has more black than white, that can’t be what helps in my case. I think it is also worse if the cat is a long hair. Some friends of mine had at least one rabbit and several cats.

Pattertwigs Pal I love your cats (especially the one in the sink )

I must admit the one in the sink is my favorite and the cutest. Although my sister says that Shadow is the cutest. (We’re not at all biased ). By the way, nice pictures of the turtles.

Here is the picture showing all of the cat beds on my parents’ bed. Myst is unwillingly sharing her throne with Blitz.

I don’t remember exactly who said what and I don’t want to go back through all the pages to figure it out so I’m just going to make some general comments.

My cats like bags and boxes too. We have to be very care about what kind of bags we leave around. Shadow has the bad habit of sticking her head through the handles. Even after she had a horrible experience with her head caught in the handle of a gift bag. In the process of running through the house with the bag stuck around her neck and us pulling her out from under the bed, she ripped the top layer of her claws off. The vet said it was like us ripping off our fingernails. Actually, she came out of the experience calmer than the other two. Mystery fluffed and cowered under the kitchen table (Myst doesn’t fluff often.). I think Blitz fluffed too. She fluffs very easily so that wasn’t a surprise. Her tail kind of looks like a raccoon’s when she fluffs. What was surprising was that instead of retreating to her room, she cowered on the board behind our kitchen sink. Our sink is open rather than in front of a wall or window.

Blitzen likes to “help” me type. I am very thankful that there are undo buttons. In fact, she just tried to lie down on my laptop.

I have a stuffed lion named Cinnamon. (I also have ones named Gingerroot and Nutmeg).

I knew a cat at the humane society that bit into an electrical cord on two different occasions. I think he ended up at the vet because of it.

Blitzen likes to play with the phone cord, and we are afraid that one of these days she is going to disconnect the phone.

Our cats have been known to take drinks out of our milk glasses if we leave them unattended. Clive, one of the cats we had before our current ones, helped himself to my dad’s coffee once. By the way, Clive was named after C.S. Lewis. My mom was doing a report on Lewis at the time.

My mom read a study that said that light colored cats are less like to cause reactions than dark colored cats.

I am allergic to cats and dogs actually. We had cats in our house my entire life. Then, I went off to college. On one of my trips back home, I noticed hives on my arm from holding my cat that I had had since I was around 7 years old or so.
So, after that, I got into the birds, thinking that I would never be able to have cats again. Then I researched it a bit and found the same information; plus, if they are bathed regularly, it helps to keep the dander down and thus the allergies. So, I got DC (all white) when he was very young and bathed him a lot. And, the rest is history. I now have 3 cats and 2 dogs. Once in a while, after I've been holding one of the animals for a while, I'll notice a hive or two on my arm (usually in the summer when I'm sweaty) and when they bite or scratch me, the wound gets red and swells, but I just make sure I wash them well in soap and water, put a little neosporin on it and the swelling goes down pretty quickly.

By the way, Pattertwigs Pal, I love your cats and the "throne"! It so much reminds me of my 2 boys on my mom's bed (she lives with us--for another week anyway). For some reason, they take over her bed and fight over one spot. Cats, you gotta love 'em!!!

ramagut wrote:

it's amazing to know that even turtles have their own personalities!

You know I would have never thought that turtles had personalities until I go them. But believe me they really have personality. Bart especially has a temper that is best not to tamper with. He really dislikes me, even after all I do for him (feed him, clean his tank every two weeks and give him his weekly bath). He doesn't mind me as long as I keep my hands out of his home. (the tank). Fed on the other hand is so sweet, he really tame. I am the only one who takes care of their feeding and Fed know that food comes from me. When feeding time comes around he's already waiting for me, nose pressed to the glass and if I am late he starts swimming back and forth frantically trying to find out what is taking so long. He loves taking his weekly bath (he especially likes it when I gently pour warm water over his head, he sticks his neck out and really enjoys it.). He aslo loves it when I take him outside when it is warm outside to crawl around in the fresh air. Bart hates going outside. The two of them are just extreme opposites. They get along great though and don't fight.