How you came to own your pet?

fleabag

I've got 4 cats and 3 dogs - everyone a stray.
Cat no. 3 Scrow came from Tipperary, found by the side of the road in a box with 3 dead siblings. She's very pushy and neurotic and I reckon that's what kept her alive. Peshka, my favourite boy was found in the middle of the road by my friend and narrowly avoided being run over. He was such a character from the start, I was convinced he was a girl and used to tie ribbons round his neck. Took 'her' to be neutered and when the vet said she was a he I was dumbstruck. He's such a cool cat though - will stand up to anything but so gentle too.

The dogs - Stan was found in a bad way on the lane I lived along in Kerry. Was driving home and passed him and saw the state he was in - thin and full of sores. Turned round and it took me 10 minutes to coax him to let me have a look at him. Knew immediately I was going to keep him. He was too afraid to come into the house so I fed him outside and then put my arms round him and he just put his head on my chest and stayed there for ages. He's a brilliant dog, sort of like a hound/collie cross. No better dog for finding pheasants! He was a little unsure how to deal with other dogs at first but now he's really cool. Nothing phases him and he loves his comfort.

Bobby came via LAW - he was found in a house in Southill next to his dead owner. He's a really sweet old boy, proper decrepit, stubborn, but real fun when he has the energy.

And Suzie came to me one night - found in Dromcollogher, the usual story, starving, smelly and homeless. She's a JRT and a pure pet and bosses the other two dogs now.

All of them get on well, when another pet arrives it's like 'ok here's another one' and they rearrange themselves and just get on with it. I don't think I'll have to buy a dog or cat EVER!

Bullseye1

Dog: Well my male Ridgeback Remy passed away on 24th Dec 2008 at the age of 11. He had a heart condition and was on medication for the last two years of his life. When he passed away I contacted a breeder to be put on the list for the next litter. I got a quick response to say that they had a single female pup left after the person who was originally to take her wanted to keep her outside and the breeder wouldn't allow it. She is now with us almost 3 years.

Cat: I was out on a job talking with a client when a small kitten came running across the road to me. There was no houses around so I put him in my pocket and bought him home. He is now about 3.5 years old.

Bebo stunnah

Back when I was still living with the parents, theis tiny little dog wandered into the garden, I worked nights (still do) so it was about 3 or 4 in the evening when I got up, took me a few minutes to notice that there was nobody in the house. My 2 sisters had seen her coming in the gate and were playing with her all day. She was a Jack Russel, no more than 2 weeks old. My mum sent in a lost dog notice to the radio station but nobody replied... Even though I heard stories that there was travellers goin roun the estate lookin for a dog of her description! Every day dad would say that 'she's going to the pound!' that was 3 years ago now!
I picked up my own little lad a month ago from the pound, he's chillin with her until I can get my new place ready!

Zapperzy

PurplePrincess wrote: »

Your black and white girl is the image of mine! Il post a pic of mine in my suitcase later on when I get back to the laptop.

Tranceypoo

Such lovely stories!!

I got Archie from the gspca, my other dog had died very suddenly and I was absolutely heartbroken, it took me a couple of months before I could even be around dogs again, eventually I decided to do some volunteer dog walking at the gspca and in the back of my mind I was vaguely thinking 'well if I see a dog I like maybe I'll rehome it'. Archie (then called Comet) was the very first dog I walked on the very first day I was there. I remember him so well coming up to the door of his kennel and he sort of reminded me of my dog who had died, he was a bit skinny but so handsome. They told me he was really clean in his kennel and indeed there was no poop or pee and as soon as I got him outside he did the longest pee I'd ever seen!! He had a limp, apparently from a broken leg that hadn't been set properly and I remember walking him thinking 'hmm, really? The first dog I've seen?' but all that week I just couldn't get him out of my head and on the Sunday I took him home and that was that. He had separation issues, seems he'd been homed from the gspca before but been brought back and it was all a bit vague as to why (something about chasing cattle) so we were his third home. And his final home. He is the most laid back dog I've ever had, he will lie down and sleep anywhere, I've even been in the queue in the bank and post office and he just lays flat out on the floor! Yet when he goes out for a run in the garden he's like a complete nut case! He's going grey now, we've had him for about 4.5 years and he's about 6/6.5, has a heart murmur and his dodgy leg is getting stiffer, but he is just the leader of the pack round here, everyone that meets him or visits us just adores him and can't get over how chilled he is. He is Archie the legend.

