pets

WoofYapMeowRibbitGlub

Those are the common noises at my house. Below, you will find some i nformation/photos of my "pets" (furry/scaly family members). Below that, you'll find the same for my pets who have passed away, as well as rescues/fosters who have found homes.

Canis Domesticus: The Dogs

"Ginger"
See her webpage
Breed: Golden Retriever
Color: Red
Age: 10 yrs
Size: 63 lbs, 24" at shoulder
Titles/Accomplishments: DSA (Dog Scout), TT (ATTS temperament test passed), CGC (Canine Good Citizen), therapy dog
Favorite Activities: swimming, hiking, training, Dog Scouts
Favorite foods: Bread, fish, and Solid Gold Tiny Tots
Diet: Currently Timberwolf Organics and raw/fresh food. She also gets (for her hips) Syn-Flex, Vitamins C and E, and Salmon oil as well as Prozyme or yogurt, and sometimes veggies.

I found Ginger as a stray about 9 years ago, in winter... At first, she was shy and scared of a lot of things, but we worked through her fears with socializing, obedience training and just my showing her that nothing will ever hurt her. She's a great dog, very laid back and friendly, loves everyone including my other pets. Some of her other favorite activities are retrieving, agility, obedience, going to dog parks, running with me on bike/rollerblades, and being petted. Ginger is a therapy dog with Chenny Troupe as well as Sit Stay Read and the Anti-Cruelty Society. . We visit the Rehabiliation Institute of Chicago with Chenny Troupe and she helps with patients' physical therapy. Ginger thinks she's a lap dog (a 65 blb lap dog) and is content when she's as close as physically possible to me- for example, when she's lying on my stomach (and the rest of me, since she's so big). More photos here.

"Pooch"
See his webpage
Breed: Terror (Rat Terrier/Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix, maybe some JRT or Boston terrier also...)
Color: Tri-Color
Age: 12 yrs
Size: 22 lbs, 14" at shoulder
Favorite Foods: Anything edible- and I mean anything!
Diet: Same as Ginger

Pooch is a terrier. If you know many terriers, that statement will tell you a lot about him. He's agile, active, playful, and silly. He also likes to bark. I call him a 24 hour a day dog- he never stops! He is obsessed with squeaky balls, and he'd do anything to get at one that's squeaking at him. He plays with the squeaky balls by himself- he pushes them with the sides of his muzzle until they fly across the room, then hurtles after them. If the ball ends up somewhere he can't reach, he puts himself as close as possible to it and barks nonstop until someone gets it for him. Sometimes, you think the ball is inaccessible, because it's gone way under the couch or under a recliner, but he can usually get it back himself- he somehow squishes himself under the couch and grabs it, or if it's under the recliner, he opens the footrest with his paws/mouth and gets it back. Pooch was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia after being was misdiagnosed by three vets as having a luxating patella. Pooch had surgery on his hip in June 2002, you can read the diary of his surgery here. I am hoping this diary will help others whose dogs go through this surgery. More photos here .

Felis Familiaris: The Cat

"Sneakers"
Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Color: "Tuxedo" black and white
Age: 14 yrs approx. (adopted Oct. 04)
Diet: Wellness Lite and canned food
When our cat Sylvia passed away, the house felt different without her. When a friend of mine rescued a cat whose old owners just gave her away, I agreed to adopt her. Sneakers is very friendly and loves to sit on people's laps whether they want her there or not. She is generally sweet however. She was very overweight when we rescued her and eating a bad diet at her old home, but we have got her weight down to a more healthy size. She dislikes the dogs, but from Sylvia they know to stay out of the cat's way...
Sneakers looks like she has a full 3-piece tuxedo on as well as a moustache. I don't have a good photo of it but when you look at her chest, the way the black markings go she appears to be wearing a white shirt, a closed black vest, and a tuxedo coat which "closes" under the vest.

The Frogs

Frogger and Fragger
Frogger and Fragger and my two bullfrogs. I raised them from tadpoles and have had them for about 1-2 years now. They are getting very large and I think they may be still growing...

