Introducing...

I've posted pictures of my dogs, and since I haven't cooked anything out of the ordinary, that deserved to be shared, I thought I would introduce a few more family members.  My cats.  I will be starting a new job in a few hours and, of course, can't sleep, so here I am.

First, allow me to introduce the old man, Pumba, who is seven and a half years old.  We took him and his brother, Timon in when a lady posted online that she had taken in a pregnant stray until it had had it's litter and weaned them, but now needed to rehome them as she had a houseful of her own.  We picked Pumba out because he was a little fluffball.  That left one male kitten and momma cat unclaimed, but the kittens weren't quite ready to go yet, so that was ok.  The day before we were to pick Pumba up, the lady emailed me, asking if we would be able to take the other male kitten because he was the only one that hadn't found a new home and she needed them all gone, which meant the shelter for him.  Well, of course we took him.  Couldn't let him go to the pound. 

Fast forward from 2005 to 2011.  The brothers had grown HUGE.  Sometime in November, Timon became ill, the Pumba followed.  The vet gave us meds for them, but getting it down Timon was almost impossible.  He was HUGE...25 pounds and very strong, even when he was sick.  We were in and out of the vet's office, but Timon simply wasn't responding to the meds.  Not even when the vet gave us an injectable  antibiotic.  We tried everything, but he just never got any better, and on December 30, he passed away...over a year ago and it still hurts to type that.

This was Timon...

I couldn't handle losing both of them.  The vet hadn't attached much importance to the cats not eating as long as they were drinking, but that hadn't worked so well with Timon, so I said to hell with what he said, got some kitten milk and force fed it to Pumba with an eye dropper.  Finally, he started to respond, and is still with us.  He's a big momma's boy, and I know that, sooner or later, I will lose him, but until then, I'll spoil him.

Next is Shanzi.  She's four and a half and a teeny tiny thing.  We found her online, too.  Another case of finding her a home of taking her to the shelter.  She is very stand offish and doesn't care much for people, but Timon was her buddy.  She claimed him as hers from day one and she hasn't been the same since he passed. 

Then there's Sheena.  I have always loved calicoes, and when I found her on Craigslist, I had to have her.  The guy who owned her had neighbors with mean dogs that were terrifying his cats, so he was rehoming most of them.  She'll be two in April and is the sweetest, most loving little girl EVER.

Dangerous Critters!

Allow me to introduce my two dogs.  First is Zeus, a yellow lab/English mastiff mix, who is 16 months old and who has been part of our family since he was 11 weeks old.  He's a very sweet boy, very laid back, and hates to look at the camera when I try to take his picture.

Next is Luna, a black lab/? mix.  I, personally, think she's a cross between a lab, a kangaroo, and a Mexican jumping bean!  The girl cannot sit still!!  Oh, and she thinks she's a cat.  She is 15 months old and has been with us since she was 12 weeks old.  Very sweet and very energetic, but, in all honesty, not the sharpest tool in the shed.  No, that's not entirely true or fair.  She's quite smart, she house broke quickly and has learned a few commands pretty easily, too, but she's...impulsive.  She has NO impulse control and it makes her do dumb things. 

See?  Thinks she's a cat!

Last night these two decided that the rabbit that was hopping around the yard at 12 AM, was a threat to the household and MUST be chased off at all costs!  For an hour they ran from one end of the house to the other, stopping at every window along the way to either woof of outright bark at the poor little thing. 

At first we didn't know what was going on.  No one comes near our house without getting barked at.  And by near, I mean a block away going the other direction, parking on our street within eyesight, or coming out of any of the neighbors' houses.  Luna barks at nothing.  When she lets off a volley, I ask, in all seriousness, if a bird farted.  Zeus on the other hand, only barks when he actually sees someone in the general vicinity.  So when he barks, we do tend to pay a little more attention and, as it was late, we finally went out onto the enclosed porch and spotted the villain.  A little brown bunny!  Scary.

Just a little glimpse into my life.  Exciting, huh?