General Chat

In the summer of 1968 we had been in our new build for about. 9 months .
Next door to us had been in some 3 months earlier so had sorted out the back garden and laid the lawn and put in plants

They got a tortoise from a pet store and let it roam. Well it's roaming included burrowing under the ranch style fencing to come into our garden to forage for food .

We would put it back but it would appear in our garden .

One Sunday our daughter came in running from the garden saying can I have next doors tortoise??? What?? I went out to the garden and next door said if you want it you can have it as it seems to want out from ours , plus the husband was peed off cos it was eating the plants he was putting in . Doh!!! It thought it was food !!!

Daughter married an Army guy in 1977 so Harold the tortoise stayed with us

49 years later Harold the tortoise is out on the patio . Having had a good feed and now snoozing before he retires to his hutch

He will probably outlive me !!

I once inherited a grey African parrot. He must have escaped from somewhere 'cos he just flew in through the window one summer's day. I left the windows open so he could return but no he hung around so I started feeding him. Notices of "found parrot" drew no response except that locals thought I was a bit touched. The then senior cat had no objections.

I took him to France without needing much paperwork and there he stayed until his last squawk.The vet said he was well over 50. I missed him quite a lot though his German was very vulgar. A work colleague taught him venal Yiddish.

I don't much like the term "pet" and the connotations of ownership and control. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have animals enter our lives and enrich them in all sorts of ways. My OH says they are people too. All I know is that I really miss by parrot and other animals and hope one day to be reunited with them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYUhN-HO6Kg

I have inherited my brothers GSD and had him for two years he is now ten. My brother had two brain haemorages and Apollo came to lve with me. I find that I cannot move without him at my side he even waits outside the bathroom door for me and behind the front door when I have to go to the shops.

I never thought that at my age I would become so much the attention of another male :-D

Frances x

My sister has inherited the tortoise she found in 1960. It was 6/5/1960, the day Princess Margaret got married. She found it walking on the pavement out side our house & brought it in. Mum put notice up in window but nobody claimed him. We named him Sammy, God knows how many times he escaped but we always found him, sometimes weeks later. My mum loved him but when she got dementia we realized she was'nt looking after him properly. As 1 of 6 children we then started saying what shall we do with him but we then said to my sister as she had found him we thought she should have him. She did & he has a lovely space in her garden. Each year about March the whole family are relieved to hear he has survived another hibernation. We call him our family inheritance.

Hilary
Our Harold (named after Harold,Wilson by hubby) has his own house on the patio

It's a rabbit hutch raised on house bricks to keep it of the ground . He hibernates in it in the winter all snugged down in hay. We close both doors and hubby made a piece of wood with air holes in to go over the mesh door

Must admit when Harold shows signs of wanting out in around Feb/ March. it's a sigh of relief he has survived another hibernation .

Have told daughter he is yours when I go !!!

Hi Shirley, your family inheritance as well then. As you know, we are not allowed to sell them now. Sammy is a fussy eater, loves strawberries, not the foreign ones as they are too hard, only the smaller tomatoes as well as they are more juicy. Remember when we drilled holes their shells, he still has them but of course the string wore through on the shell & we would go out & find a long bit of string with no Sammy on the end. Thankfully as time went by mum got more educated about him & had a run made for him but even then he burrowed underneath & the run would be empty. Where he is now he has no escape but plenty of space. Can't believe he has been in our family now for 56 years.

Yes our Harold was an escape artist too

One Sunday hubby was out the back in the cul de sac washing the car outside our garage . He happened to look sideways to see Harold walking across the road . He had climbed a step out of the back gate that was pretty steep and was on a walkabout

Over the years the garden has been altered and a patio made that is enclosed so Harold can't get out now .he has a good roaming area and is safe .

He is over 50' years old too

We inherited a talking Budge Peter
when my Hubbys Grandad died
He could say so may things all in Grandad voice
it was amazing

To be told 20 times a day to put the kettle on was so funny
and shut the door
He also recited the Peter and Paul nursery rhyme word perfect
and many many more things :-D :-D

Over the years our house/garden has housed hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs & dogs that family members & friends could no longer look after.

The last being our Molly Dog a spaniel with attitude. She was my daughters, but at the age of 4 started growling at her & the Grandchildren.

Granddad said "She better stay with us then".

