What follows is a light and fun post, which is not how I am feeling. I have a very heavy heart after reading the truly terrible news that Susan from The Great Balancing Act just shared (“A long, hard road.”) She’s reading all of the comments that people are leaving her, and if you have a moment, I encourage you to stop by and let her know that she’s in your thoughts. She’s much too young to get such a difficult diagnosis, but if anyone can rally and recover, it’s a member of the #Fitblog community. Thanks in advance that take the time to stop by Susan’s blog.
Lucas and I don’t have the smartest pets in the world, but we do have the more personable pets.
All four of our animals are special in their own way.
We gave Travers the nickname “malfeasant,” because he somehow makes evil lovable.
We should have known we were in for trouble when we spent $1,000 of our very hard-earned dollars (we’d just graduated) to save his sorry butt. At the time, I was into quilting, and had a bad habit of collecting the tiny thread ends that I’d snipped, and rolling them into a ball. One night, I forgot to throw that ball out and we later woke up to a cat who had eaten it, gotten all of those little threads wrapped around his internal organs and was within hours of dying.
Surgery — a very spendy surgery — saved him.
What does he give us in return? He picks fights, chews up paper towel rolls, sneaks out of the house and causes all sorts of mayhem.
But I love him.
Laila is Travers’ sister (named after Laila Ali because she has an extra toe on each front paw, making them look like boxing gloves) and she is a headcase of her own.
Timid, afraid of every little sound, a major shedder and basically alive to eat and hide, Laila does have one major redeeming quality. When you get her alone, she has the sweetest buzz and will even roll all over when you scratch her.
(video embedded above)
So I love her.
But my dogs are my real pals…they listen when I talk to them, and I swear they understand. This morning, as I was getting ready, Junior dogged my heels (as he always does) and every time I’d stop moving, I’d say, “Junior — you are the best sitter I know. And you look very handsome with your little nose spots.”
It reminded me of those high school superlatives that they hand out…the ones where everyone has to get something? Junior is not the most handsome or most likely to succeed but he is the very best dog friend I could ask for. He comes running when I seem upset, and sleeps at my feet while I work. He parks himself on the kitchen rug when I’m cooking and he sits and stays despite a total lack of obedience training.
So I really love him.
And then there’s Faegan. We got the cats first but I really consider this guy the first “child” that Lucas and I got together. As a puppy, he drove me up a wall — almost literally. He used to nip at my feet, bite the hems of my pants, bark until I couldn’t take it anymore and found escape by sitting on our kitchen counter.
He loves me, but he loves Lucas more…which in turn makes me love both of them to pieces. Faegan and I talk about deep things — I tell him how soft he is, and how much I appreciate the way he lets me clear his eye boogies out, and he looks past me to his papa. That’s OK with me. When Lucas isn’t in the house, Faegan makes sure to bark at every squirrel and animal that runs by our house, to warn and protect me. He loves swimming and will wait until he’s given permission to get in the water. And when he does, he stands on the steps until I cheer him on: “goFaeganyouaresocuteandsuchagoodswimmer … that’s my little alligator!”
So yes, I really love him, too.
I know that these guys keep me sane, even as much as they exasperate me. Having that conversation with Junior this morning really helped set me up for a calm, happy day.
About Katy
I left Susan a comment earlier. So sad but from what I have heard/read she is strong.
Pets! Absolutely in love with ours. In the past few years we have have lost our Basset Hound and cat to sickness BUT we still have a Blue & Gold Macaw, Bam Bam who talks, a turtle who yes has a totally cool personality and one month ago adopted Wilbur the cat.
They are all so funny. Bam Bam the macaw talks up a storm, sings and screams really loud too. He imitates a phone call hubby and I have (hello? umm yea unhuh ok love you to). He sings parts of various songs and talks to the pets.
Wilbur, the new cat…boy he’s hilarious. It’s been a long time since I had a young cat and he’s just like a dog, NO LIE! He begs for food, loves water, climbs the bird/turtle cages, wants to play ALL day long. Oh my goodness, we are in love with him and I think he’s kind of happy here ha ha
I don’t think it will be long now until we get the 2 Basset Hound puppies I hope for. We keep going back and forth on the breed but Basset Hounds have always been a part of my life and we miss Caleb a lot. I think it would be perfect.
Your furbabies are adorable! And I think all pets understand a lot more than people give them credit for.
Well, I just wrote a book LOL Forgot to say that yes , I talk to my pets all day long. Some people would think I’m a bit crazy ha ha
Yesterday I apologized to Tucker for not emailing him a copy of my press release (he felt left out) and today I asked him if he wanted to come to my birthday dance party. I have problems.
Mostly though I just like to tell him he is my “wittle, wittle man” and that I love him. I’m convinced he understands me.
I talk to my cat all the time, mostly about silly stuff. And he looks just like your cats, which is kind of creepy.
I’m sure when we eventually get a dog my animal talking habit will only intensify.
Sooo cute. I love the underbite and Travers little fangs sticking out. I always talk to my bunny and tell her how cute she is, but mostly Fabian and I sing to her.
