...And Here's Nickel!

Nickel is a pound rescue.  He is a border collie, shetland sheepdog mix.  He was 6 to 9 months old when he came to live with us and was scared of everything.  If you tried to walk up to him he'd bark like mad and run away, was afraid to enter the house and would bark at anything and everything.  He didn't even know how to play.  We've had him for 1 1/2 years in 2003 and he's come a long way and has a wonderful disposition.  He not only comes in the house without hesitation, he knows how to open the door by himself.  He sits patiently during dinner without begging, sits up pretty, and comes when you call him (without the barking) but he's also learned how to play ball.  He also loves to howl at sirens, especially firetrucks.  He's got quite a voice.  And...he is a wheel dog.  Our yard runs along an alley.  Everytime a car comes along, he starts twirling round and around til the car gets to his position, then he runs as fast as he can to the end of the fence and stops watching which way the car turns.  If the car turns left, he runs as fast as he can to the other corner of the yard to watch the car go by.  The neighbors get  a real kick out of him and call him the entertainment committee.  He's become a real loving pet!

on HIS couch!

Nickel Around the House

And There's Always The Cats

Now for my cats, and I will begin with my oldest cat named Marmalaide.  He was what was known as a Chantilly.  He was an orange tabby with the exception of his fur.  It is very fine, long and luxurious and has the silkiest texture you could ever wish to stroke.  His mother was a white Chantilly/Persian who had been left behind with her 4 kittens when the people down the street moved.  With the aid of the neighborhood kids I managed to catch one of the kittens and named her Snowball.  She was pregnant and Marmalaide was one of her kittens.  He was 20 years old and very affectionate when he crawled up on my lap, purred, put his head down and passed away in 2007.  Everywhere I would go, Marmalaide went too.  He sat with me, slept with me, knews when I was sad and knows when everything was fine.  He wass truly my buddy.  (BTW - he was lying in my lap when I snapped this picture!)

Next is Sweet Pea.  He is also the product of a stray who literally fell out of the sky.  I was taking the trash out to the street late one night when I heard a cat crying.  A woeful cry like the cat was in trouble so I began my search.  After about 10 minutes of looking and listening to where the cry was coming from I found a cat way up a tree on my neighbor's front lawn.  She was higher than the house's roof line and she really wanted down.  After talking to her for another 15 minutes or so she attempted to climb down and made it about 1/3 of the way when she fell.  Scared me to death!  But she got up and ran away only to return after I kept talking and seemed to be fine.  I'd never seen this cat before and her tail was terribly bent - I assumed from the fall.  I took her to the vet to have it checked out only to find that she had 2 natural breaks in her tail (like siamese have crooks in their tail only much more pronounced).  This is why she fell from the tree.  Cats tails act as rudders for balance and because her tail bent once sending it sideways and then again sending her tail alongside her body toward her head, her tail was totally ineffective as an aide in balance.  Plus -- she was pregnant.  She gave birth to 5 beautiful kittens and by the time they were about 10 days old 2 died for no apparent reason.  Next day 2 more died.  The vet believed she had no milk.  So here I am with this precious little kitten and wonderful mother who has no milk!  As it turned out, with only one kitten to feed she managed to produce enough milk to keep the kitten going until it could eat, but it was heart breaking as the kitten was at deaths door twice before we finally got over the hump.  The kitten was my beautiful Sweet Pea and he his very special to me for obvious reasons.  He is what is known as a Tuxedo but he also has long fur and from the rear view he reminds me of a court jester as he has one black pant leg and one white pant leg.  His markings are very handsome.  He's not a cuddler, but when he wants your attention he head rubs.  He sleeps with me and is usually not to far away from where I am.  He is not a cat that likes to be held and refuses to let me comb him, but he does a real good job keeping his coat gorgeous.  Sweet Pea is 19 years old and my "baby".

Next on my list of buddies is Mocha.  Mocha wandered into my neighbor across the street's yard and climbed into his lap and went to sleep.  They knew I had cats so they figured it was mine and called us about it.  Well, it was a mess with dirt and sticky burrs, but just as cute as they come and my daughter, 9 at the time, begging me  "Please" and the alternative would have been the pound,  Mocha found himself a new home.  He was a 6 to 8 week old Seal Point Siamese.  Now this cat is a trip.  In many ways he is a typical siamese.  He cries like a baby, gets that spooky look in his eyes and tears around the house at Full Speed!.  But... on the other hand this is the most affectionate cat I've ever had.  When he wants to be loved he gets his loving one way or another.  If your reading, he'll sit on the paper and kiss me.  When I'm on the computer, he'll sit on the keyboard.  He sits in my lap and purrs, nose rubs, and kneads me to death.  He is my clown and when he gets going you laugh til your sides hurt.  Mocha is 19 years old.  (Unfortunately, red eye eliminated this cat's to die for BLUE eyes.)

Sweet Pea & Princess, Two Friends	It's a tower of peril It's a tower of cats	These two always liked to cuddle

The above "Tree O Cats" was a rare moment when I could catch them altogether. Notice who's on top. That's Princess (her story is below) and she was totally blind.

This is our latest rescue.  We have named him Snoopy.  He was found bloated and wandering around.  Seems the kids down the street were given this kitten and the parents didn't want her.  He was being fed milk only and kept outside.  Now we don't get much cold weather in Houston, but occasionally it does drop below freezing.  The kitten was found placed under a laundry basket during one of our freezing spells.  That's when he became our kitten.  Best guess he was about 5 months old.  Isn't he precious?  He fit right in with everyone else and has brought the kitten back out in the rest of the gang, especially Sweet Pea and Mocha.  He has also become best buddies with my dog. Snoopy was fixed and put on the pounds, he's now 10 years old.

Our next puddy tat was Princess.  She was born to a family who couldn't afford a vet when problems developed.  Princess's inner eyelids never opened properly as a kitten and as a result they "healed" closed.  Thus Princess was a beautiful, blind calico.  The family didn't want the kittens nor could they find homes for them so they were being sent to the pound.  I called the pound before Princess was to be sent and found out that she would be destroyed upon arrival as "we get too many healthy kittens she wouldn't have a chance at adoption".  So I called the family and took this special little baby.  She had never been treated any different than my other cats and she got along just fine.  When I move the furniture around she managed the same way the other cats do and she was my daughter's special pal.  They had a bond and a communication skill unknown to the rest of us mortals.  When she went into her first heat my siamese who is the same age and male knocked her up and she had a litter of kittens.  Blindness made no difference in her abilities as a mother and she raised 5 beautiful healthy kittens who all went to good loving homes.  Princess became very ill and was finally diagnosed with Lupis. She passed away in 2005. She was 12 years old.

Below is Missy.  She was a rescue from the local pound.  She was found wandering around a motel and was close to execution.  She had been declawed and was obviously someone's pet as she loved to ride in the car just like a dog.  She loved the outside too and scooted out the door every chance she got.  Well she got out and after a bit we went looking for her.  She had a very weak cry and you could hardly hear her.  So when we called there was never a response.  Days went by and still no Missy despite checking the pounds, neighbors and walking the neighborhood.  Well a few weeks later to our shock we found Missy.  She had jumped onto the edge of the above ground pool and fell in.  There was only about 6 inches of water in the pool, but without her claws and no voice and wet fur she couldn't get out.  It had gotten cold the night she disappeared and being wet she probably passed out and drown.  It was and awful sight and to this day brings tears to my eyes.  Concequently, the pool came down.