Cheetah7

I brought Gordon with me, on the day we moved into our house, Rocky the kelpie came to live with us.

'That is quite enough animals' Mr PP said firmly and stood firm, totally ignoring the cute pictures of female cats I showed him on a frequent basis, getting to the stage where he wouldnt even look.

'Gordon will be less naughty if he has a female cat for company' I told Mr PP, who was horrified when Gordon started to chew his jeans and shoes as well as the towels.

After the vet said Gordon as an indoor cat was bored and lonely, I put that theory to Mr PP who snorted in disbelief, saying that he would very much like the life of a cat thank you and Gordon had a good life.

Several pairs of shoes later and Gordon standing on his hind legs digging at the bedroom door whilst being very vocal in an attempt to be let in the bedroom - which Mr PP frequently gave in to him, I put the theory to him that perhaps we could foster a little cat to keep Gordon on the straight and narrow.

'OK' Mr PP resigned, and told me to get looking for a 'foster cat'.

Well 'Foster Schmoster!' that is all I can say, I found a cute, tiny (fluffy!!) torti cat called 'Lucky' who had been found in the rubbish in Mandurah - her only experience of humans not being very nice.

After telephoning the greyhound rescue people that had her, I put a reserve on her and told Mr PP that she would cost $120 including microchip, desexing and vaccine.

'She is a foster cat isnt she? Why are we paying?' He said looking suspicious.

Blushing I said 'Well I think she will be ours, but we can always foster her and recoup the money if a good home comes up as she is living in a cat pen and has never had a proper home'

'I knew it! I totally knew it!' He said in disbelief.

So last Sunday, we went to pick up 'Lucky', duly paid for her and we both admired the tiny little pretty (Fluffy and I must emphasise that word 'fluffy'!) cat that tried to hide her head in the crook of my arms.

We got her home, she is oh so fluffy - to the point I have ordered a furminator to groom her with, Gordon thinks she is wonderful and gazes at her all day and in the week we have had her, she has bonded with me, growls at the window if people walk past sounding like a small dog, and is so fluffy that Gordon sneezes when he is near her, so does Mr PP and so do I, hell she even sneezes at herself.

I have taken to an intense relationship with the hoover which is in constant use as you can imagine, and for the first time in years, Gordon doesnt wake us up at night as he sleeps by her cage which she is in till her operation scar heals.

Her sutures 'were' due out tomorrow, well she has eaten those thank you very much and now has a bucket collar on her tiny little head and digs at her cage in protest until I come to her, pick her up and cuddle her.

She is exceptionally skittish and not used to TV sounds etc and jumps with each sudden noise. She refuses to shit in her litter tray, preferring Gordons one instead.

And just as I had convinced Mr PP that Gordon would be well behaved with 'Lucky' being in the house, last night her and Gordon were sighted joyfully shredding the leather sofa, causing Mr PP to stare at me as though I had smashed his train set (he doesnt have one but if he did...)

'Lucky' has now become 'Emily', we have all started sneezing at her fluffiness, she promises to be very naughty, Rocky thinks she is a sheep and walks round her cage to herd her up.

And poor old Mr PP has been railroaded into getting a cat that started out as a foster thing and has now become a 'naughty Emily' thing.

So what pets have you acquired since moving to Australia and whose idea was it?

Here is Emily.

IvanM

10 rainbow lorikeets, eastern rosellas, crimson rosellas, cocktails, blue tongues and heaps of funnel webs. No need for a pet shop here and cats can walk right on by.

Cheetah7

They are bringing in a cat curfew for Perth, so I hear and it cant come soon enough for me.

Cat over the road shits in our porch, sprays by our door - I only pray it gets in my garden and will become a nice 'toy' for my dog. Little bastard caught a galah last week, the owners dont give a crap about it.

Are funnel webs big spiders? I always imagine them to be huge.

IvanM

Smaller and slower than the huntsman I chased out earlier. I do kill them though as they could kill the kids.

Next to the bush up the road there are bilbys, bandicoots and turkeys. Possums are as common as squirrels in Britain.

LINZI

Since being here 4 goldfish and thats enough

I would not buy anything here in aus especially dogs they dont look right the dogs are evil/scruffy looking

renth

Rainbow lorikeet, 2 budgies, 2 guinea pigs, 1 great dane.

Cheetah7

I have heard that a funnel web could kill an adult as well - is that true?



I have only ever seen one huntsman and that was in QLD, we have black hairy chunky spiders in our garden, heaps of redbacks and have killed a few whitetail in the house. I get the perimeter of the house sprayed every year which keeps things down and I relish in finding dead/dying roaches outside the house.