Foster "Children"
I am involved in animal rescue. Below are some pets I rescued or fostered and found homes for- they all now have good homes!

Photos click Here
Gir aka Puppy/Grady
Gir is a young Shih Tzu who we found as a stray during a thunderstorm in spring of 05. He found a new home in April 05 and he now lives with another Shih Tzu and he's doing great. His new owner changed his name to "Grady".

Harley
Harley is a Chinese Shar-Pei, rescued in the summer of 2000 as a stray. He was dehydrated and underweight, and had abrasions on all paw pads from walking on cement. He found a great home with a wonderful family with an older son who just adores him and is doing great.

Jackal
I found Jackal in Evanston, running in the street, in 2000. He went to Chicagoland Dog Rescue, a no-kill rescue group, who found him a home with a woman who has another dog like him!

Nala, Simba, and Christine (in order)
These siblings were born strays to a feral mother. When I took them in, in fall of 1995, they were only a few weeks old. My friend and I bottlefed and weaned them. Simba and Christine both went to good homes, and Nala was adopted by a friend/neighbor. I still visit her often. Here's a photo of her as an adult:

Th e Rainbow Bridge
Gone, but not forgotten:
What is the Rainbow Bridge?

"Sylvia"
Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Color: Black
Age: 15 yrs (passed away September 2004)

I believe we adopted Sylvia in about 1989. We adopted her from a friend of my sister's, who got her as a stray when she just walked into their house. Unlike most cats, Sylvia never said "Meow". Instead, she said either No, Neow, or Now. Sylvia was the ruler of the house and also thought she was the ruler of the universe. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2002, but with management involving a high-quality diet (Innova Lite cat food or Wellness Lite) and subcutaneous fluids she did very well since then. Sadly she developed mammary tumors which after removal we found were mammary adenocarinoma. The tumors came back after removal and she passed away in September from a stroke-like illness which was most likely caused by the cancer.
Mammary cancer is very common in female cats, but can be prevented or greatly reduced by early spaying. Sylvia was a stray until she was an adult and also had several litters before we adopted her, which can increase the chance of mammary cancer.
Please spay your kittens!

Rattus Rattus: The Rats

"Cara" and "Kei", Rest in Peace
Cara and Kei both passed away in spring of 06, when they were over 2 years old. Cara fought pneumonia for a long time and despite many medications and treatments (oral meds, nebulization, etc) she did not fully recover. Kei developed a heart condition at about two years old, and she passed of a heart attack, Cara and Kei were very attached to each other and when Kei went, Cara passed soon after.
Please see their webpage here for photos of them.

My Syrian Hamsters
Note: Syrian hamsters are also known as Golden (golden colored)
Teddybear (longhaired) Black Bear (black) and Fancy (colors other than Golden) hamsters.

I am including some photos of my previous pet hamsters. I had owned hamsters for about 15 years but do not own any now. Most of them were either from shelters/rescues or adopted from people who were rehoming them.

"Waffles" "Peaches"

Hambrain Zig

Tansy
1981-1997

Ferris
Ferrets: Joey, Frodo, Ferris, Bilbo, Jill, and Ice

"Blackberry" RIP
Blackberry was originally from a pet shop, I adopted her- her previous owner was rehoming her because she got a new kitten who was 'too interested' in the hamster (???). She was very friendly, which surprised me- most of the pet store hamsters I've known have not been tame. She was also very pretty (in my opinion) with a very thick, short black coat. For some reason, it doesn't show up well in pictures.

"Fabian" (photo taken by rescue group)
Color: Red and White Abbyssinian
Age: Passed away in Spring of 04
I adopted Fabian from Critter Corral Guinea Pig Rescue on 5/10/02. We don't know his exact age because he was a rescue, but he was most likely around 3-5 years old when I adopted him. Sadly, he developed a cancerous growth in the spring of 04, which was inoperable.

~Rest in Peace~

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