For animal lovers

[ArchieComic Fan]

I can understand how gabriel feels. We get so attached to our pets and it hurts so much when we lose them that it's hard to imagine going through it again. And then sometimes it's nice to have the freedom to come and go without worrying about a little one at home or who will care for them when we take a vacation, because no matter how much we trust our family and friends, we always worry if our furry friends are being cared for in the manner we care for them. Other times we miss the companionship and would like to have a friend there to greet us when we come home after a long hard day. I don't know if I could ever say "never" again to more pets once the current ones are gone but it wouldn't be a decision made lightly.

About the names, my dog is Frisco because I'm a big goof and loved the character of Frisco from General Hospital. My cat is Gizmo, which I catch grief for because his name is too similar to the dog and it confuses them when I call one or the other, but it's the name that popped in my head and seemed to fit him.

[just1paul]

Frisco and Gizmo - now thats cute too.

It's another decision that isn't taken lightly - the responsibility of caring for the critters is not easy as you all well know. I am not sure if I want that responsibility again. I know for sure I won't adopt again as I think Joey will do just fine by himself. Also I do not believe in declawing and (I might have told the story about my drunky ex taking both of them in for declawing one day when I was at work against my wishes.) should a fight ensue Joey does not have his front claws and could be seriously hurt.

[AJane]

Thanks for the suggestions about the dogs - how will I pick just one? I had considered a mutt, Star, and haven't completely given up the idea, as long as I can be sure it's from two small-breed dogs.

My oldest cat, Niobe (Obi for short) was named because I'd read in a Piers Anthony book that the name meant "tears" (though I've never been able to substantiate that). I got her as a 6-week-old kitten from a farm - all her siblings had died from upper respiratory disease and her mom had abandoned her. She had the disease, but I took her to the vet and got it cleared up. The discharge from her eyes stained her fur at the corners of her eyes, and I thought it looked like tears - hence her name.

My daughter's tomcat, Dorito, got his name because he's orange - like a Dorito chip. He's also from the farm, and when we were driving home with him we happened to be eating a bag of nacho cheese flavoured Doritos.

[JLuvs]

My first kitten ever was called Tiny Tim, he was a little ginger kitten, was a very small baby. Sadly, he died it my arms.

I got a black cat after that and I called her Darkie, yep I was sure imaginative as a child When we moved to Ireland I left him with friends and I got a new cat called Tinker, she was a Tabby cat. Why I named her Tinker...I have no idea.

Then we got our first West Highland White, more commonly known as a Westie, her shortened name was Perky --- but her full name was Personality Perkins. She was a very hyper doggie and when we put her to sleep about 5 years ago now --- well I have never cried so much. We had her for 15 years.

She had a puppy, that we named Minka. I know she has a full name too, but I can't remember it.

I also had a cat named Toastie when I came back to the States. I named her Toastie because I brought her home in a toaster box.

My last dog was named Sasha before I got her...but I love the name.

My brother also had a cat named Misky, who is actually still alive at the age of twenty four, and Pumpkin --- who he had for about 15 years. Pumpkin had pneumonia when I was in 9th grade and my brother asked if I would sit with him while he was put to sleep as he couldn't do it and I did.

[11sstephanie]

24...wow!

When I was 8, we got 2 guinea pigs, I named mine Vanilla because she looked like a sundae. My sister (who was 5) named hers QuickOne, for reasons that we still don't know. QuickOne died 2 weeks later, on my birthday.

So we got another guinea pig to replace her. This one was names Jessebel, or Jesse for short, becuase my mom decided that having the sister name the pets wasn't such a hot idea. Esse died in 2004 at 3 years old, Nilla died 1 year later at 4.

We got a dog in 2002, a black lab-staffordshire terrier-chow chow-german shepard mix. She was all black, so, in honor of a white dog that used to be our neighbor (named Pepper,) we named her Sugar. She's celebrating her 4th birthday in a couple months.

[Mariner]

PHENDER - thats creative! and a cute name to boot.