Lily we got almost a year ago, initially as a foster but both myself and the lady who runs the rescue knew I was kind of looking for a second permanent dog. Lily was in the rescue for a few months I think, cos she's a collie cross and they seem to be ten a penny, noone showed any interest in her and to be honest, I wouldn't have picked her myself purely because I would think 'collie - too much energy - I don't have enough experience to handle a collie' but thankfully the lady who runs the shelter knew me, my lifestyle and knew Archie and she knew Lil would be a good fit, she was very stressed in kennels but after a settling in period, she's fairly chilled as long as she gets her walks in the day. We are also Lilys third home, I guess three's a charm for us! She was abandoned by her original owners and a nice lady found her and took her in but she couldn't keep her because one of her dogs didn't like Lil, I actually met her at a dog 'thing' last year and she was nearly in tears when I showed her pics of Lil lazing around on the sofa and told her how happy she was in her new home. She really was a dog destined for our home, via various homes and rescues, we wouldn't be without her now, her and Arch get on great, although they do have the odd disagreement, but she loves to clean his ears and his face and he loves letting her do it.

They both spend every evening lying on their places on the sofa with us, both flat out for the night, snoring, making comedy noises, jerking around in their sleep, much amusement. Can't imagine life without them!

Zapperzy

Zapperzy wrote: »

Your black and white girl is the image of mine! Il post a pic of mine in my suitcase later on when I get back to the laptop.

Here she is, have one of her in a proper suitcase but realised my knickers are on show in it!

santasbird

Many year ago, having just moved into my 1st house, my neighbour called to the door with a springer spaniel pup. Someone was going to drown it at the local beach, so she took it home. She already had a dog so couldnt keep it so I said I would take it. It was about 4 weeks old and had to be fed throughout the night. We named her Tara and she lived for 13 years.

About 8 years ago a friend asked would I foster a dog over xmas as it was going to be PTS. I agreed to take it until middle of January as I was having major work starting in the house ie main walls coming down. I cried when I had to give it back.

A few months later I was asked to take a 3 month old pup for a couple of weeks. The mother of this pup had been spayed and the pup was getting at the stitches. I fell in love with the dog and asked if I could keep it and the owner agreed. One year later and poor Lucy was knocked down and killed.

Roll on one year and I bumped into the girl who had given me the pup. She asked me how I was getting on with the dog and I told her what had happened. She then told me she was getting rid of the mother and I said Id take her. So here I am today with Lucky. She is now 14years and one the best dog ever.

louise's pictures 020.JPG

Cows Go µ

On a fully working computer now so thought I'd put up the pictures.

This is the week we got Diesel and its still my favourite picture of her







They both looks so much younger! Logan's nose is slowly getting a bit white and Diesel's has gone really grey after she got really sick last summer. Well, it was either the sickness of one of the shelties having pups, there were too many for her to keep out of trouble!

ABajaninCork

In the last 20+ years, I've had three cats and three dogs. I can't say that I had a hand in acquiring any of them...

The cats? First was landed on me by the then boyfriend. He decided we needed a cat, I didn't want one as I'd never had one before and had just bought a new 3 piece. Ended up going to see the kittens and coming home with the cat. He was run over twice, vet suggested he not be let out again, so decided to get -

Kitty No.2. She was one of two in the litter. Vet took them in as owners threatened to drown them. I got a call saying that a tom cat was available. So I shot off to the vet, only to find I had a pretty little tortie queen.

