*Pet Story Competition*

[Pam]

Hi everyone,

Tell us a story about your pet and you will be in the running to win a Sketched Portrait (http://www.animalartbypam.com) of your pet! Your pet's story can be funny, heart warming, adventurous, courageous...

Entries close June 30th 2005. AFW members will be invited to vote in a poll to select the best story on July 1st 2005. The poll will close and the winner announced on July 7th 2005.

The winner will receive a sketched portrait of their pet sketched on A3 drawing paper. The sketch will be mounted with double matting ready to be framed. Total Prize valued $120.

Please post your story in this thread. Good Luck, and looking forward to reading your stories :)

[semele]

Can it be gross story?

Like the time we had a rat plague and were taking the dog to the vet because he wasn't very well. After she threw up 11 whole mice in the car, she felt much better. :eww:

That was a very memorable pet moment.

[Patricia]

LOL @Semele
What a great idea for a competition...I will put my thinking cap on as I have had so many pets and sooooo many stories, just have to pick the best one. Good Luck everyone!

[emstar]

Can it be gross story?

Like the time we had a rat plague and were taking the dog to the vet because he wasn't very well. After she threw up 11 whole mice in the car, she felt much better. :eww:

That was a very memorable pet moment.

Oh my god that is so funny LMAO

[Tora]

I Wonder.....

If only our cats could talk, I wonder what would we learn? They have the most interesting expressions, and the adoration and trust they show is just priceless. Well, in most cases....

Our newest family member has had a terribly hard life. She has one ear half chewed off, was half starved, and very scared. You see, she was abused and abandoned.

I wonder what her life has been like up till now? I bet she hasn't been used to sleeping warm and cosy on someones bed! Or toasting her lovely fur coat in front of a roaring fire at night!

I bet she will never be choosy over what type of food she is offered. I bet she has missed more meals than she has enjoyed in her short life so far.

I wonder if she will ever learn to trust humans, and sometimes, I wonder if she should! I wonder if she will ever feel safe in the arms of one of us? I wonder too if she will ever feel safe enough to crawl into the lap of one of her new humans?

I wonder what horrors she has had to live through?

I wonder why some humans can do this to an animal with absolutely no remorse or concience!! ;(

I wonder how she can EVER trust again!

And I am amazed, at the love and adoration she is now showing to her new humans!! :hug:

Anne :) (Tora)

[Pam]

;( That brought tears to my eyes Anne.


Yes, I wonder...

[Ptolly-Totts]

Poor little mite, I am so glad she has now found a happy safe home with you. It is a sad fact of life that her story is not an isolated one, too many pets are abused, neglected and mistreated. It is lovely to hear of a happy ending, really warms the heart, special cuddles to your precious little "waif".

[Ptolly-Totts]

I can recollect two funny incidents in my life with felines, both involve a Seal Point Siamese!

The story below is absolutely true, my husband can confirm it as he witnessed the "dastardly crime" too!!!

"This story begins one hot summers day over thirty years ago. I lived in Elwood a suburb of Melbourne at the time in a lovely street named after a poet, will not name the actual street to protect the "Innocent" ie; me!

In those days I allowed my cats out during the day and by sheer coincidence I shared a house (divided into two separate units)with a married couple who had two Siamese Cats like me.

Their older chocolate point, Spindles and my Seal point Siamese, Rembrandt got on very well together and often went on "adventures" together.

I was stunned to look out my front window one hot sunny early afternoon to see two Siamese Cats "strutting" across the road carrying a large Roast chicken between them, one was holding onto the parsons nose the other had hold of the drumstick. Their mission, to head for home at great speed to consume the "spoils" of their dastardly pilfering spree.

This story does not have a happy ending for these "feline felons" as fate would have it, my then fiancée (now husband) had his HUGE black Labrador over visiting and as soon as these two rascals had turned round the corner to the backyard into what they thought would be relative safety, the chicken was out of their "clutches" and into Hosea the dog's mouth, he took off at great speed with the roast chicken in his mouth, the chicken was never seen again! The two "Meezers" were left at the scene of the "snatch & grab" frantically sniffing round looking for their lost Roast chicken.

As to the original source of the Roast chicken; I assume it originated from a block of flats close by and I guess someone had their door open and the Roast chicken was on the table cooling, to this day they may still wonder where their Roast chicken went to, at the time, I was very anxious and nervous waiting for some one to come and bang at my front door demanding their Roast Chicken back!"

************************************************** ****


The second incident happened 15 years or so later and involved a very garrulous affectionate Seal Point boy named Pyewacket. We lived in Sydney at the time and we were in the midst of a mouse plague caused by bush-fires.

