Crazy animal lady thread - sperg about your pets here

[Fialovy]

There is a common stereotype about women, namely older and/or single women about having animals and spoiling them, often times it is cats, but other animals will do as well.

This is a thread to sperg about your pets, get suggestions and advice in animal husbandry and ownership, and share any funny things your animals have been doing

It is not just cats and dogs, from what I have seen around the farms, there are people who have stuff like chickens, rodents like gerbils, even reptiles. All pets are welcome.

I have a Russian Blue cat that we found as a stray as a kitten that we have had for about two years now. What is special about him is that he really likes to play fetch which I heard was common for Russian Blues. He is a very vocal cat with a very high prey drive (hence why I will likely never own a prey animal like a hamster, guinea pigs or gerbils aside from the fact I don't have a place to put a decent sized cage where I can shut the door) and likes to watch birds and squirrels from the window. He also is very social and loves attention and is probably the softest cat I have ever pet.

 

[Overcast]

I neither have pets of my own nor am I a woman. That being said, I have two long haired chihuahuas who live with my parents who I visit often.

The two of them are cousins that came from the same breeder. Said breeder also bred German Shepherds, so we joked about how the older one is actually part German Shepherd as she's generally larger in body structure than your average chihuahua. She's always been a real softie though and for the longest time was really shy around other dogs. As a puppy she was a real trouble maker and we had the hardest time potty training her. We thought we were doing really well at first only to find she was using one of the couch ends as an outhouse. She also used to playfully antagonize our oldest dog before she passed away. Said oldest dog was always one of those dogs that tried to be the boss of the other dogs in our family but was never taken very seriously.

The younger dog is incredibly possessive, needy and seems to bully the older one. I remember one time I was visiting, she finished her dinner and caught her older one (who was still eating) not eating from her bowl for a split second and used it as an opportunity to steal from her. They had a very short spat, but it ended with the older one just passively letting her eat from her bowl.

In general if feels like the older one feels the need to accommodate for the younger one a lot to the point she allows her to get picked up and pet first whenever I come home. She's what my mom calls a "decent dog".

 

[Character from a movie]

The younger dog is incredibly possessive, needy and seems to bully the older one. I remember one time I was visiting, she finished her dinner and caught her older one (who was still eating) not eating from her bowl for a split second and used it as an opportunity to steal from her. They had a very short spat, but it ended with the older one just passively letting her eat from her bowl.

That's odd, usually older dogs keep the younger ones in line. Maybe it's a matter of personalities.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

"animal husbandry"
No, just no, don't go down that road crazy cat lady.

 

[Backinpogform]

I have two chihuahuas and two elderly sped cats. My mum dumped me at a shelter after school I “volunteered” at a shelter as a kid and kept bringing home the disabled cats that were automatically put on death row. My mother stopped allowing me to volunteer when I brought home the fourth one. Now my two remaining boys are pushing 20 and are somehow more retarded than when I first took them in. Pretty funny to see them get bossed around by 2kg dogs

EDIT: Words

 

[UncleDaddy]

I have two cats and they're both little bastards who attach themselves to me whenever I'm home. I found the older one in a dumpster outside of my place when she was a kitten and she has one eye due to an infection rupturing her retina. The other turns a year this month and was born with no eyes. My vet convinced me to go down and just meet her since I have experience with special needs pets and then I went home with her. I ended up getting both of my shitlords on Christmas Eve, although different years. And yes, I know my vet absolutely played me.

I really want to start keeping tarantulas and have been dying to get an Aphonopelma chalcodes.

 

[anliteralidiot]

I'm getting ready to move some of my chickens from my mom's house, to my husband and I's house tomorrow.

I love my chickens. Almost as much as I love my cats! But I like to spread the good word of owning chickens more, since people think they're dumb little farm animals. They are dumb, don't get me wrong, but they're also very nice.

I've sperged about my favorite breed, the silkie, in the bird thread, but to summarize:

• Their feathers are mostly downy, making them little cotton balls
• Blue skin!
• They fucking love sitting on eggs
• They are very calm
• They sometimes require little headbands to keep their feathers out of their eyes

The white one is our #1 Mom, she's currently sitting on a nest, so this is from March. As you can see, she's perfect. She's a great mom, and my husband and I love her.


