2 posts tagged “pets”

Here's a pic from a couple weeks ago, and it shows the relationship between Tasha and Xander quite well - Xander, as usual, is trying really, really hard to play, and Tasha, well, she's just annoyed with him :)

It's hard to believe he's only 9 months old. At last weigh-in, he was 60 lbs... he's still trying to eat our house and home (literally - we had to nail a board a hole he chewed/scratched in the back door last week.) He's really a sweetie, though - loves to play and snuggle. Poor Piper still has NO idea what to do with him - she always got along well with Sabaka and still gets along well with Tasha - though, amusingly, Tasha seems to have decided that when Xander and Piper start to get into a bit - meaning Piper's finally decided to swat at him rather than just hissing - it's XANDER that needs the help - even though he's 60 lbs and Piper is all of about 10. It's hardly fair, but Tasha has decided it's her job to protect her little bro... it's really kind of cute!

For anyone interested, I've put up a collection with pictures of my babies - the three who are still with me and the two who've gone to the Rainbow Bridge in recent years. 

Xander, who I have a TON of pictures of, is our newest addition.  If you start at the end of the collection and go backwards, you can see shots of him at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 months.  He's a bundle of energy and a delight to have around.  Well, at least he is when he's not at full peak energy - then he can be a real handful, but he's only 7 months, so it's to be expected, eh?

Tasha has been with us for 11 of her 12 years. Her first family went through a divorce and neither one could take her with them, so they took her to the vets office and asked if they'd help find her a home.  We'd just adopted Sabaka (more on him in a moment), and my mom was afraid he was too big for our house, and she knew he was half-lab, so when she heard that there was a half-lab at the vets office, she wanted me to go look at her to see how big Sabaka might get.  I fell in love, and Matt and I decided to adopt her.  Not at ALL what my mom had in mind!  LOL

Sabaka...  we got him when he was about 2 months old, less than a year after we got married.  I fell in love with him so completely, and even though it's been 6 months now since he passed away, I still miss him every day.  He was just the sweetest, gentlest dog I've ever met.  Once he got past his puppy teething, he never used his teeth on anyone, except very lightly (like, so light you could barely feel it) in play.  He was terrified of storms, and it just broke my heart to watch him try to crawl under my desk and tremble whenever Thor came to town.  But he was such a loving, wonderful creature.  Gah!  I'm gonna make myself cry again! 

Piper is our kitty.  She's just over 8 years old now.  And yes, she actually is named after Piper Halliwell from Charmed.  I was very much into the show when it first came on, being rather new to Wicca and overjoyed to see a positive (if incredibly unrealistic) portrayal of Witches, and Piper was my favourite by far, so when a Witch friend needed a new home for one of the kittens her cat had just had, I was glad to take one in.  Acyl (she's next) hadn't really ever figured out what to make of the dogs, and she was so old that we decided it would be kinder to let her go live with my parents after their dog died, than to keep her with these two, huge critters she was always nervous around.  I missed having a cat around, though, so was very glad that Piper needed a home.  Of course, now Piper is completely unsure of what to make of Xander.  I kept trying to tell her that she should make friends with him when he was still smaller than she was, but, being a cat, she didn't listen...  I think she'll get it figured out at some point, though - I hope so anyway.  In the mean time, we just try to keep him from getting too close to her claws. Fortunately, he doesn't do anything other than walk up and sniff at her - he doesn't try to play, lick or bite or anything like that, but she's still not having any of it.  ::Sigh::

And lastly, this is my darling Acyl.  She came to live with me when I was still out in Seattle in the late 80's. She was another very gentle soul and kept me company for many years while I tried to figure my own way in the world. She was about 12 when Sabaka and Tasha came to live with us, and we sent Acyl to my parents.  They'd just lost a dog they'd loved dearly, and had a big hole in their hearts - and Acyl was just the right size to fill it.  They pampered her terribly for her last years, and I know she was well loved.  It was nice to know she was in a home where she wasn't afraid of the dogs and where I could still see her whenever I wanted.  

Her name comes from Pink Floyd by way of D&D.  When I used to play RPGs my first couple years in college, my character had a black cat as a familar, and I decided to name her "Acyl" after the Floyd song "Any Colour You Like" on the theory that when you mix all the colours together, you get black - hence, within black is, yep, any colour you like *g*  Hokey, yes, but I was just learning how to drink and taking Art 101 - what do you expect?

Anyway, just click on the real big picture at the top of this post if you want to see more pics of my absolutely adorable furkids (it'll take you the collection), and be sure to tell me just how cute they are, ok?  I love getting to play the proud mama!  :)