One day I picked Pyewacket up for a cuddle and started talking to him, I was concerned he was not his usual chatty self, as he did not have a word to say in response to my "one sided conversation" his lips were sealed!

I moved his face ever so close to mine, at the same time I noticed a tiny little tail sticking out the side of his mouth, all of sudden his garrulous nature got the better him, he opened his mouth to speak, allowing a little mouse to jump out of his mouth and scamper away to safety, I must admit I screamed in shock, don't know why as it was only a little mouse, I guess I saved it's life, much to Pyewacket's frustration.

[Monty]

Anne, that story was very touching. I do wonder how any animal learns to trust another human being again after such tragic events occur.. but they can amazingly :)

Ptolly Totts I love your stories about the Meezer duo!!! The little scoundrels I bet they were upset by the loss of the chicken after all the work they went to in stealing it away.... LOL. Lucky surprise for Hosea tho!!! LMAO

[FionaT]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new and have just recently posted my introduction in the new members are but I saw this and couldn't resist sharing a story with you all about my experiences with Pet Rats.

I know many people think they are dirty and quite disgusting, but our domestic ones are just so much fun and way too smart for their own goods. I've been owned and in slavery for nearly 3 years and sadly after owning eight: Cookie, Rollo, Rattigan, Minky, Snowball, Rosie, Roxy and Ruby, losing all but Snowball over this time frame I've had some amazing experiences that have not only taught me the wonders of how much these creatures know but have had me on the floor in tears of laughter with the silly behaviour and the way they have me wrapped around their little hands. I have a story about each one but I'll share the most memorable ones :)

Cookie: He was so named that because he was as sweet as and the colour of cookies and cream, he was a big rat but not a bad bone in his body. He was licky and friendly and all he ever wanted in his life was yoghurt drops. You know the ones that are covered in yoghurt on the outside and have apricot on the inside. Whenever there was a bag of them opened, Cookie could be sleeping away blissfully, tucked up in a box or hammock and not moving for anything and instantly the bag was rattled or opened up he would jump and straight out waiting for for a yoggie drop with his hands outstretched LOL it was impossible to fool him, any other bag and he wouldnt take any notice but those bags must have had a particular sound that appealed to that little brain of his that went on alert instantly.

Another story for you:
Rosie: Rosie was my nosey Rosie rat, she was territorial and unfortunately the only biter that I have ever come across as they normally do not do that at all. However Rosie was a frantic cage cleaner and if anything was so much as wet or dirty in any way out she would drag it up my mornings appearance at the cage to do the first clean of the day. She would push and pull, tug and kick it all at me while I waited ready to take it away for her. She would scour all the boxes, the hammocks everywhere that had paper or wet bedding ..it was mine to take away. She would then wait at the door, giving the dirty stuff an extra pat so I was subtly reminded to take it away and give her some new stuff. I would hand over some freshly torn/shredded paper, new bedding, soft fleecy fabric and in it would go into each box, dragged and pushed, pulled until she had it just right (mind you if I arranged it, it got kicked out and they wanted nothing to do with it) so it was just easier and more interesting to watch Rosie put it all into place the way she wanted it and then proceed to tear it into much smaller pieces especially the newspaper and the paper towel, she was very clean and pedantic about that and something I havent seen before but it occurs in female rats mostly, just like us female humans LOL

Another one about my females:

Roxy: Roxy was my little Loxy Roxy, tixy Lix (like the monkey on the cough medicine ads) she would try and help Rosie as much as possible but she would get a little confused and end up taking the dirty bedding back much to Rosie's disgust and Ruby would be waiting, hanging out of a hammock or somewhere else until that new cosy bedding was in place and she would squeeze her black and white bulky self back into one of the boxes and ...claim it as hers after Rosie's hard work!! Anyway, Roxy liked to have a bath in summer, and I dont mean swim around a container or a bowl nope she wanted the full thing a human bath!! I would turn the tap on till it was just warm, a bit of a trickle that she could stand under and give herself a thorough wash, preening as much as she could all over her belly and all the while standing upright. Then by this time the plug would be in and she would swim, she would dive under the water swimming round and round till she had had enough and then ...much to my amazment the first time and then many times after that she would dive under the water and pull out the plug, pull the plug out and then push all the water from the bath with her little hands going frantically until the last of the water was out of the bath. Once done, she would jump up on the edge, climb onto my knee and dry herself off and then go on her way to wreak havoc and mayhem.

