Siamese - Great Cats, in my opinion

I have heard many bad things about the Siamese breed during my lifetime. But our newest additions, Brady, has turned out to be the sweetest and most loving cat I have ever know. Really.

We took Brady in from the rescue friend who has cancer because we wanted to help her and her homeless kitties. My husband and I both have a soft heart for animals and we find pleasure in helping others. So, in comes Brady. And we knew from what Donna had said that he was very affectionate and always wanted to be with you. But we had no idea that he would be this great. He does really well with all of our animals. Although a couple of the kitties were not sure at first. Everyone gets along great now.

My point here is to tell you that I decided to do some research on the Siamese breed. What I read has been nothing but good. Now I have such a hard time understanding why so many people think this is a mean breed by nature. It also reminds me that so many people do not take the time to understand animals and therefore end up provoking bad behaviors and blaming it on the animal's disposition.

Gosh, maybe I should think about a career in training people to be good pet owners. :D Hmmm, probably not a real good future in that, unfortunately.

Our first Blog award! Yeah!!

Gosh, we received this award a while back and got so busy we forgot. Ooops! Sorry Karen! :\

I received this award from a real sweetheart who loves cats just as much as me! :) Her blog is about her dad and all the cats he loved. Thanks Karen at My Funny Dad, Harry.

Here are the blogs I am nominating:

1. The Cat / Dog Log
2. Nytro Girl
3. Feathers, Fins and Fur
4. Chihuatude
5. Paws 'n' Claws
6. Why Everyone Should Train Dogs
7. K9 Chronicles
8. Casto Creations
9. Stylin Pup Pillows
10. Tatum Tot Spice

An update on the Pack

Since I had been away for a while, I wanted to give you an update on our pack. As anyone who has followed this blog before knows, we have a few pets. Heehee! Actually, we practically have a petting zoo. Nothing unusual though. Just your basic dogs, cats and fish.

We now have five dogs and 3 cats. In a recent post I talked about cat #4, Bobbi, whom we recently lost to a vicious attack by a wild animal somewhere near our farm house. She was the only outside cat I have ever had or ever will have. We have decided that we just need some good mouse traps for the barn. But we didn't have any luck with that in the beginning. And although Bobbi was a great mouser and loved being outside, I would never do that to another small domesticated animal. Now I even worry about our dogs when they go outside very early in the morning and it's sometimes still dark, since the days are getting shorter.

So, here is the update I promised you. I'm posting pictures of everyone, so you can see for yourself. :) They are all just super pets!!

This is actually a before picture of Rocky. From the day he found us in October of 2007.

Here is the handsome Rocky now! We call him "The Rock Star".

Rocky says "Hi!"

Here is our oldest kitty, Lucky.
He is a big boy, with a little bit of an attitude. :)

Next, is the before photo of Jackie. This was a few days after we adopted her. She had been cleaned up here. You can read about her injuries and her story in these earlier posts.

Here are a couple of pictures of her now. She hates the flash on the camera and it is so hard to get her still enough to take a photo. I usually don't try.

She is in wonderful health now. She still has the lameness on her right side. But most of the time, you wouldn't know it! She also has some arthritis from the injuries.

Now here is a great picture!
This is our kitty Fonzi play biting Jackie. About 6 months ago, Jackie would have really bit him back! They are buddies now. I think we may have actually learned some things from all of the dog training classes! :)

Here is The Fonzi as a tiny little baby!

This pretty lady is Molly, an American Fox Hound. She is Rocky's play pal. She is wearing the underground fence collar.

She LOVES LOVES LOVES to play!!!

Oh, my handsome baby. This is Mommy's baby boy, Quincy.
He was my first puppy and will always be my favorite!
Isn't he handsome?

Quincy turned 7 this year.

Now we are to another sweet kitty. This is Lizzy.
She was rescued by the local firemen from a burning house. I just can't imagine how frightened she must have been.
She is very sweet and loving. But it did take months for her to adjust.

Now, meet The Boss.
Or at least he thinks so! LOL! This is Spike. Spike was my husband's doggy when we got married. He is the only one of our pack that wasn't a rescue or stray. And I just can't imagine life without him. He is quite a character!

Lizzy & Spike hangin' out.

Spike and Rocky playin' in the yard.
Looking at that big yellow snake.
(The garden hose:)

Well, I think I covered everyone. Lizzy, Molly, Jackie, Spike, Fonzi, Quincy, Rocky & Lucky. Yep, that is it! Wooh! So now, any questions? LOL!

Oh, I almost forgot. We have fish too! :D I will have that for another day.

Intermediate Obedience

Intermediate obedience training is awesome and the dogs are doing great. We are so proud of them. And so is the trainer. She told us that we were in her "hall of fame" because we have come such a long way with our dogs. They don't bark as much and act so much better in the store. We have 4 more weeks of intermediate and then we will probably move on to a click-a-trick class. I would love to get them into some more difficult tricks.

And little Princess Jackie is learning to sit. That is a big accomplishment for her since she still doesn't have a lot of mobility in her front right leg. In fact, the trainer noticed that her back right leg turns out. So it is really starting to sound like she was hit by a car and that is the reason she had so many injuries when she was found. It is really lucky that she healed up so well. She didn't have any broken bones when we adopted her. Only the absess on her tail and the limp from what we thought was just her front right leg. But now she runs and plays hard with the rest of our dogs. She doesn't seem to notice that there is any problem with her legs. She is such a joy. I think we are lucky to have each other. Adopting her was one of those things that was just meant to be.

Obedience Training Graduation!

Tomorrow night two of our doggies graduate from beginner obedience training. Hopefully!!! I am not really worried about Quincy (the older mixed breed). But our baby, Spike, the Mini-Schnauzer still has a lot of problems. I'm hoping that the intermediate training will help him work through them. The trainer has a doorbell that she uses in the intermediate training! That should be very exciting; since they both freak out when someone rings the bell.

Our new addition, Jackie, is adjusting very well. Her injured tail has healed, and the hair has grown back so the bend in it is barely noticable. She is such a sweet doggy. Except when it comes to the cats. That is another story. But we are working on that too. And things are getting much better in that area all the time.

- T
www.ourlifewithmultiplesclerosis.com