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The Kitchen Table

The pets we have, not dogs or cats

15 years ago

Seeing Joann fla's funny picture of her parrot peeking through the cage bars made me wonder what kinds of pets we have here other than cats or dogs--other pets.

I keep a tropical aquarium, a leopard gecko, and an ant farm at school (some would not consider ants as pets). At home I have a white dove.

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Comments (18)

marie_ndcal
15 years ago
Just fish not dogs or cats anymore. DD does and GD do have those.
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Hi socks,

I suppose that it'd have to be the kids, with their small fingers, that would pet the ant pets, no?

ole joyful
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Hoovb, your pal is precious ! Each pet-pal has a way to endear themselves to us, and enter our heart... maybe it's a bird or a gerbil or a 'coon, I was in the pet-food store the other day and a guy came in with a possum riding on his shoulder, she had a harness and leash on and was just adorable, he found her as a baby and raised her and she lives with him, uses a litter-box and eats cat-food... her fur was soft like a kitten, they are almost blind but have extra senses like smell and hearing, etc., and she loved being petted...... so there you go, we all have our weaknesses..... and wouldn't give them up because they sustain us in our times of need...............sally
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Cheryl, DH has designed and built all of our cat trees. The first one we had was just a peeler core, wrapped with sisal twine, and with 2 carpeted shelves that were notched into the post. At that time, the cats were little and just loved to climb, so that was ideal for them to work out their energy. The second was just a series of posts and boxes that were carpeted and put together. That one was a pain to keep clean and after several years of wear and tear, it was done. The one we have right now is very simple, but the cats still love it. It is 5 alternating shelves- one to the left, then one to the right, then back to the left- so they could climb them more like stairs as they got older. The shelves are supported on one side by a narrow 2x4 frame, and a sisal wrapped peeler core on the other. We only carpeted the tops of the shelves on this one, and the cats were just fine with that. Our girl especially loves the top shelf that is up almost at ceiling level, it probably stays a little warmer up there and she can sleep soundly without worrying about being disturbed by anyone (she's very high strung). If you have someone in your life who has woodworking/construction experience, a cat tree can be pretty basic- just use your imagination. The real pain is if you decide to carpet the whole thing, it's like the worst upholstery job ever. That's why we opted with just stapling flat pieces of carpet to the tops of the shelves. Over the years we learned that our cats enjoyed just being up high, and climbing carpeted or twine wrapped posts most of all, so carpeting the outside of a box was just too much trouble. HTH, sorry to ramble.
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User
15 years ago
I don't know if you would call them pets but we have a pile of ducks, geese & guineas, besides that Macaw.
katlan
15 years ago
We are down to one old dog, 14 1/2 years old now that our kids are grown and gone. At one point we had birds, fish, rabbits, dogs, hermit crabs and an all white ferret. I'm done with pets after the old boy Jack goes. The things we do for our kids!
lynn_d
15 years ago
In addition to the 3 indoor cats we have a pair of love birds that we adopted after a 47 bird rescue. The exotics all found homes fut no one wanted these guys. So I took them in, the rescuer was thrilled! I had asked him how old he thought they were and how long they would live, he said they would probably live another 5 years or so.....that was in 2000. They are still with us! LOL!! They were nasty, they would throw themselves at the sides of the cage trying to bite, I had to wear heavy duty gloves even to feed them.

Today the are tame(r) but still not loving by any means!

We also have a 100 gallon tropical tank of gourami and angels. And we have 6 feral cats we are taming so that we get them in for neutering. . . and possums and raccoons and skunks......we love them all.
bulldinkie
15 years ago
I have a 55 gallon aquarium,a yellow cockateil.The bird is about 20 years old.
blubird
15 years ago
We have a rather large head-standing catfish who is over 16 years old! He's the only fish left in his tank - he's very friendly and likes to get his belly rubbed while he's feeding - upside down. You can practically hand feed him, too.

Helene
User
15 years ago
In addition to five cats and two dogs, I have about 14 foot long koi, a betta fish and a hive of bees. I love my bees and hope they made it thru this winter.
wildchild
15 years ago
Our Texas Desert Tortoise Lucy died last summer after being with me for over 45 years. She was fully grown when she was found so she was probably 65 to 70 years old.

Three years ago a neighbor brought me a Mississippi Map Turtle. Ethel is outgrowing her aquarium and and the several hundred dollar pump setup so we will probably be putting in an outdoor pond for her this year.

When the kids were young we had hermit crabs,hamsters, rats and garter snakes along with cats and dogs.

DS and his GF have a cat and sometimes 2 r two. they share one cat with his girl's mother.

DD raised rats for years while she was single. Now she and her DH have 3 little dogs.

I was just discussing pets with DH last evening. We have a Lab and a Rot that are approaching their 8th birthdays. The reality is they are seniors and so are we even though I and the dogs don't act it and DH is doing his best. LOL

I told him that since I will be 60 I think I have it in me to do raise one more pair of large high maintenance dogs from puppyhood. Then after that set I think I'll be too old. I suggested that if we were still in good health and active enough in a decade we might consider becoming puppy raisers. That would allow us to have dogs without the worry of them outliving us. An alternative would be to take in older retired service dogs and give them good final years at a slower pace with us old folks. We'll see what the future brings.
Marilyn Sue
15 years ago
A fourteen foot Koi! That is really big! Did you mean 14 inch? I have a pond of Koi and a pond of goldfish. Also have outside cats and my Pomeranian Izzi.

Sue
socks
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, I'd like to hear more about that 14' koi!! It's in the swimming pool?
shay13
15 years ago
When I was young and my family lived in Jacksonville Fla near the St Johns River, we had a baby alligator. We nursed him back to health after what looked like a run in with a boat propeller. We kept him for about 6 months until he finally escaped his pen and went back to the wild. We used to walk him with a dog leash--no lie!
kayjones
15 years ago
I think she's saying '(14) foot-long Koi'
User
15 years ago
Thanks for clearing that up Kay, we just got some Koi and that would take up a good part of my pond at 14 feet!
socks
Original Author
15 years ago
Of course, that's what she meant. She has 14 koi. I don't know why, I just think a 14' koi is very funny! Like one of those big marlins they catch on the sportfishing boats!
bulldinkie
15 years ago
Oh I have donkeys,mini,I have a koi pond with 1' long koi,I have a turkey he came to our farm,he ran the neighbor hood ,so we named him after the twp name.It was getting to be hunting season so we put him in the chicken house,now that he has a home hes gorgeous,Hes beautiful,now hes eating,horses 3,swans.
Marilyn Sue
15 years ago
That is some turkey you have! I couldn't resist. :)

Sue
chubby_rat
15 years ago
I have a pond full of Koi and goldfish.Not even sure how many....they had babies.

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