My Community

General => The REST Room => Topic started by: harv on September 07, 2012, 11:29:48 PM

Title: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 07, 2012, 11:29:48 PM
Have you got any..? What are they..? What are they called..?

Post pics! 8)

As some of you already know I've got two pussy cats. Georgie who I've had since she was a kitten, she's 4 years old next year. And Rufus Roughpaws who I adopted when my best mate tragically passed away just over a year ago. No idea how old he is, probably 15 or 16 I think.

Can't post pics at the mo cos my phone is buggered, bloomin USB socket isn't working properly. Getting a new phone this week so will post pics when I get it sorted.

Georgie is part silver tabby and part tortoise shell and Rufus is a bloomin great big Ginger Nut. Rufus has got Chronic Renal Disease and conjunctivitis unfortunately so I've probably only got a couple of years at most with the poor fellah :'( Going to attempt to put his eye drops in tomorrow...could be fun :-\ :o :P
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 08, 2012, 05:33:19 PM
African Grey parrot - Charlie, and a recently aquired hamster called Chunky.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 08, 2012, 06:55:11 PM
Got any pics..?

And does the parrot talk..? :o Must have cost you a bomb!!! :o :o :o

Edit: Forgot to mention that I managed to bung in Rufus' eye drops earlier...he wasn't impressed, poor bugger lol ;D
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 08, 2012, 11:31:29 PM
Yeah he talks, he was rescued so didn't cost a lot, at least not to get, between 2003 and 2008 he cost me over £10000 in vets bills and associated costs because of a serious illness. Still has to have medical treatment every day.

Had him since 1986 he was about 3 or 4 then.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 08, 2012, 11:36:20 PM
You should teach him how to say 'show us your knickers' lol ;D
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Momo on September 09, 2012, 01:52:02 AM
I just purchased a racing Yak, great pedigree to boot, big problem is Berkshire is not the best place for competition.
The other downside is when he farts half the coastline of Greenland disappears into the Atlantic.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Late on September 10, 2012, 12:36:39 PM
We've got a cat, called Shitbag.
The wife and kids insist he's called Biscuit, but they're wrong.

No pics to hand, cos I don't much like him. Mainly cos he brings us home a dead bird or mouse most nights. I know he means well and thinks I should be pleased and proud of him, but it's just gross. I say "dead" - usually it's dead or close, but fairly often he'll bring home a live one to play with. We almost always notice before we let him into the house, but once every year or two he'll get in with one. :(

We got him as a kitten about 5 years ago, so he's probably got a lot of years left.
Yay...  :-X
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 10, 2012, 03:02:26 PM
The way to stop that is not to move it when he leaves it for you. When you move it the dozy fuckwit thinks you've eaten it so brings you another one lol. If you leave it where it is he'll think you're not interested and eat it himself. Once you do this a few times he won't bother doing it.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Late on September 10, 2012, 03:18:56 PM
Nope - he's left them off to the side of the door before, under a bench, with us not noticing for a day or two - by which point they're covered in maggots/flies. When he leaves them in plain sight he usually watches as they're swept out of the garden. That's assuming the kick up the arse is administered after we sweep away his "gift", rather than before.
When he does eat a whole one he often pukes it up again later. Oh aye, it's one delight or the other with this git.
Couldn't leave them by the front door anyway (actually, they're big glass french doors), as you'd see them all the time. I'd be permanently pissed off with him, and my front room would be perma-coated in vom...
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 10, 2012, 05:01:42 PM
Blimey, that's unusual. They normally eat them if they think you're not eating them. Your puss is a weirdo lol ;D
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Late on September 10, 2012, 05:44:27 PM
Tell me 'bout it. Useless bugger can't even meow. Just makes a stupid "eek" noise...
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: bealec on September 10, 2012, 06:53:24 PM
Can't have pets as my boy seems to be allergic to most domestic animal fur/saliva. Comes up in a stinging nettle type rash.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 10, 2012, 06:55:35 PM
Cats hunt because it's in their nature, even when they don't need to eat. Should be a law that they have to have bells on them.