Kitty No. 1 was then run over and sadly didn't survive this time. So Kitty No. 2 and I were going nicely for six years until I got:

Kitty No. 3. Friend of a friend's cat had kittens and was trying to find homes for them. So my mate tells her mate that she knew of someone who would take one (ME!!). Didn't want the cat, and told her so. Got bounced into going to the girl's house supposedly to collect something. Of course, I clapped eyes on the kittens and took one of them home.

The three of us lived together happily in London until Kitty No 2 went to kitty heaven in 2006 at the grand old age of 18. Kitty No. 3 and I stayed together until we moved to Ireland in 2008.

Sadly, shortly after our arrival, Kitty No. 3 was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He lived on for another two years until he too passed in 2010. I was and still am heartbroken. He was my boy, and I miss him every day. For some reason, although I loved the first two, he had my heart and he KNEW it.

Sorry for the long post, and I hope you enjoyed the stories. I'll do another telling how the dogs came to be...

angelfire9

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=68599155&postcount=2796
I have just 1 kitty i'd love to have lots more but i'd be divorced

His father (we think) was a British Bombay (one of the neighbours breeds them and and her Tom went wandering low & behold one of the strays in the estate (coincidentally another black moggy) had a litter and the timing was perfect

Anyway, long story short the woman in whose garden the kittens were born brought them to the pound whereupon I collected Sooty within 20 minutes of his arrival and have had him since

Totally psycho cat :D
Great with the baby
Have him 3 years now and wouldn't be with out him

ABajaninCork

My dogs....

Well, I had three dogs as a child, but none stayed for very long. My mother wasn't into pets (still isn't and doesn't understand why I treat my pets the way I do, but still). So the dogs were given away:mad:

My boyfriend at the time decided to get a Doberman, and only told me about the dog when he picked me up from work! Bit dubious at first, but once I saw the pup it was love at first sight! He was a lovely dog, very smart, but a more loyal and loving dog I'd never met.

One day, we were at home. Neighbour knocks and says the dog's in their garden. No, he wasn't and we showed them our dog. Turned out this poor Dobie had been dumped and had made her way into our road. We took the dog in as nobody claimed her and we couldn't bear the thought of Battersea Dogs Home having her. When the boyfriend & I split, he took the dogs and I kept the cats.

Fast forward to 2009. My husband's niece was having her 21st. The family wanted to get her a Shih Tzu puppy for her birthday. So we decided to have a look on Done Deal (I know, but being new to the country didn't know the rep at the time...). Found a breeder who had pups locally, so decided to pitch up with my MiL to have a look. There were two pups of the litter left. The breeder placed a puppy in my arms and he decided he didn't want to leave! Kept crying when I tried to hand him over to my husband and MiL, and didn't want to be put down with his brothers. So between my MiL and my husband, they decided to buy him. Not for our niece, but for us, as the pup had taken a real shine to me!! I had nothing to do with it.

So now we have our fella. He's an absolute joy, who's added so much to our lives. He's fast asleep in his basket now, sighing with contentment. We wouldn't be without him! And yes - we did buy a pup for the niece, but from another litter. The pair of them are like brothers and are inseparable.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Currently have 2 cats and a Jack Russell.

1st cat. Humphrey, a beautiful tabby who's very affectionate. I found him in a ditch on the side of the road 10 years ago. He was quite young at the time, the vet reckoned about 5 weeks. He had obviously gotten lost from somewhere and was in a very distressed state when I rescued him. Nobody ever claimed him so I held on to him.

2nd cat. Seamus, a lovely ginger kitten who was born in late July. My neighbour's cat got pregnant so I decided I'd take one of the litter. He's quite feisty and Humphrey is very jealous of him, he tends to attack him if I leave the two of them unattended in the same room.:D

Jack Russell. Tommy, A black and white russell born in the summer of 2008. I bought him from a farmer shortly after he was born after seeing his ad in the paper. Lovely little thing who's very playful. Both the cats love him and he tends to be very protective over them.

PurplePrincess

Zapperzy wrote: »

Here she is, have one of her in a proper suitcase but realised my knickers are on show in it!

