Congratulations Denise! Have you gotten her yet?

I know the happiness of having a new pet. We just had a year old white miniature poodle given to us three days ago and just love him. He's as smart as a whip and so affectionate. He gets along great with our 8 year old Basenji/Terrier. They play and play and play. We had a toy poodle several years ago and really like the breed.

We always had our toy professionally groomed, but thought I might try my hand at shearing this one between pro cuts. I don't mean to highjack your post, Denise, but does anyone have any experience in doing this, which electric shears to get, etc.?

Here's our new boy, Sport, inspecting his surroundings on his first day here:

If we're hijacking, can I show you the sweet finches we purchased for my daughter (that's what we're saying anyway) this weekend? I'm loving having the cheerful singing in the house! (2 Zebras, 2 Orange-Cheeked Waxbills, and 1 Chestnut Throated Seedeater)

Hope your new additions fit in well!

Bobbi, your little birds are darling!

Anybody else get a new pet ... a skunk maybe? -- since skunks were mentioned in another post :-) Recently a PBS Nature program featured skunks, as pets and otherwise. Bob had a skunk as a pet before we married. He still talks about what a cute and fun pet she was.

I have a story to tell about a kitty. Since we live in the country, we get more than our share of cats "dropped off" to fend for themselves. I feed them, neuter them if I can catch them, give them their shots and let them do their own thing. They have a warm place to stay in the barn during the winter and it is safe. This being said, I have still lost a few to predators. One such kitty came to me about a year ago (a Calico) and I named her Matilda. She loved to help me garden or hop in my lap when I rested. Then sometimes the early part of November, she just did not show up for food, and after a few days of this, I felt she had gone the way of some of the others. What a surprise I had a couple of weeks ago when who was at my backdoor demanding to be fed??? Right, Matilda. She must have been in someone's home for awhile and as soon as she got out, she came back. Needless to say, I am glad to have her back.

Carrie, that's amazing! Thanks for the story!

Doncha' wish she could tell HER story. If only pets could talk ...

Oh, she does, Roselee, I just can't understand her...(grin)!!!

Hey Roseelee.. did you hear about the kitty yet?

I have a question if you don't mind, for all the kitty owners out there..

I just moved recently from AZ to Eastern TX (YEAH!) I brought my 5 kitties and added them to the 2 my bf already had.
Because I had been going through a divorce last year and had to fight to get my kitties back, I am so thrilled to have them of course, but they ended up being preg when I got them back, so now we are up to - don't faint here- 13! I am in the process of getting them all fixed finally (MUCH easier and cheaper in TX!) BUT My question is how well do they fair outside in the TX weather? I can not have that many kitties running amok in our rental house and they love to be outside. We live on 2+ fenced acres and they have access to get under the house and into the garage.. Right now the girls and the babies, who are around 2 months old stay inside and the boys are outside but I would like for all of them to be outside most of the time.
Any suggestions or things that worked for yours? I want them to stay warm as they are not used to the drop in temps that we get in TX. It will not be as hot for them obviously as it was in AZ but I am not used to dealing with the cold and the drastic temp changes...

Any advice would be welcome :)
You can email me at aztotx2008@aol.com

THANKS again and good luck with your kitty roselee!

Welcome, newtexan!

Put a lot of pine needles or pinestraw into some pet crates or doghouses (igloos are very good), & set the doghouses in as sheltered an area as possible, such as underneath the roof of a covered patio or under a porch.

Set them so that the openings are sheltered from the wind.

If you're using a crate, use duct tape to put plastic around the holes in the sides, or just duct tape over the holes.

If you need a crate, my neighbors left one behind when they moved;
it needs to be washed, but it's very sturdy.

I'm in Red Oak, just south of Dallas & maybe 10 miles west of I-45/Hwy 75.

newtexan,Wow! That's a lot of kitties!
I found an idea that might be the best of both worlds! Check this out!
Denisew, did you get your kitty yet? PJ

Here is a link that might be useful: kitty enclosures

Oh, I hope you were able to adopt her! She sounds darling! I used to volunteer w/ a rescue and the brown tabbies and little black cats were always the last ones to be adopted. But they always had the best personalities!