Snowball: Is well known for being more like an avalanche than a Snowball, he would at any given opportunity throw himself out of the cage at you, it didnt matter what you were doing, bending down to pick up anything off the floor after cage cleaning or just standing there reading the directions on something when someone was due for medication like antibiotics or a mite treatment. I however copped the 'bending down in front of the cage scenario'. Next thing I know I have something landing on my back, and I came up so hard without looking and wore the edge of the table with my head ...nasty lump and one heck of a headache and a happy little bRat running around my shoulders which was only a ruse to get to the girls cage and become his charming little Romeo self ;)

Sorry this is so long but I had to share some of my stories and if anyone is offended by pet rats I am sorry but I hope you find these stories amusing :).

Fi
(the RATtling new member) LOL

[Pam]

Just a reminder to get your stories in, times running out ;)

[Patricia]

THE STORY OF LUCY. (some of you already know Lucy!)

Lucy is my jersey cow, she is a beautiful rich chocolate brown color with the most glorious black eyes with eyelashes to die for. Lucy is a little over 3 years old and the most gentle, placid bovine you are ever likely to meet. About three years ago I drove 5 hours north to a town called Biloela to pick up my hubby from where he had been working on a dairy farm for a few weeks. As we were preparing to leave to face the long drive back home hubby advised me that we had 'one more thing to pack in the car'. Now try and picture this... my car is a small Hyundai Excel hatchback and the one more thing to fit in it was a day old calf, soon to become known as my 'Lucy'. With her legs loosely hog-tied to try and keep her still, Lucy seemed quite happy in the boot as we set off. At certain intervals Adam (hubby) would ask Callum (son) who was sitting in the back seat (accompanied by Ozzie the blue cattle dog..let's not even go there..) to please turn around and check that Lucy was ok and not standing up. Each time Cal would answer that she was fine, we have since learned that Cal was so scared of the cow that he wasn't even game to turn his head in her direction.

After driving for an hour or so Adam decided he needed some dinner so we went into a drive-through at a KFC store. The lady on the speaker asked Adam what he would like to order and before he had a chance to answer Lucy started mooing in the back, I'm not sure what the KFC staff made of us but we could hardly speak after that we were laughing so hard! Lucy survived her drive home ok and the next day with a little coaxing from Adam, was happily drinking from a bucket. For some reason on dairy farms it is general practice for women to be in charge of feeding the calves ( probably because we are more fastidious about it all) so I soon became Lucy's primary carer, a job I quickly learned to adore.

I'm not sure if you are aware of this fact but a cow has four stomachs. I think in one of Lucy's stomachs she has Adams wedding ring! After working in the paddock one day he realised that his ring had come off, we searched and searched every inch of the paddock but no luck! We decided to hire a metal detector and continued to search, still nothing, so in the end there we were with the metal detector pushed up against the cows stomach hoping it would beep...not sure what the neighbors made of that one. We never did find the ring. I have heard of clouds with silver linings but never cow's stomachs lined with gold. I am convinced to this day that that is where the ring is.

Earlier this year I thought we were going to lose Lucy as she was very ill with 3 day sickness. This is a viral thing that cows get and makes them lose their balance and become weak and lie down. As the name suggests usually after 3 days they get up, any longer than that and they can suffer muscle damage to their hips and legs which can be permanent and result in them having to be put down. Stubborn Lucy stayed down for over a week and the vets advice was that not alot more could be done. But Adam and I were determined! Every morning and night we lifted her with the assistance of a block and tackle hooked up to a huge tree, until she could just take her own weight. Eventually after about another week she was strong enough to walk again. Thank goodness the only long term side effect she suffered was a bit of unsteadiness in one of her hind legs. So there is the story of my "LUCKY LUCY".
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Featherstone/LucyandHilderagardevsmall.jpg

[~Janet~]

Great stories I've had a good chuckle LMAO

Ptolly, I wish you had thought to get the camera out - with both your stories!

Fiona, your rats sound so cute!

..still giggling about going through KFC with Mooooo coming from the boot!!!

Janet

[austhome]

We have a kitten called Minka. She is so cute but we thought we would get her desexed. We took her to the vet and he cut her open, but wait for it - no female reproductive organs. He had a look and found out that Minka was a boy, so he got castrated. So our kitten went to the vet as a girl and came back as a boy.

[jerrygirl]

I have a black Labrador and a white cat. They are complete opposites but love each other! I love seening them snuggled up on the bed together!

[Monty]

Is today the last day of competition?

[Leigh]

Just a remindered that this contest closes tonight, so there is still time to enter if you hurry.

We will have the poll up in the morning :)