One of the major reasons for the decline in a number of bird species, exacerbated by increased urbanisation and the spread of homes into the green belt.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike cats as such but there is far too much unregulated breeding and far too many now. Should also be a illegal to breed without a license and a legal requirement to have them neutered unless you are a licensed breeder.

I have always wanted to get myself an eagle owl to hunt the neighbourhood cats that come into my garden.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 10, 2012, 07:53:34 PM
Totally agree about cats being neutered. My mate that passed away last year regularly fed the feral cats at the back of our local but arranged to have the CPL catch and neuter them. They found most of them homes but the landlords of both pubs wanted them to keep a few out there because they started to get overrun with rats lol. :P
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 11, 2012, 08:54:29 PM
You don't get overrun by rats because of a shortage of felines, but because of an overabundance of humans who provide far too much food for the rats. Once they start breeding and have gained a foothold you have a problem because, even if there is a shortage of food, they will eat their own young and they migrate to other areas. Creating as much of a problem for ground nesting birds as cats, and even tree nesting birds as they can climb very well to raid nests. Replacing rats with cats doesn't help birds.

I live next to an allotment, loads of cats around here (hence wanting the eagle owl) and their numbers are increasing, but we started to get an increase in rats when somebody got rid of the foxes that lived in the allotment. Not helped by idiots who put meat in their compost bins.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 11, 2012, 11:03:58 PM
There's a railway line behind the pub. Not sure why but you always get rats near railway lines for some reason. The cats kept the rat population down, when the cat population went down the rat population went up...they even had a rat running across the bar floor at one point so they asked the CPL to bring back some of the neutered ones. ;D
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: AVFCRoss on September 12, 2012, 03:03:01 AM
1 dog - Irish Greyhound...We've owned greyhounds for a number of years now, and had 3 in total to date...1 was too old and had to be put to sleep, the other one had a chronic issue with arthritis and got to the point where he could barely stand, so again, had to be put down...Onto on our third and thankfully he's going strong.

I couldn't recommend Greyhounds enough...gentle, well tempered, soft and excellent value for money in a park or other big open areas for obvious reasons..It's a bit of a shame they're frequently overlooked as domestic pets, probably because of their size and gangly nature, but they're actually extremely good pets.

We have 4 cats too...1 is trooping along towards a good age now, but as bone idle as anything (has this nasty habit of suddenly turning vicious too sometimes...), another 1 is about half his age (6) and like Late's, has this unwelcome tendency to present it's hunting expeditions in either the kitchen or the garage...Common victims are mice and pigeons, but also been known to drag in frogs, other smaller birds of varying types and even a squirrel once. We also have 2 kittens who are almost a year old...They often playfight and get bullied by the other two though and eat like you wouldn't believe.

We also have a rat, but thats my brothers which he keeps in his room.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 12, 2012, 03:16:14 AM
Kittens are very cool 8)

Georgie and Rufus play together now, took 9 months for Georgie Porgie to get used to the idea of having a bloomin great big Ginger Nut in the flat but now they get along fine. When they play together they alternate between play fighting and chasing each other around the flat lol. Quite funny to watch ;D

Might buy a greyhound when I win the Euro Millions, and a racehorse or two as well. ;D 8)
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: jman on September 12, 2012, 08:41:27 AM
Growing up with mum, we always had cats as she doesnt like dogs (had 8 cats at one point, 11 in total)... (George, Fifi, Samson, Deliah, Fluff, Pipsqueak, Jess, Rollo, Milly, Noodles and Ali-Biff)

They are all gone now though, she's just bought a grey kitten called Flo.. its about 4 months old now, completely bonkers and bloody vicious!!