Anyone know anything about having the kids ashes dumped in with mine when I go? would that be legal or would I have to have someone do it on the sly?

That should be a-okay gabriel.

[roseskid]

I haven't been on for a few days, please add my sympathies to all the others, Gabriel. I'm glad you weren't alone, and that your dad went with Mona.

We had two 14-year old dogs die within months of each other, and I was so heartbroken I held off for 4-5 years before Mr. Rose and our daughter finally got me to cave in. Once I relented, it wasn't long before Maggie was in our home and hearts. Our daughter was nine and chose her name. When we brought our next puppy home, he was sitting in the family room with us, and Sleepless in Seattle was on tv. When Meg Ryan learns the name of the boy's teddy bear, she says, "well, hello Howard." For some reason when he heard that name it caught his attention and he stared at the tv. We all looked at each other and said Howard it is.

AJane, we've gotten our last three dogs from the local pound, and they've been pretty accurate at guessing how big the dogs will be when grown. I don't know if that's typical, but all of them were within 5 lbs. of their estimate.

All the pictures of the kitties and dogs are adorable.

[prhoshay]

You know, I don't want to get other kitties, but I can't imagine my life without at least 1.

Most of my kitties have had middle names.

My current gurls are Shay (short for Sashay Renee), aka Shay BabaLouie, aka Shay-Shay, aka ShaylaBoo. She came to me as "Assyria".

Chloe Elizabeth, aka Chlo-Chlo, aka Ink-A-Dink, aka Tinka, aka Tink-Tink...she acknowledges all of her names. Can't remember what her original name was (Humane Society adoptee).

Cecilia Mae (after my mother's oldest sister), aka Cee, aka Celie (as in The Color Purple)...this is the name she responds to. She came to me as Crescelia because she was a stray from a neighborhood called 'Crescent Hill'.

I've also had a Foo-Foo and a Samantha Jane.

Abigail Michelle, whom I lost in 2005, would only answer to 'Gail'. She treated toilet paper like she was at the salad bar. She was extremely bright and, I am sure, was just this side of being able to speak English. I would give her 'the hand'...as in 'talk to the hand', and she would leap up into my arms in an attempt to bite my hand. She came from my barber, and her mother would do the same thing, per my barber.

Don't know how to post pics, or I would!

Have you noticed how Mona looks like she has something to say? She definitely looks like she could be an Interjector! What a precious.

[Lucy]

In response to the animal names question:

My first cat was named Humphrey after a mouse in a children's book series I loved, the Church Cat books. Humphrey was hit by a car, and several years later a stray adopted us long enough to drop three kittens on our back porch, then abandoned them. We bottle fed them, and named them after that series again -- Humphrey, Arthur and Sampson (or Sam, for short). Humphrey II we gave away, Arthur took a nap in the road at the wrong time, but Sam survived until just a few years ago.
The cat we got to replace Arthur was a finicky orange tabby I named Figment, after a character at Epcot Center. She became Figgie, also known as Fig and Figlet.

After Sam died, my mother got a new cat to keep Figgie company -- Zorro, so named because he's black and white. But Figgie hated him. When she died, Mom got Minnie to keep Zorro company, and now Minnie tears up absolutely everything. I'm glad Mom has them to keep HER company.

[burntbrat]

I don't have any pets now, and haven't had any for probably 10 years. My husband doesn't believe in the domestication of animals or some other such nonsense, but then he never had a pet as a child so he wouldn't understand the companionship and how it's a two-way street. But I had tons of pets growing up. I won't bore you with the usual names. We had some good ones, though. My younger brother always came up with great ones, we had a cat named High Mountain and one named Alfalfa Trucker. I got a persian mix for one of my birthdays, and she had the most beautiful blue eyes so I named her Frankie after Sinatra. And my favorite was a long-haired orange cat named Gurgi after the Black Cauldron character. He was so loveable and the whole neighborhood mourned when he died. He used to do the hugging thing where he'd wrap his claws around your neck and purr.