The ghekos get in though, and although my cat is indoors all the time, I did find one he had vomited up last year -

We did have a possum but that has been replaced by the neighbours tom cat

You have the sulphur crested cockies where you are dont you? I dont think they are native to WA, I love those. We have the black Carnabys cockies flying over our garden though - fabulous, I love them.

Here is a piccie I took the other week.

Dorothy

We arrived in August 2006 and for my first Australian birthday (January 2007) my husband bought me Maggie - short for Magpie because she's black & white and very loud.

Then on my birthday in January 2008 Moose was born. We named him Moose because the day he was born we were visiting some friends in Adelaide and my very very drunken friend slurred "you should call him Moooosh" shortly before passing out. It became kind of a joke, but he's a very big boy so the name kind of fit. He came to live with us in March of that year. I think some of you met Moose at one of the meet-ups in King's Park in 2008 when we first moved here to WA. Moose is a really gentle boy but he doesn't realise he's over 60 kg so he gets excited and tends to jump on people he doesn't know. He's flunked out of obedience classes twice because he's just so dumb.

Sticking with the North American animal theme we got my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Chipmunk in May 2009. Chip is the ultimate lap dog, waiting at the door for me when I come home from work and insisting on being cuddled before I can do anything else. He's always got to be with a person or bothering Moose. He just hates being on his own. Thankfully Moose is a giant marshmallow so lets Chip do whatever he wants - stealing his bones, hiding all the toys, jumping on him while he's trying to sleep. It's funny to watch them play together. Chip will lay on his back and wait for Moose to grab his collar and pull him around the wood floors.

My daughter got a long eared grey bunny in August 2009, but she escaped her outdoor cage and now lives in the neighbourhood and just will not be caught. She comes around all the time, but I think she just prefers living in the wild.

Cheetah7

I met Moose at Kings Park, he was a baby then if my memory serves me.

As Mr PP is still smarting over the arrival of Emily, that is it - no more pets and I am inclined to agree with him, although he would love a galah and a big aviary built in the garden. But we have agreed the birds are to be admired in the wild and if we need a bird fix, then we go off to the black cockie rescue in the hills.

I have just been to check on Emily and she is in her cat pen feeling sorry for herself with her bucket collar on, Gordon is curled up next to the cage. I dont expect our sofa will last too much longer once she is out and has revenge.

I do like having pets though, they all have their personalities.

Dorothy

Yeah, I have a photo of him laying under Nev's wife's chair. He just loved her and stuck by her side all day.

Cheetah7

That balloon looks a bit limp.

eddie007

Hmmmm.....

First aquisition was Socket...the staffy Unwanted from K9 rscue down in mandurah... We got tropical fish given to us by a lady going to live in dubai along with tank and everything needed for the,..... Along came three mice, two rats, one of which committed suicide.

..Then Lecky joined us.... Not lecky as in socket and electricity, but lecky as in very lecky to be living in such a nice hice... Shes as posh as a weimerana can get pedigree wise....But still an unwanted rescued cast off....

tabbyfur joined us next, when they we rounding up the ferrals and destroying them... She came home in a baxters bloods box and stayed.... Even tho I promised HIM we were only temporary accommodation until I found her a good home...

Then the Byford two joined us from the uk

And then along came Monty, the Python... Who is currently sheddding AGAIN... Proof positive that he IS getting bigger inspite of their assurances that he really isnt....

Really funny... HE fed monty one of his dead baby mice whilst one of our true blue aussie friends was visiting and she was FASCINATED... Took photos and posted them on FB.... She oohed and ahhhhed as he squeezed the dead mouse to death them dislocated his jaw to get in ..... Couldnt take her eyes off him... And thats a fifty year old aussie who has never lived anywhe else... She was THRILLED by the whole thing.....

IvanM

Without getting the serum adults have been known to die. The Sydney funnel web is a particularly venomous variant and loves the area I live in.

Mainly sulphur crested and in huge numbers. We have to use small seeds otherwise they would mass and eat the house.

Cheetah7

I went to a snake callout a few weeks ago and this dugite - he was only about 2ft, still a youngster was peering at me through a hole in the limestone, I nearly got him and he told me to shit off and leave him alone, despite me telling him he would have a much better life where I was to release him. Bastard went back in his hole and I never got him.

But I did get a nice cup of coffee and a biscuit for my efforts.

Dreamy

Two chocolate labradors (the stupidest dogs of all time, including the brain dead boxer I owned 20 years ago) and three cats.

When I get home (if I remember) I'll post piccies.


When I say 'if I remember' I mean 'if I remember to post piccies' rather than 'if I remember to get home'.