She did try it on a few times, but having had gun dogs most of our lives she was told to pack it in.

Molly Dog lived with us for the next 8 years. Greeted my daughter & Grandchildren like long lost friends when they visited or came to stay.

I don't even have a pet but a few years ago, our neighbours got themselves a puppy.

They only had it for a few weeks when the family decided to sell up and move to Spain.
Somehow, new owners acquired the dog along with the house!

I've often wondered how that happened because the new owners couldn't speak a word of English and I really don't think that the outgoing family would speak fluent Mandarin.

:-S :-S :-S

I only chosen two of the many cats I've had.
The first was Tansy, from a smallholding up the road from were we lived. Every time we visited her, as a kitten, one of her brothers, a very playful ginger and white tom cat appeared.
When the time came to take Tansy home, the ginger cat followed us! We had to take him - he was called Basil, and was amazing!
Then my friend had to sell his house- I ended up with Monty - a snowshoe, that 'came' with his house, and Sable, one of Tansy's kittens, that he had.

Then, my neighbours left. Took the dog, left the cat. After a year Sophie moved in with me.
Daughter came back home - with a dog! :-S
Then she moved away - leaving the dog.
So, 5 cats and a large dog. Not a bad return for the 'lets get a cat' scenario.
The dog only stayed a couple of years, then daughter got a flat, and the dog returned to a 'cat free' area.
Monty then got a form of Dementia. All was well for a few years, but within the following 5 years, Sophie died. Tansy, Basil and Sable all got stomach tumours, so I had them put to sleep.

After a couple of cat free years, my daughter decided I needed a cat :-S

We got Tilly, a tabby - apparently spayed - from a rescue centre. who went on to have 3 kittens, then proceeded to not want to live with then. The (by now) young cats weren't the sort people would 'go for' - two black males. People do't like black cats.
Mister also has a bent tail, unretractible claws and is, well, bog ugly, George eats for England, but remains very skinny, as he's very long, but both the boys are very affectionate towards me. Then there's Betty.

Betty is black & white and fluffy - and a midget.
There the cuteness ends.
She's similar to her mother - slightly schizoid, but also like Violet Elizabeth Bott (hence her name) she also has, how can I put this delicately - the most ugly rear end I've ever seen in a cat!!!

But Tilly desperately wanted to be an 'only' cat - she was tabby, cute and very affectionate - so she was rehomed.

The 3 I have now (especially Betty) would probably like to live alone, but as they've known no different, and I won't have fighting - I'm the boss - they 'get along'.
The boys sometimes both sleep on my bed (different ends), but Betty never does.

She doesn't attack, but will spit and run away from strangers.
She also likes things 'precise', and to her liking.
At the moment, her 'liking' is a flat cardboard box in the living room to sleep on. Sometimes, it's an old newspaper or a plastic bag. (though, to be honest, there was thunder earlier, so she's under the sofa!!)
It's just as well I'm not too house proud, and the lady who comes in to feed them when I'm away understands.

There are lots of places they can be alone, and they usually spend the night in different rooms. :-0

So, all those animals. I only chose two, and one of those had to be rehomed :-S

<3 to sll the posts, great stories.

One of my rellies was in the Navy as his National Service. His ship adopted a cat.
http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/simon.html

We inherited a cat last year.He just turned up and has made his home here.I waited a couple of months while trying to find any owner.Then had him microchipped and vaccinated .Also insured him(THANK GOODNESS).He went missing a few weeks ago ,and was then found by a neighbour injured in her garden.He has had a major op on his hind leg.Removal of the head and neck of the femur :-(..So far the bill has racked up to about £1,500 !.He is recovering well :-D Just need to keep him on restricted movement for another month or so.I bought a harness so I can take him in the graden fora bit of fresh air and a little exercise .
We didn't want another pet,as OH has retired and we thought we were free to go off as and when we fancied.Now it is booking cattery.
I wouldn't be without this lovely puss now.Love him to bits :-D

I have 2 Tortoises 4 Chinchillas 3 cats a Giant Rabbit
all per owned
there's only the Dog we have bought new

I am glad to provide a safe and loving home for them
to live the rest of their lives


We also have a pond full of hundreds of newts :-D

I had a pond, with pre-loved shubunkins in - until Sophie ate them, just after I'd 'adopted' her - there's gratitude!! :-(