Sunday, October 25, 2009

Country Bumpkin vs City Slicker Pets




Karen's new kitty GT, looking very Spooky for her close-up!

Karen's new addition Slick, dressed to the nines in his tuxedo and spats.

Amelia looking absolutely terrific for almost 300!

Pet's 121 year old Herman lounging in his favorite chair.

Pet

Hi Karen Anne, I get joshed a lot about my nickname whenever the sign “No Pets Allowed” appears, but let’s ignore all that joviality because I want to talk about pets, those little creatures we have around the house and yard, real pain in the butts, but a definite source of unqualified love so we keep them around and they become a major part of our lives. I have to start out by saying, “My pets can beat up your pets.” Household animals living in the country are a rugged breed. My spaniel, Herman is 121 in dog years, but still finds his way down to the woods in back of the house to drink from his favorite stream. He can’t see a foot in front of his face with his one remaining eye, can’t hear unless super loud and is showing some effects of old age. But he loves to run across the lawn, jump up the steps and into the house where he can easily find his way around. We call him the zombie dog. That’s because real dogs don’t live as long as he has, so we figure somewhere along the line he transformed into the pet of the living dead. Would you believe he’s still cute? Hope I’m that cute when I reach 121!

Karen

Well, I think my tortoise shell calico Amelia has Herman beat, she’s 288 in cat years. She doesn’t run around much any more and her favorite pastime is very long catnaps, still I think she’s doing great for almost 300! She’s a city cat all the way. Her second favorite thing to do is give herself long luxurious baths so she’s always ready for her close-up. : ) She was even offered a commercial spot but my dreams of having a famous pet were not to be. Amelia never made it past the test shots. One look at the bright lights and people darting around everywhere and she took off. I had to search the set for over an hour to find her. My dreams of seeing my beautiful cat on the TV were dashed. But you’ll still find Amelia grooming herself with zeal. And people still tell me she should be in commercials. I just grin and say, “I know. Doesn’t she look fantastic for 300.”

Pet

Amelia sounds like a great pet. I hope to get to meet her some day. Hey, I wouldn’t mind flying across the country to meet a great almost famous cat like Amelia. I’m finding here in the country folks have a different view of pets. They are all self-sufficient and cat naps are usually taken out of doors. I’ve never heard of a cat having nails removed so they don’t scratch the furniture. They just get tossed outside, like Sally the mostly white cat across the road from us. Always outside, she visits frequently, very carefully avoiding the speeding pickups, to check out the birds in our woods. When the sunflowers were in bloom, she and another neighbor cat set up headquarters underneath the giant flowers hoping to catch a lazy cardinal or goldfinch as they munched on the seeds. Sally has figured out that Herman can’t see too well and his cat chasing days are over, so has no qualms about cuddling with him when she wishes to do him a big favor. You know how these prima donna cats are.

Karen

Cats in the city don’t have beautiful woods to hunt in or meadows to while away the hours but they do have grass on demand. What the heck am I talking about? If my apartment bound cat starts chewing on my houseplants in frustration I can run out to the local pet store or nursery and buy her a nice container of cat grass. Yes, I can bring home a little piece of nature for my cat to devour. And if I think my cat is aggravated because she has no place to roam, I can take her to the kitty day spa. There she can frolic with other cats in a beautiful sun filled atrium with waterfalls and large grassy areas to lounge in. I can even book her a message! Nothings too good for the excessively pampered city cat. Just so you don’t think I’ve gone off the deep end, Amelia has a nice suburban yard perfect for hunting squirrels. And the only massage she gets is when I’m hunting for fleas. : )

Pet

I can’t imagine Sally Cat across the street spending the day at a spa. Here’s a bulletin just in. The black tom cat, her constant companion has gone missing. I wonder if she’s like a dog who lived with us also named Sally. Our dog was cute and friendly and loved the outdoors. We had to keep her away from the chicken coop next door, not too difficult since she had no problem hunting in the woods for her gourmet meal of feathered friends. Sally Dog also enjoyed walking off into the woods with her companions. She got her sister, Polly, her daughter, Sugar and two neighbor dogs to trot along with her. Slight problem. Sally always returned alone. Since she missed out on transforming into a zombie dog, she’s now in doggy heaven while those of us here on earth have never figured out what in the world she did to get rid of the other dogs.

Karen

Talk about a dastardly dog! Here in the city there are only three reasons pets disappear. One: they get lost and are hit by a car just blocks from their home. Two: they are some fabulous purebred that a criminal snags to get the reward money. Three: The coyotes got them. I’ve mentioned before how Pasadena is over run with coyotes, like much of LA. I’ll never get over the first time I saw a pack of coyotes running down my nice residential street, one with a cat in its mouth! Talk about welcome to the Wild West! That’s why our household recently went from one cat, good old Amelia, to three. We rescued two feral black and white cats, a brother and sister, after they both were mauled by coyotes. Several hundred dollars later, both of them are doing well. Amelia has finally gotten used to her new companions. Slick, the tuxedo clad brother, earned his name by managing to survive his very bad tangle with the dreaded coyotes. His sister, GT, a cute black long hair, earned her name from the little white goatee she has on her chin. Needless to say they both have become house cats, and I don't think they mind one bit. : )

Pet

Your new cats sound darling. Amelia must be quite the lady not to get jealous and take them for a walk like Sally Cat and Sally Dog did. Oh those coyotes! Something we have in common. They abound here. Don’t think they are an endangered species. Do they howl at night like they do out in the country? Creepy Halloween noises. Sounds like a chorus of ghosts. The country coyotes find little calves quite tasty. So of course the whole herd goes bonkers and loud mooing ensues. The dogs for miles around bark their heads off. I used to get alarmed at shot gun blasts going off in the middle of the night. Now I know, just a farmer protecting his herd from the hungry beasts. I’ve heard, but not seen a coyote here. Once in the mid winter when we lived on a bay of Lake Ontario in upstate New York we watched a lone gray coyote cross the frozen waters. They go after our domestic animals when the forest critters run out. I like them much better in the deep woods than in backyards and farmyards.

Karen

It’s amazing how coyotes seem to be all across the US. Was visiting a cousin in Atlanta and she said they roam the streets there too. Maybe the last animal standing won’t be the lowly cockroach but the formidable coyote! As for my old girl Amelia and how she’s gracefully adjusted to the two feral interlopers, let’s just say they’ve had their ups and downs. I’ve caught Amelia several times letting Slick and GT know exactly who’s boss. She definitely queen of her Victorian. : ) If one of the young upstarts even thinks about stealing one of her favorite nap locations they are in for a big swat in the face. And if they don’t move out of the way fast enough Amelia will make sure they have a scar to remind them not to try it again. My parting thought about pets is I agree with you. As much as pets are a lot of work, (just like husbands : ), they give us such pleasure and can turn a down day into a laugh feast by their crazy behavior. And the best part is, they love us no mater what!


4 comments:

Fran said...

Beautiful pictures of some beautiful animals-- didn't know about the coyotes in Los Angeles-- thats real scary. Thats one good thing about Baltimore-- have never seen or heard a coyote (even though "The Wire" is a pretty realistic show-- we do have our problems) Hope Kare Ann's cats stay safe. Great Blog this month!

Stacey Joy Netzel said...

Great blog, you two! I didn't realize coyotes roam around like that in cities. Yikes! Karen, your Slick looks just like a kitty I had when I lived in KY, named Magic. You both have adorable pets! (Not to mention Pet is adorable, too. LOL Karen, I haven't met you yet, but I'm sure you're just as cute!)

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