The gold one is half-silkie, so she has the drive to sit on eggs. She's only just matured, so we didn't know she was even on this nest. We thought she was too young. But to our surprise, she's actually smuggling 8 ping-pong ball sized eggs in this picture. We've since candled the eggs (it's where you check if they're fertilized), and she's down to 6, but lmao she's fucking smuggling these eggs. My husband loved watching her tuck the eggs back under herself after we candled them.

 

[ExsanguinateHorizon]

The gold one is half-silkie, so she has the drive to sit on eggs. She's only just matured, so we didn't know she was even on this nest. We thought she was too young. But to our surprise, she's actually smuggling 8 ping-pong ball sized eggs in this picture.

For those not familiar, Silkies are pretty small but their parenting instincts are incredibly strong to the point sometimes roosters will kidnap chicks to raise. It doesn't matter if the eggs won't fit underneath, they'll take whatever you give them (or they can smuggle as seen here).

 

[CharcoalChkn]

I'm getting ready to move some of my chickens from my mom's house, to my husband and I's house tomorrow.

I love my chickens. Almost as much as I love my cats! But I like to spread the good word of owning chickens more, since people think they're dumb little farm animals. They are dumb, don't get me wrong, but they're also very nice.

I've sperged about my favorite breed, the silkie, in the bird thread, but to summarize:

• Their feathers are mostly downy, making them little cotton balls
• Blue skin!
• They fucking love sitting on eggs
• They are very calm
• They sometimes require little headbands to keep their feathers out of their eyes

The white one is our #1 Mom, she's currently sitting on a nest, so this is from March. As you can see, she's perfect. She's a great mom, and my husband and I love her.


The gold one is half-silkie, so she has the drive to sit on eggs. She's only just matured, so we didn't know she was even on this nest. We thought she was too young. But to our surprise, she's actually smuggling 8 ping-pong ball sized eggs in this picture. We've since candled the eggs (it's where you check if they're fertilized), and she's down to 6, but lmao she's fucking smuggling these eggs. My husband loved watching her tuck the eggs back under herself after we candled them.

I had Silkies when I was a kid, they are so cute, especially the babies.

Myself, I have a Ragdoll, I believe he around 7-8 years old now, though still very youthful, clingy and vocal. I've recently banned him from sleeping under the blanket with me as I am just so sick of all the hair (I swear to god it just does not stop, I can brush him for hours and it makes no difference) which he is really upset about.

 

[soda pimp]

My family has 3 rabbits:
- a Rex Rabbit called Rutabaga (Female). She's curious and broke multiple earbud wires.
- Silver Marten (Male). He's the big black bunny of the trio. He's pretty lazy and loves being pet. The Rex and him are bonded but not the Dutch
- a Dutch Rabbit (Male). He's smaller then the Rex but he's pretty smart and well behaved. He managed to get into their pen and fought with the BBB. Fortunately he only got a little bit of fur teared off his ear and no serious injuries.

 

[CaseyTatumm]

I had Silkies when I was a kid, they are so cute, especially the babies.

Myself, I have a Ragdoll, I believe he around 7-8 years old now, though still very youthful, clingy and vocal. I've recently banned him from sleeping under the blanket with me as I am just so sick of all the hair (I swear to god it just does not stop, I can brush him for hours and it makes no difference) which he is really upset about.

We have a 2 year old rag doll as well whom I lovingly refer to him as a trash mop because he’s short, so all the fluff catches leaves and sticks. He’s a good cat though.

In addition to the trash mop, we have three other cats:

a 4 year old black and white rescue that we got because he was aggressive and the previous owners said if we didn’t take him, he’d go to the pound. It was a bit rough with him at first, my teenage son and I both got some scars from him lol. He’s really a great boy once he warmed up to us.

A three year old orange tabby who is crazy tall and pretty much is the boss of the cats. She is a great mouser, not much of a cuddler but she is sweet in her own way.

Last of the cats is a one year old fat orange tabby. She’s the sweetest cat you could ever met.

We also have three dogs, two old grumpy Frenchies and a ten month old American Bully (a healthy, athletic bully, not the mutants you see in the exotic thread lol) that keeps the old dogs active.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Animals in general, not everyone wants to marry their pets but we all wish they lived longer. Sometime.
This was a conversation between my parents at one time.

Dad: How long do hamsters live? *shouting into the kitchen while looking at the cage and holding a coffee cup*
Mom: Two years or so.
Dad: When did we get these?
Mom: About five years ago.

Having access to the internet I know it is impossible but I remember those damned things.