My dad also had a lot of cats (Rijn, Eddy, Ella, Rosa, Oscar, Rousseau, Tyko and there is another one but I cant remember its name).. 4 of them are still alive now.

At the moment I personally dont have any pets anymore.... I definitely will get one when I move and unsure whether I'd like two cats or one dog

If we get a dog.. my top 5 choices are (Springer Spaniel, Bulldog, Dachshund, Beagle or a Dalmation).. although I've always wanted a springer, so it will most likely be that..
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 12, 2012, 06:47:34 PM
There's a railway line behind the pub. Not sure why but you always get rats near railway lines for some reason. The cats kept the rat population down, when the cat population went down the rat population went up...they even had a rat running across the bar floor at one point so they asked the CPL to bring back some of the neutered ones. ;D

I think the "behind the pub" may give a clue. I can pretty much guarantee if there was no pub the rat numbers would decrease.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 12, 2012, 06:51:10 PM
Are the greyhounds rescue dogs or retired racers Ross? My friend has retired greyhounds, his latest one had a brain illness and died in April, so he was off to get another one last Saturday.

I've always had border collies, intelligent enough to co-exist with my parrot, have to get them from pups though.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on September 12, 2012, 08:45:22 PM
There's a railway line behind the pub. Not sure why but you always get rats near railway lines for some reason. The cats kept the rat population down, when the cat population went down the rat population went up...they even had a rat running across the bar floor at one point so they asked the CPL to bring back some of the neutered ones. ;D

I think the "behind the pub" may give a clue. I can pretty much guarantee if there was no pub the rat numbers would decrease.

Nope, it's a weird thing with railway lines I think. We used to live in a house with a railway line not too far behind it when I was a kid and had problems with rats. I guess it must be due to people throwing food out of train windows..? :-\

Talking of greyhounds we had a dog that was part whippet and she used to run like the wind :o She used to wind up bigger dogs like dobermans, alsations etc and get them to chase her lol. Was great fun for her until she got older, lost a bit of pace and got her ear mangled the silly sod :( >:( Made her a bit more careful after that lol.

She was a lovely dog, Trixie. I was heartbroken when we lost her :'(
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: AVFCRoss on September 17, 2012, 03:53:10 AM
Are the greyhounds rescue dogs or retired racers Ross? My friend has retired greyhounds, his latest one had a brain illness and died in April, so he was off to get another one last Saturday.

I've always had border collies, intelligent enough to co-exist with my parrot, have to get them from pups though.

Yeah, they're retired racing dogs...The one we have at the moment actually broke his wrist slipping over during a race once, and would have been put down...They don't generally have a long life expectancy, because unless they can be homed, they're no use to racers anymore and just get sent away to be shot or hung...That's why we've always had Greyhounds...If you want a minimal hassle pet, but one you can still get alot of enjoyment from down the park or something, I can't recommend them enough...I'd rather one over some persistent yappy thing that you could easily mistake for a rat on a lead.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: ancelotti on September 17, 2012, 03:56:31 PM
We've one dog and one cat. The dog is an irish wolfhound we decided to rehome after he was taken from his previous owner for animal cruelty. He's big, but very docile and playful.

No idea what breed the cat is. Not a big fan of them anyway. Selfish bastards.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: Dragontao on September 17, 2012, 09:52:12 PM
.They don't generally have a long life expectancy, because unless they can be homed, they're no use to racers anymore and just get sent away to be shot or hung...

The reason I will NEVER support greyhound racing in any way, they don't care about the animals any more than they do a piece of office furniture, and only as long as it's useful.
Title: Re: Pets..?
Post by: harv on October 22, 2012, 03:21:12 PM
Christ on a fucking bike. Bought some Canadian Catnip from eBay, to say it's strong stuff would be a major understatement! Bought my two monsters a bloomin great big scratch post which they haven't used so covered it in the stuff and Georgie decided to rub her face against it a few times. She's now tripping her tits off lololol :o ;D