My neighbor has this cool cat named Noodle. I saw him the other day making a beeline for the backyard. That's when I heard the hose going. When I peeked down the hill, I could see her watering her beds while he lounged on the patio table...making sure she did everything correctly! haha

Okay, been kind of busy so just getting back to this post to update you on our new cat. We did get the cat and kept her name that she had from the shelter - Carmen. She has adjusted to our two dogs and loves playing chase with our male cat. It sounds like a herd of horses when they're running up and down the hallway upstairs and we're downstairs. Here is a picture of her. Since our male cat is also black my husband made me get a collar to put on Carmen so he could tell the difference. I can tell the difference because she is smaller than our male and has a different face shape and her eyes are a little bit different color. We found her a gold sparkly collar that she doesn't mind wearing. She has made herself at home and a part of our lives. We're glad we got her.

Sweet kitty! I recently had a friend offer me 2 little turtles, which I've had before and thought they were great pets, but... We now have a senior citizen cat, a tank of fish, and 5 birds. If we added turtles and the dog I've been considering, I've decided we might have to get a zoo license! I love animals, but it is a chore finding someone you trust to take care of them when you want to go on vacation!

Enjoy your new companion. She looks like a sweet rascal!

One of the funny things about her is when she uses the litter box. I tell my husband that when she is digging a hole in the litter, it sounds like she is in a race trying to dig to China! She gets both her front paws going really fast and a good thing it isn't aimed out the opening (our cats have a covered litter box)! If we didn't have a cover on it, most of the litter would be on the floor - what a mess that would be!

Denisew! Wow what a pretty black kitty. My favorite cat with the best personality was an all black kitty :). Carmen is a pretty name.
Speaking of kitties....
ugh.
There is a "neighborhood cat" that hangs around. She had on a collar (not a quick release so I took it off and plan to replace it with something close in color) just as soon as I let her go.
Why do I have the neighborhood kitty in my bathroom you ask?
She's knocked up. I guess they spent all the money on the collar. ****! I WAS going to mind my own bussiness and not play rescue person AGAIN but kitty saw past my indifference and decided to set up her "nesting area" UNDER MY DAMN TRUCK!!!Only a couple people in this cul-de-sac use thier little garage for cars and I'm one of them.
She didn't set up her "nest" in one of the garages that had a safe place to pop did she? IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!!
(cursing some more) So, I have a plan for kitty. I will wait until her kittens are weaned 10 weeks after she delivers and spay her. Then put her back outside. Meanwhile, what to do with all the damn kittens?
She's young (less than a year I'm fairly sure) so I'm hoping she doesn't have very many kittens and does have the maturity to take care of them!
Any suggestions? I've emailed every animal shelter I can think of hoping to get these kittens on a waiting list early. I can't think of anything else.I checked out Craigslist and was afraid! Half the people who post on there seem to be really wierd. PJ

ouch...good luck w/ this project. It's kitten season...everyone w/ a litter is calling the shelter looking for help. Problem is the public *never* wants to adopt a kitten during kitten season. They want them in September, when school is starting and they are back at home, or at Christmas time when they need a convenient gift.

April/May when there are thousands of homeless kittens...well Joe Public is getting ready to go on summer vacation and doesn't want the trouble of finding someone to take care of it for them while they're at the beach.

Then of course, when they ARE looking in September and you still have the kitten available...well it's *too old* at four or five months old. Apparently you can't be a kitten unless you are less than six weeks old.

LOL! Made!
I found a rescue :). I'm a bit early and got in on the waiting list just in time. PJ

I have to laugh at Carmen since she carries her extra calories differently than our larger male cat. She has been fixed, yet looks like she is pregnant where her belly extends out the sides. She is petite, so that is the way her body is made, but our larger male cat has his kitty fat hanging. They're not obese - just slightly plump! That is why we got a second cat - to run the fat off the first one and they do play chase quite a bit, but probably not enough.

TSk! I'm telling the fat animal police on you!!! LOL! PJ