 

[JohnMadman]

4 year old black and white rescue that we got because he was aggressive and the previous owners said if we didn’t take him, he’d go to the pound. It was a bit rough with him at first, my teenage son and I both got some scars from him lol. He’s really a great boy once he warmed up to us.

A few of our cats were very aggressive when we took them in. Most were dumped on us by the shelter we volunteer for, another randomly showed up at our place.
The shelter cats would've been euthed for behavior if we hadn't taken them. They're jerks but overall fantastic cats.

We also have birds and dogs in addition to the cats. Couldn't imagine life without them.

 

[vivanse]

I have an angel of a cat whom I adopted from a shelter 7 years ago as a tiny tiny kitten. She was so scared of everything, understandably. She was allegedly found in a gutter, then after being rescued by the shelters volunteers had already been given up to the shelter 4 times. by 4 seperate owners/households whom adopted her. She was so unbelievably sweet, it broke my heart knowing how she'd been abandoned so many times in her short life already. So of course, I immediately took her home. Now she has her forever home and she's the sweetest, most darling cat you'd ever meet. She deserves the world

 

[Fialovy]

I will agree and say the word "animal husbandry" is kind of weird and makes it sound like you want to marry your pets, but it comes from what husband originally meant which means "to care for" or "to provide for" as opposed to a male spouse. It is one of those phrases that hasn't kept up with the times.

I used to have two gerbils as a kid, though we didn't know you should never keep a gerbil in a plastic cage due to lack of internet so they would often escape. Nowadays, just simple googling will tell you to keep them in a large aquarium filled with lots of bedding for them to burrow. Seriously, people underestimate how much space smaller pets need. Just because they are small doesn't mean they don't need a lot of room to keep themselves busy.

edit: Still, vintage hamster cages look like torture, those poor animals

 

[!Felid_Transmuter!?]

I recently lost two cats this June. Macnamera "Mac" was a badass black cat who died from a hit and run. Lola was 11, but she was a hard 11 (did meth and was rescued from my dad's house) and had dementia. She was trying to die and needed to be put down 4 days ago. Now I just have Derf, named because he had vestibular syndrome when he was quite young. It's where their little heads get a tilt, sometimes going away as their brains even out in development which his did. He may become a Fred as he matures. Perhaps even a Frederick.

 

[CaseyTatumm]

A few of our cats were very aggressive when we took them in. Most were dumped on us by the shelter we volunteer for, another randomly showed up at our place.
The shelter cats would've been euthed for behavior if we hadn't taken them. They're jerks but overall fantastic cats.

We also have birds and dogs in addition to the cats. Couldn't imagine life without them.

It’s sad to think that is probably what would happen if they did go to a shelter. Most behavioral cats just need people with patience and respect for them!

@!Felid_Transmuter666!? i am truly sorry for your losses.

 

[Doner Kebab]

We currently have 2 guinea pigs and a pacman frog. The frog doesn't require much except a good misting and some crickets every few days so we don't see much of him but we obsess over the pigs. The first one was abandoned at my husband's job and nobody really knew what to do with her so I stepped in since I've had experience with them before and I felt bad for her. She had been left in a plastic storage box which I assume was her cage. She and her little friend we got her are living lavishly in a C&C cage now.
I've been thinking for years about getting some sort of bigger reptile, like a bearded dragon or a blue-tongued skink. The pigs take up so much room I don't know if I could spare the space for anything like that.

 

[Android raptor]

I got bugs and snakes and a tiny screaming dinosaur

 

[Night Owl]

We live in the countryside and a former farm, so much of our cats are strays. We more or less run an unofficial sanctuary out of our own pocket. They all get spayed and checked for diseases, but we tend to have at least 10 or so cats at a time. They all have names and distinctive personalities.

One of our more memorable cats is a black and white stray with a damaged eye and a broken tail that took refuge in our barn. She didn't have a violent personality nor was she feral, she was just very afraid of us initially. I think it's possible someone may have attacked her and/or thrown her out of a house. She ended up having such a sweet character though. She loves cuddling and petting despite the fact she must have had a difficult life up to that point. Half of her tail had to be removed, her eye couldn't be fixed and she walks a bit funny with her back legs pointing slightly inward, but other than that she's just a normal cat. She loves climbing on trees and the roof, so her injuries haven't affected her much.

Before we got her spayed, she also gave birth to two quasi-Siamese looking cats (with similar coat markings and blue eyes). It was a bit of a surprise for us. One of them sadly already passed away, but the other is more or less a clone of her mother in personality, very sweet and cuddly, but she has a few of her own quirks as well.