Ah she's gorgeous, they're very alike and obviously share a love of suitcases

gazzer

TillyGirl wrote: »

We have three dogs, Tilly we got in June 2008 aged 8 weeks bought out of the boot of a car in the back end of Limerick. Puppy farmer without a doubt but I knew no better. No excuse but at least I can say it’s the only dog I will ever buy.

That is one of the cutest things I have ever seen

johndoe99

my brother-in-law was driving to Wexford from Waterford, when he was walking to his car he heard a kitten bawling, he looked under the car but saw no cat. Whilst he was in wexford he again heard a cat bawling, again he looked under the car but again nothing, when he got back to Waterford he went to top up the water, and there was a kitten laying in the recesses of the engine, he gave the Kitten to me and that was 18 years ago, still have her. We called her Lucky, as in lucky she was not killed.

toadfly

gazzer wrote: »

That is one of the cutest things I have ever seen

Thanks I think so too

Cutie18Ireland

We had been talking about getting a dog for ages and one day just happened to look up dogs locally and found pom pups available just down the road. So that was the first.. Milo.

Next up was George. He was a westie, 14. His owner died and had no family so he was left into the vets by the neighbour to be put to sleep. We knew he had health problems but had a chat about it and decided he would come to live with us. He had been an only dog all his life and settled in great with the pup. He died in his sleep a few months later. He was like my shadow and I'm still heartbroken he didnt get longer with us.

Then there was Daisy, female pom, 18 months. Owner had split up with her fella and daisy was left outside, she had no time for her. Fiancé fell in love with her right away, took me a bit longer but she is our little diva

Next up was Penny, a spaniel cross. I fostered her and her sister. They had been dumped at the side of the road, and spent some time in the pound. When a family came to see the dogs,, Penny hid behind us she didnt want to leave, so she stayed

Next was Toby - pom/corgi cross, we were doing a transport of puppies to a puppy rescue and when we got there, she was carrying Toby. Couple had split up and left him there. He was fully vaccinated and ready to go, fiancé was mad about him. So he joined the madhouse.

Then fiancé's mam bought a dog, knowing her dog hates other dogs. Which leads us to Belle, yorkie, 6 weeks old. She was taken from her mam way too young. She gets cuter and cuter everyday.

6th was going to be another dog we were fostering. Molly - collie/terrier/lab. She had been here for a month when she got sick and tragically had to be put to sleep 28th December, 2 days after she got sick.

greeneyedspirit

Our cat picked us...
Neither my OH nor me are cat people, really, but we saw this stray cat hanging around last winter, poor thing had no tail :eek: but an open wound instead with bits of raw meat hanging off
poor mite turned out to be a really friendly cat, so we kept feeding her for some time and when it became apparent that nobody owned her, we decided to help her out and get her tail fixed up.
So we did, got her tail fixed, and got her spayed. Great help from this forum, too, we found a boardsie that fostered Socks for a week after the surgery, big thanks, you know who you are!
Now we've had Miss Socks for almost a year, and she's definitely part of the family (i.e. she's the queen of the house )

Socks:

Bebo stunnah

Bebo stunnah wrote: »

Back when I was still living with the parents, theis tiny little dog wandered into the garden, I worked nights (still do) so it was about 3 or 4 in the evening when I got up, took me a few minutes to notice that there was nobody in the house. My 2 sisters had seen her coming in the gate and were playing with her all day. She was a Jack Russel, no more than 2 weeks old. My mum sent in a lost dog notice to the radio station but nobody replied... Even though I heard stories that there was travellers goin roun the estate lookin for a dog of her description! Every day dad would say that 'she's going to the pound!' that was 3 years ago now!
I picked up my own little lad a month ago from the pound, he's chillin with her until I can get my new place ready!

Forgot to mention a cat, not mine, but the mother in-law too it. I seen a dead cat down the road from where she lives. So I mentioned it to her, she got her son to go and bury it, but while he was there he heard a crying coming from behind the wall at the side of the road, he came in and we went down to where he heard it. I had to take apart tho whole wall(stone, down to the ditch, he was in a tiny crevice and hissed everytime we went near him! must have been only a week or 2 old!

heres the dogs


and the kitty

Graces7

We first met collie when viewing a house to rent. She was caged in the garage; silent and subdued.

