Zoe...

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We've been dealing with a sad thing in that our beloved dog Zoe was deteriorating and she was not well enough to go on. Today, we called the vet and he came to our house and she went to sleep at home very peacefully.

She was a wonderful dog who managed to live in two continents and was there for the birth of both our girls. She slowed down dramatically in the past six months but never stopped smiling.

We will miss you Zoe. XXXX

Zoe: 24/1/98 - 9/6/2010

Welcome Miss Molly

Well, we have a new addition to the family... Miss Molly the Labradoodle.

Niki has been dropping big hints about a 2nd dog for a while and when we walked past the pet shop last week, her ideal puppy was there in the window.

End result, Miss Molly!

Pictures of Molly and Zoe playing...

Another Sad Day - Floppsy

Niki and the girls went to the movies yesterday and when they came home late in the afternoon, they found our rabbit Floppsy had died in the cage...  The girls, Kate in particular, were hysterical and when I spoke to Niki on the phone they were incredibly upset in the background.  Apparently Kate had been playing with Floppsy and nursing her just before they went to the movies and so when they got home it was even more distressing for her.

 

Floppsy was the stray rabbit we adopted so we dont know how old he was, so maybe it was just one of those things, but we've had a terrible run of pet deaths over the past 6 months or so... but the girls are now worried that Matilda the Guinea Pig will be lonely and they're determined to get a new guinea pig or rabbit to share the hutch...  I am not keen but they absolutely love their animals and when I left for work this morning Matilda was on their laps in the loungeroom being cuddled.  I guess I will hear today that we will have a new addition to the family already.

 

This morning though we buried Floppsy in the front garden... the girls took one of the many spare paving stones and enscribed his name on it with love hearts and flowers and he is now resting next to all the other pets - Tonya, Rosie and Jimmy.  I have to say - its getting a bit crowded there!

 

 

On The Hunt

Many long term Lime Kettles readers will recall that we bought a kitten some months ago after the passing of our old moggy Tonya...

A cute little Russian Blue Cross kitten we named "Charlie" entered our home and was incredibly playful.  Over time Charlie has taken to us well and is very cuddly and spends alot of time with the girls and in fact generally sleeps in Kate's bed for the first few hours of every night.

All great except one thing... Charlie is growing and is I guess going through adolescence and in male cats that means one thing - killing.

Charlie whilst retaining the cuddly demeanour around the house is a killing machine in the back yard... since Friday he has attacked 2 birds and a frog and on each occasion has brought his prey to the back door generally whilst it was still alive.  I had to put a sparrow / finch type bird out of its misery on Friday and I removed a dead frog on Sunday and yesterday he attacked a bird and had it in his mouth until Niki was able to prise its jaws and the bird flew away (which is a good sign I guess).

I am ambivalent to all this in the sense that Cats Kill Birds... its Mother Nature... and that as long as Charlie stays in the backyard (which he does) then the birds will stay off the grass and our trees once they know he's about... and they do because when he's patrolling the backyard you can hear the birds squawking at him from up high.

But Charlie has now realised that the feathery things he chases outside also includes our Cockatiel "Jimmy" amongst their number.  Just yesterday we have twice caught Charlie standing on his hind legs "rocking" Jimmy's cage.  We locked Jimmy in our bedroom and when Niki went in the bedroom, within seconds Charlie was on the bed just inches from Jimmy's cage.

Jimmy at this stage is rather blasé about Charlie, but that will change should Jimmy be knocked over because Jimmy's cage is actually broken in that the top piece will come off if it hits the floor... and Jimmy doesn't fly either (he has wings, but chooses to walk - thats another story) so if the cage gets knocked over, Jimmy will be lunch.

So now we are keeping them separate, but what can we do?  Seems as though now we have to isolate one of them everytime we go out and even when we're home, we have had Charlie making beelines to the cage every chance we get... and Niki doesnt want him outside as she's worried about the local wildlife.  Do cats grow out of this??

Floppsy Comes To Stay

One thing I probably haven't mentioned - well I haven't - is that we gained a new addition to the family: Floppsy The Rabbit (pictured here with the surviving Guinea Pig Matilda)

Floppsy was a stray into the yard of a wheel chair bound elderly lady who is a friend of Niki's parents... she couldn't look after her, so we have taken her in. Of course if anyone has lost a rabbit in the Glenbrook area, let me know, but otherwise unless someone comes looking for Floppsy she'll be staying.

She is a very placid and domesticated rabbit though... happily gets patted by the girls and is much less skitish than Matilda.

Sad News

Yesterday, Rosie – one of Kate’s Guinea Pigs – died.  Not sure what the cause of death was, but Rosie (the long haired one) was no longer with us.  We buried little Rosie last night in the garden next to Tonya the Cat and the girls were very upset.  Not a great evening last night and we’re now concerned as to whether keeping one guinea pig is OK or is it cruel?  The girls instantly asked if they could get another guinea pig, but we’re not so sure of that either.

Anyways, we’ll let the grieving bit pass and see how Matilda goes without her playmate before we make any decision.

RIP Rosie The Guinea Pig