Her name is Bunnypants. Pants for short. So we sing any song that has a word that rhymes with Pants in it – but change that word to Pants. For example:
Lady Gaga’s “Let’s Pants”
Men without Hat’s “The Safety Pants”
Whoops – that would be David Bowie’s “Let’s Pants” and Lady Gaga’s “Just Pants” Hee!
Loved this post. If you heard the things I said to Penny and Randy you would think I was crazy. I talk to them JUST like they are humans..
I definitely talk to my pets – probably too often
We have 2 dogs ~ Dora & Hank ~ and while they have their moments, they are our besties for sure. I especially love when you say a word they recognize and they cock their heads to the side as if they are the most intent listeners. I’m sure they know some of what we’re saying, but they fake the rest really well!!
One of my cats ate some of my beading supplies and she had to have surgery also. I was so devastated and felt like the worst cat parent in the world! Ours was $3k but it is money I wouldn’t have spent any other way, now I am WAY more careful!
Yeah, Bowser is pretty much my sounding board for a lot of stuff. Because he just listens … there’s no dumb advice coming from his face. And if I am crying or emotionally upset, he is very attentive.
Mostly I tell him how handsome he is and how much I love him.
I talk to my pets all the time. I live in an apartment and I bet that my neighbours think that I have kids because they are long conversations and instructions.
We just have one pet, an orange kitty named Webster. He also has the extra toe on both of his front paws that makes it look like he’s wearing mittens – apparently they are called Hemingway cats. I love him to death! I am seriously OBSESSED with him and he is the dorkiest, funniest cat ever. He is always making me laugh out loud!!!
Pets are the best
What are pets for if not to talk to? I talk all day long to my dog and sometimes, I pretend he talks back. I do wish I knew what he was thinking, though! It would be interesting to know.
This post made me smile! I have two cats of my own and not only do I talk to them but (and I hope this doesn’t sound to weird) I talk back for them. Let me explain so I don’t sound weird. . .
My girl cat Sydney is very serious and can be a little fussy. My boy cat is super loving and very playful. Over the several years my husband and I have had them we’ve created little personalities for them based on their behaviors, and in turn, randomly have cute little comments that “they” (my husband and I say) like to say in response to things, situations etc.
I think it’s one of the fun little quirks many pet owners have and it makes me feel even closer them.
If you’re a pet owner and you haven’t yet tried talking to, or for, your pets, I highly recommend it
I literally JUST stumbled on Susan’s blog yesterday from a comment she left somewhere else… I got all caught up on her elbow injury and could relate based on my bicycling accident. And then this HORRIBLE news she received!! I was totally in shock when I read her heartfelt post today. I know she has developed some hard-core coping skills and has a fantastic care network… but cancer can suck it!
Our dog Argus has bone cancer. We amputated his leg in November and made it through four rounds of chemo before it spread… We know we’re on borrowed time now. He’s a regular person around this household and reminds me when it’s time for meds at 10 AM, 1 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM by talking. He will sit near me and have full-blown conversations with me. If I talk back by asking questions or explaining I’m busy, he will cock his head and give a knowing expression and a few grumbles like, “Okay, just making sure you had it covered. I’m starving over here, obviously.”
What would we do without them??
Thanks for sharing the link to her blog! I hadn’t stopped by in a few weeks, so I’m glad you shared the news. I LOVE my pets and a little bit treat them like actual babies.
I love our puppers. WE have lots of conversations but Peanut and I have a connection. She has big allergies too so we snuggle in bed to avoid them.
We call Leo Mr. Jealous because he will get in the middle of anything…even if he is already being petted.
I once explained to a loudly barking watch dog that the old owner of the household had just died, therefore everybody is sad and lots of people would come during the next three days to pay their respects and on the third day even more will come to bury him and could she not bark at all those sad preoccupied people? And I swear she, who invariably barks at every stranger coming into the courtyard, did not bark for three days no matter how many people came in and passed her by.
Then on the third day I went to her and said “You’ve been great, now it’s over, you may bark again if you want” and half an hour later she barked at a neighour who came in to discuss the burial and so she started barking again.
I also talked to the cat of the household and explained how many people would come over the next three days and she went away (she sometimes does that for a couple of hours or even days) and only returned precisely three days later.
Bianca — this just gave me chills. What an amazing story!
My dogs really do sense my moods. The other day, I was stressed to the max and the last thing I wanted to do was deal with their wrestling and barking (they’re boxers and they LOVE messing with each other!). I walked in the door, sighed, hugged them and told them I needed a quiet note. Despite two package deliveries, they didn’t make a PEEP that whole night, and just slept at my feet.
That was my first attempt to talk to animals, I merely tried it because I didn’t know how else to help. I was soooo impressed myself and I sometimes try it still, with lovely results.
For instance, I recently told a street dog who begged for stroke ““`”Sorry, I can’t pet you, ‘cos I need my hands to stay clean and I’ve nowhere to wash” and he very confidently licked my fingers.
So it’s not just that they understand what they are told, but they also know how to handle it. It might seem farfetched, but I really think that a lot of amazing results could come from dog workers and dog owners’ simply talking to their dogs.