The agent said the landlord was taking her away, that theyhad caged her so she would not deter tenants.

We took the house. Soon found where they had taken collie to. The old abandoned farmhouse up the lane, chained 24/7 to a 56 lb weight, Kennel within reach ..

We spoke with a friend at a Pet Rescue who said they would back us; thanked us for feeding her.

So we took her in. The story was that after daddy died no one wanted her and they did not know what else to do. Saw nothing wrong in leaving her chained up like that. Even said how much they missed her. When we moved we would have taken her regardless.

We already had wee dog, from an unwanted litter.

We rescued our two cats from the cat shelter from hell the year before that. We took the litter of three but one did not survive the enteritis they were already infected with.

SineadMarie

My ex bf's mum went to buy a pup so i went along for company and ended up falling in love with this gorgeous tiny little Bichon had to have him, havent looked back since although hes a handful :rolleyes:

travelledpengy

Got our cat, Mason, a 6 year old Maine Coon from our landlord when he moved to Mexico! He is great to have around the house but a bit of a diva:D

scudzilla

We were looking for a boxer in the usual places (Hadn't heard of that Boxer dog Ireland place) but nothing was standing out.

Was in work one night and my wife rang and said she'd seen an ad on Done Deal, all it said was "Boxer pups for sale, IKC registered 350Euro"

No pictures or any other details, now i know we should have run a mile but my wife just had this feeling, call it Sixth Sense or whatever, so we rang them.

They were a lovely family from the outbacks of West Meath, didn't have a clue how to put a picture on an ad or anything!!

We arranged to go and see the pups, when we got there it was amazing, they had Boxer pics all over the place so obviously loved the breed, the mother and father lived with them, they only bred as they wanted a pup themselves.

The litter was the first and only from the mum, and she had 7, 4 were already gone but Brodi just stood out, the others were yapping but she just stood at the back looking at us!!

We paid a deposit and picked her up 3 weeks later, i have no idea at all why she was attracted to this ad, as it's normally the type you run a mile from, but it's the best thing she ever did

Here's a pic of when we went to choose her



Here she is on her first day with us



And here's one of the last pics we took of her the other week, 2yrs 4months old

callmekenneth

scudzilla wrote: »

We were looking for a boxer in the usual places (Hadn't heard of that Boxer dog Ireland place) but nothing was standing out.

Was in work one night and my wife rang and said she'd seen an ad on Done Deal, all it said was "Boxer pups for sale, IKC registered 350Euro"

No pictures or any other details, now i know we should have run a mile but my wife just had this feeling, call it Sixth Sense or whatever, so we rang them.

They were a lovely family from the outbacks of West Meath, didn't have a clue how to put a picture on an ad or anything!!

We arranged to go and see the pups, when we got there it was amazing, they had Boxer pics all over the place so obviously loved the breed, the mother and father lived with them, they only bred as they wanted a pup themselves.

The litter was the first and only from the mum, and she had 7, 4 were already gone but Brodi just stood out, the others were yapping but she just stood at the back looking at us!!

We paid a deposit and picked her up 3 weeks later, i have no idea at all why she was attracted to this ad, as it's normally the type you run a mile from, but it's the best thing she ever did

Here's a pic of when we went to choose her

she's adorable. (the dog, not your wife. though i'm sure wife is lovely)

Rookey

My little man came to me just 2 weeks ago. a few months ago I found out that someone I work with couldn't look after the dog properly. He was bought for the kids to keep them happy while a divorce was happening. I said I knew someone who would be more than happy to take him (my neighbours mother). so the day before I went to pick up the dog on behalf of my neighbours mum I got a call saying the kids wouldn't let the dog go. The poor woman was so disspointed. two weeks ago I get a text saying he has the dog whenever I want to take him. The next day I picked him up but nobody who I had in mind wanted him... that was very thankful for me as it was love at frst sight!! the poor mite was passed around to so many houses before I got him...

angry kitten

Our cat Felix showed up in our garden 3 years ago. He had a polyps growing out of one of his ears and was malnourished. He had a battered collar on and the stench from the polyps was awful. It had been left so long that it had grown down through his ear canal and into his jaw. Now he's a whopping 7 kilos and currently hogging my husbands side of sofa, on his back, legs in the air warming his bottom in front of the fire.

