The Odd Couple

Dante makes a friend!
While walking past a house notorious for having two shepard-mix guard dogs that bark a warning, a cat emerges from between the monsters. Walks right up to Dante, who is not phased in the least by this cat who wants to be friends.
Very odd, indeed.
Even dogs that come from households with cats, will go crazy when approaching a stray cat on the street. Not mentioning the stray cats arches like a halloween kitty, fur standing up on the back. Not in this case. It was as if the two had known each other since birth.
Very odd, indeed.

My Greek God

Tucker. I love him. He has so much personality. For one thing, he is a ventriliquist. Not a very good one, but he tries. When he barks, he will bark to the left, and then to the right, and so on, alternating the directions of his bark. I developed a theory he does this in case an angry blind dog comes to attack him. By barking in different directions, he tries to convince the enemy that there is more than just him, so watch out! I am just not that sure there are all that many angry blind dogs in his neighborhood.

Tucker has a really curly coat on his head, which makes him look like one of the ancient greek statues of a naked man. He has really expressive eyes, and old man lips. His tail was bobbed way too short, so that it is non-exsistant. from his backside,, he looks like a kid with a heavy load in his diapers.

He is really a big chicken. He will be really curious with any people we might be walking behind, wanting to check them out, but the minute they put thier hand out to pet him, he will run away.

Occasionally, he will lie down in a sleeping position, and have a barking fit. It is almost as if he gets possessed. He is not barking at anything in particular. It's almost as if he is having a dream, while he is wide awake. His human calls it his "spanial rage," only i don't think it's a rage at all. But I love to see him have one of these "fits."

That's my Tucker, and I love him just the way he is!

A Cat Called Meat Ball

For the past few years, I have made calendars for my clients for the holidays. Above is the photo for December 2007. The theme is "Angels Watching Over Us." It depicts all the pets that have passed on in 2006.

Already this year I have four pets to add to next year's calendar in the month of "Angels...." Of course there is Napoleon. Aurora passed on earlier, but I did not learn of her death until after the holidays. Izmene the cat died just before the New Year. And now Ivy the cat has crossed over this past week.

I liked Ivy. (I like all my pets). Ivy was really fat, and I affectionately called her "Meat Ball." She was also a lap cat, and demanded alot of attention in that respect. When she looked for a lap, I would say "Here comes Meat Ball, looking for a plate of spaghetti." Once she was there, she demanded a neck rub, and if you didn't succumb to her wishes, she would ever-so-gently touch your face. Most of the time, her nails needed a clipping, so it wasn't something one enjoyed. Ivy always got her way.

Napoleon the Great

Napoleon died yesterday.
He had cancer, and it was just time.
I am going to miss the old guy. I really liked him alot. He came from a three dog family, and he quickly became my favorite. He had been abused by his prior owners. And he didn't get to live with his current owners very long, just a few short months. At least he was in a good place for the end of his life, and I hope he realized how loved he was.

He had a goofy kind of gait, that when i would watch him walking in front of me, reminded me of JarJar Binks from the Star Wars trilogy.

Rest now Nappy. I hope to see you when it's my turn to cross that bridge.