I am staying at my daughter's until I find a suitable rental (done) and to mind her animals and house while she is interstate. She has two adult desexed male black cats and two adult very much male charcoal rats. Sam the eldest cat at 11 is my shadow. He knows my routine now and knows when it's my shower time just before bed. He follows me to bed and lays next to me as content as could be. His problem is he has Burmese in him and they are VERY vocal. He talks to me. He rubs up against the book I may be reading in bed and makes certain noises. If I don't 'answer' him he gets cross and has a few more things to say. If he is roused on he goes away and sulks, ignoring your calls for an hour or more. He believes he is my daughters husband/mate/protector/boss. He misses her but loves his 'Ganma' or should that be Mother-in-law. She will be back in 8 days or so and that can't come quickly enough because OMG rats are so much work. They have a huge 3 level aviary to live in. Made by a carpenter to my daughter's specifications. Every day you clean the cage out (all levels) sweeping all the lucerne pellets and rattie poo into a garbage bag, renewing the 'rattie rags' they lay on and play with, their food and drink containers cleaned and refilled and have a little play/cuddle with the ratties in the early evening. One cat is intrigued by them and the other is afraid of them! I got them out to have a play on the armchair with me the other night and Chi the more adventurous on disappeared down inside the recliner. I gathered up Osiris, put him back in the cage very confused and tried to get Chi out of the chair without squishing him. He did the same thing when he was young and slim but now they are quite big. I upended the chair, turned it on it's side and had to grab him and litterally pull him out a very tight sqeeze Needless to say when I checked him for injuries and made sure he was okay, back in the cage he went too. A very short play time. Minding my 4 grandsons has been a real adventure, and yet another 8 days to go!
I have a boston terrier called buffy. I saw this breed on foxtel and knew that was the kind of dog I wanted. She is very loyal and friendly. She got into the chook cage the other day and started chasing the chooks.
Gypsy: a Heeler/Siberian Husky Cross, who is now 13 years old, she has been through 3 operations in the last 2 years to remove tumors (all benign, one was a huge spindle cell one the size of a tennis ball), she is doing real well now though, you would hardly think she was 13.
Rose: a Heeler Cross (with what I am not sure), she is 6 years old and well what can I say, both are my family really (yeah they are fur kids, I admit it).
So as you look at the screen, it is Rose in the back, and Gypsy to the front:
Sadly I report that I now have only one dog ... Rose my youngest developed an immune disease called SLE Lupus and I had to put her peacefully to sleep just over a month ago (on Feb 01st), it was a really quick onset and then end (took a month from start of treatment to try and save her until the end).
This was her about 2 weeks before it happened (on her 7th birthday):
So sorry to hear of your loss also, John. I recently spent 6 weeks with my daughter and her pets. I realised how much I would miss her beautiful cats once I left to live in my own place, which I have now done. I was laying with her eldest cat, Sam who is over 10 years of age, one night readying myself for sleep when told him he was never to 'leave' us. Her other cat, Xavier is around 7. It is akin to losing a family member, even a child, which is exactly what it is. I love the pics of the Boston Terriers TPO. How cute, especially as puppies.
At the moment we have a turtle, a rat, 2 cats, a maltese terrier, a small corgi/cattle dog and fish. But in the last 2 years I can add ducks, chickens, 3 other dogs, 2 other cats, a blue cattle dog, a cow, a pig and a snake! Would give ANYTHING to own a ferret tho!
Your rats, cats and even maltese terrier would not get along very well with a ferret if you had one MaraTa. We love ferrets in my family also but in Queensland you cannot own them, or rabbits. My uncle in Melbourne used to breed Ferrets, Pigeons and English Bull Terriers. Not sure if that was all at the same time though
We have one dog, kelpie aged 10 and two cats, Reggie who is 4 and was adopted by us 18 months ago from the Lost Dogs Home and the gorgeous Annabelle who arrived today courtesy of Lort Smith Animal Hospital. All getting along very well
i have 2 cats, both different breeds. One is a White run of the mill tabby cat, eats normally, looks a healthy size.
The other is an Orange Selkirk Rex and its seems to have ballooned out into a monster ever since it was fully grown, now 4 1/2 years old. It just keeps piling on the weight. They both eat roughly the same amounts although sometimes it seems the Orange one has more of an appetite. Always seems to be on the look out for food, the other one is more content after a feed.
I know as the owner i play a big role in the heatlh of the cats, lately i have been aware of this and been more mindfull of the amount of food given out. I love both of them and want them to have as long a life as they possibly can.
Can anyone give me any tips/suggestions to reduce the weight problem in the Orange cat?
I know several people who have a similar problem to you. Two cats, same amount of food, exercise etc but one is at least 2-3 kilos heavier than the other. One is food driven and will eat as much as you will give it and lick the bowl clean, not ever walking away leaving food in their bowl. One trick is if the slimmer cat leaves any food in their bowl, cover it and put it away so the 'fat cat' can't steal it. There is an excellent product you can buy from Vets and some pet stores that is a health science diet which will do both cats good. Give the fat cat a spoonful/handful less food than the tabby when you feed them. Only feed them twice a day. Never give them 'piles' of food, everytime you serve their dinner be mindful of how small their stomach really is (especially compared to our's). Your fat cat is four and a half so you must be doing something very right. Put it down to middle aged spread
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Needless to say when I checked him for injuries and made sure he was okay, back in the cage he went too. A very short play time. Minding my 4 grandsons has been a real adventure, and yet another 8 days to go! 
