We know about Zoe, what other pets have you had in your lifetime?

[susandennis]

badrobot68 asked me this. My life has not been full of pets but I've had a few... The first was Gretchen. Gretchen was an elderly obese dachshund who was brought into the family by my Mom. Gretchen was her first husband's dog. Her first husband was killed in World War II so my Mom went to law school and pawned poor Gretchen off on her parents. Her parents weren't natural pet lovers so as soon as Mom had a house/family/room for a dog, Gretchen came to us. By the time I was old enough to be aware, she'd gotten quite old and was basically a background dog. I don't even remember her dying. I'm guessing it was from old age.

After Gretchen, we went mostly petless for years. We got the obligatory chicks and ducks at Easter and most of them died. Quit judging. It was a different time. And they were dyed pink and green and blue. We had a kitten or two but they died young (or Mother gave them away). There was also the odd turtle and hamster. And lightening bugs.

Then we got Phonsie. As I remember we begged for a dog and Mother said she wasn't going to have dog hair all over the house. Then she discovered that poodles don't shed. So they got us a small poodle. We named him Alphonse and called him Phonsie. (This was YEARS before The Fonz.) He was a puppy and a standard poodle so he did not stay small long. He was a nice dog who loved to chase cars and drove Mom nuts.

At one point I was living in rural South Carolina and a friend gave me a puppy. Max. Max was a trip. Also a large dog. I had a small red sports car and whenever I would leave Max in the car, he's pop over to the driver's seat with his paws on the wheel. I'd come back to the car and there would be crowd surrounding the car enjoying the scene. This happened twice a month.

The other major Max memory was having him with me at our house in Blowing Rock (the mountains of North Carolina). Mom had this habit of, while she was preparing a meal, wiping her hands on her backside. Max followed her every step in the kitchen and after every wipe, he'd lick her ass. It was hilarious.

When I moved from the area, Max went to live on a friends' farm. He lived with cows and loved them for years and years.

When I was in my late 20's, a friend gave me a kitten for Christmas. I named her Christmas and she was a fine cat. She hated my soon to be husband's dog and loved the little boy next door so when I moved, she stayed with him. My husband's dog was an ok dog. I don't even remember his name.

I lived lots of places where pets were not allowed. Then I moved to Minnesota and got a farm cat from a woman at work. Bubba was a wonderful cat. Huge and a love. When you picked him up, he hugged your neck. He moved with me to California where he got to go outside every day. A stray kitten, named Jake, adopted us. The two of them were frenemies. They moved with me to Seattle. Bubba lived to the age of 18 and Jake, til he was 15.

Then there was Betty. I got her after Bubba died. She was a long haired beauty who loved to hide. Also to escape out the front door, go down the hall and shred the neighbors newspapers. She would hop onto the couch and her act of settling in was like a feather boa being lowered onto the upholstery. She was quite elegant.

While it's not nice to play favorites, my favorite cat ever was Pizza. All my cats had died and I wanted one but didn't know where to go so I called my vet to ask their advice and they said they had an adorable little cat - about a year old - who had been brought in after she had been run over by a car and was basically road pizza. She was not expected to live but they named her Pizza but now she was healed and a love but they couldn't keep her. So I went to get her and OMG. She was the best.

She was very tiny and very soft. In the mornings, just before the alarm would go off, she'd stand over my face and wave hers back and forth so that I got a whisker wake up. At night, she'd sleep curled up at my neck. I loved that cat.

And now we have Zoey. Zoey was the first cat ever adopted at very brand new Pet Smart store. I got her in March of 2013. They said she was about 4 years old. She's a good cat and plenty enough companionship so that while I threaten her now and again that if she doesn't straighten up, I'll go to the pound and knock her off her Only Cat Throne. But, honestly, I probably won't. I'm too lazy.

Comments

[rsc.livejournal.com]

What about Jake?

[susandennis]

Jake's in there... just before Betty.

But, I just adore that you remember him. He was a no frills cat you could always count on.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Am I remembering incorrectly that you used to blog about Betty?

[susandennis]

? nope. My only blogs are about books and brunch. I wrote about her here in my journal a lot. I've been writing here since 2002. I had Jake and Bubba then. They and every pet since has gotten a fair (or more) share of journal space :)

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Oh, right, I missed the reference to Jake. I think because you had both him and Betty for so much of the same time, I expected to see them in the same paragraph.

Family pets

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

I've got to add my perspective.

1 - I remember Gretchen. She tried to bite me. I was probably pulling her tail and deserved it. And I do not remember her dying either.

2 - There was another dog at Westover, a beagle mutt, we had for a while but something was not right with him and he went away and we got Phonsie.

3 - Phonsie should have been my dog but I was so self involved and ADD that I mostly ignored her. Her life was really sad without an Alpha attachment in the family. She was mostly ignored except when she chased cars or tore up the screens in the window trying to fight with the next door neighbor's dog.
I have spent much of my adult life making it up to Phonsie by being the best Alpha to any dog that depends on me.

4 - I missed Pizza entirely. Not sure why.

Give Zoey a kiss for me.

RE: Family pets

[susandennis]

I love when you make my memories better! I totally forgot about that beagle. And, yes, Phonsie could have picked a better family, that's for sure.

Pizza would have changed for feelings about cats forever. She would have stolen you heart in 3 minutes flat.

Zoey says thanks. She's racking up points for the cat union today. She was shedding on your bed so yesterday, I laid a blanket on that spot. Today, when I came in from the pool, she was on the only space that was not covered with protection. She has a very silent giggle.

Re: Family pets

[susandennis]

Wait. Didn't some dog bite you in the face? Like a jagged tear from your nose to your mouth? Was that Gretchen??

Re: Family pets

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

That was long after Gretchen. I was inappropriately lurking at the house on the end of the street. Big brick one. I forget who the people were. The maid was there and fed the dog, a small one, who took exception to my being near her food bowl. I tripped and fell for some reason, probably because she scared me by growling and she attacked my face getting a pretty good rip middle of my upper lip and smaller in the lower left corner.
I feel most sorry for the maid. And the dog. Entirely my fault.
It was the week after I had fallen while 'ice skating' in my socks on my wooden bedroom floor playing with Nancy and broken my nose. I was not supposed to be out running around with the broken nose.
Father was on a sales trip for both events.

Re: Family pets

[susandennis]

ahh. and right about Daddy being gone.

when i got appendicitis, before we knew what it was, we were waiting for the doctor and Mom said "it can't be anything bad because your father isn't out of town".

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, I thought Betty was the last before Zoey. I started reading your journal around 2013, and I clearly remember that at the beginning you had another cat beside Zoey who had some serious amount of hair. :)

Zita from Hungary

[susandennis]

Hi Zita!!

Betty and Jake both died within a very short time frame. You could very well be right about which was first. Betty had the most hair of anyone BUT Jake was a better shedder :)

[nanila]

The origin of Pizza's name is just so wrong but also so right. She sounds lovely.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

Hey, you were in my dream last night! We went to the drugstore to pick up a prescription (the Bartell Drugs on 3rd & Union) then walked down to Pike Place Market, because you wanted to take me to a new restaurant that had just opened there! The dream changed into something else before we even got our food.

[susandennis]

well, fuck! i wanna know what/where we ate!

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

I go back to Jake and Betty and I don't remember Pizza at all. Was Pizza before J & B?

[susandennis]

Pizza was before Betty - concurrent with Jake. I think I mis-wrote here. Bubba had died but Jake was still alive when I got Pizza. He just didn't approve of her. And she didn't give a shit.