Jasper arrived a year after Felix as a malnourished feral kitten. Absolutely terrified of us then. After a year of getting down on the floor and talking to him every day for 6 months he finally came into the house. After a year he let me stroke him for the first time. Now he loves a cuddle and fuss, but always on his own terms. Wouldn't be with out them;)

Delancey

scudzilla wrote: »

And here's one of the last pics we took of her the other week, 2yrs 4months old

Great to see a Boxer with a full tail !

angry kitten

SillyMangoX wrote: »

My first cat Frodo was given to me by my Granny after his Mammy was killed by a car. All his litter mates died as they were too little to lap up the milk/water she put down for them but my eejit survived by falling in the bowl, climbing out again and licking it off himself! Kept him going until I got him and raised him properly. First time I saw him he was covered in milk but my parents said Milky wouldnt be a suitable name for a black cat! I was devastated when he was pts, but at least I know he had a much longer and better quality of life here than he would have had as the poor milk soaked orphan!

My current 2 cats were given to me as a bribe. I didn't get the course I wanted in the leaving cert, but I didn't care, I wanted to go to college like all my friends. So my Mam promised me a kitten if I repeated! So I got accepted into the repeat year and the Saturday before school started she rang a number for a lady on a farm who had 9 pregnant cats!! :rolleyes: So we were presented with the 2 cutest balls of fluff ever! I suspected they were slightly too young to be away from mammy (she just caught the first 2 kittens she could - there must have been loads!) so my parents said they could stay inside the house for the first month but then absolutely had to go out... Almost 3 years later they still sleep inside and only go out for a short while during the day

I'm getting homesick for my kitties as I write this, the one thing I dont like about college is being separated from my babies!

Is great that you rescued 2 cats. Is a pity more farmers don't do more to help feral cats. So many rescue organisations practice Trap Neuter and Release nowadays. It helps to control the size of the cat colonys and keeps the cats healthier and happier too

Alicat

Layla: Guilted into taking her in without even seeing her, by my aunt. The owner was a single guy, had had her since she was a pup but couldn't give her the time she needed, and was about to hand her into a pound. Mum had wanted to get a Lab at some stage, but we ended up with this lunatic.






Billy: We decided Layla needed a buddy, and Mum still had her heart set on getting a Lab. She spotted one on Ireland AM, from Paws, and decided that was the dog she wanted. So, we drove all the way from Dublin to Tipperary, with Layla, to meet this dog. Layla HATED him. Backed straight out of her collar and ran down the lane to get away from him. We got her back and said that we couldn't take the dog with that kind of reaction from Layla, but had they any other dogs we could have a look at.

They brought out this sorry looking Golden Lab, who had been kept in a dog run at the back of a pub, for his entire 10 months of being alive. He didn't even understand what a leash was. Layla adored him. Started licking his face and jumping around him. One quick look between me and my mum, and he was in the car

Layla couldn't fit on the back seat with me and Billy, so she curled up on the floor and slept the whole way home.



This is just after we got home with him.

Best buddies still!

sarahbro

We had talked about getting a cat for ages but decided properly when we got mice in our old apt.
Went down to the rescue centre and i spotted this black and white bundle but my OH says 'No look behind', and there was a teen tabby bundle and he became our Keef
He was 7 weeks old (and no good for the mice problem lol)
He's a year old this month and currently asleep on my back


In November I got a call asking to foster a cat who'd Been badly injured in a RTA. Poor thing went through 3 operations and then came here to a very jealous Keef!
After her last visit to the vets we realised we couldn't send her back to the centre for rehoming so she became our Rainbow

I'm totally in love with.both of them.
They're our children and our whole life revolves around them