Ace of Spades Pet Thread, June 21

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Excerpts from a special essay by our friend Bob Zimmerman of Behind the Black, memorializing The happiest cat I've ever known.

Please click the link for the entire essay and comments:

Last week we had one of those heart-wrenching experiences that no one should ever have. When we woke up on Friday morning we could not find our youngest cat, Misty, anywhere. We searched the house, the yard, checked under and in the shed, walked the grounds around the fenced area endlessly, even walked along a nearby wash.

Misty was nowhere. We immediately passed out notices to all our neighbors as well as listed her as missing on a number of websites that specialize in listing unidentified found pets. All to no avail. As of today there is still no evidence of her anywhere. We have mostly decided that a predator of some kind, a coyote or large bird, somehow got into the yard (protected by a very high fence) and snatched her.

She was only two and a half years old. Her loss is quite painful.

What makes it worse is that she was undoubtedly the happiest cat I have ever known. We originally got her as a kitten in 2022 to be a companion for our other cat, Molly, as well as for ourselves. We had adopted Molly and Emma together in 2013, but Emma had died prematurely in 2021 from kidney failure. We found Molly pining for companionship, and thus went out to find her a kitten.

There are some wonderful descriptions of Misty's typical happy behavior here. And this photo is wonderful:

Some cats can be timid. Some can be bossy. Some can be hostile. Some cats, like Molly, are contented and nice, always willing to hang out near us but not be very creative or active, with eating, sleeping, and getting brushed her only real interests.

Misty however was always happy, and eager to tell everyone that’s how she felt. For almost three years she brought this joy to us, as well as to herself. For that we are grateful.

It is tragic beyond words that she could not do so for many more years.

Please consider yourself and your family (including pets) to be special members of the PetMoron family, Bob. We mourn you loss of Misty. Stay in touch.

We have gotten a real sense of how special Misty was. Thank you.

Hi KT:

Long-time semi-Lurker Lisan here. Here are pictures of Billy the Dog, an Australian Kelpie mix;

Bella, the Tortie cat; and

Sophia, a very ancient Tabby.

I brought all three animals home after my aunt passed away and no one could take them.

Originally, I was taking only the two cats, but Plan A for the dog fell through and I was Plan B. Since Billy is a very good dog, and especially good around cats, it wasn’t stretch to include him as part of the pet horde. He is the most well-behaved dog-polite, good on a leash and incredibly, he never barks. The puzzle with him is that he has none of the herding dog breed characteristics, and while he looks like he has some husky or malamute in him, he doesn’t act like it. Will just be thankful he is such a well-behaved little guy, and do a DNA test at some point to confirm his breed.

Bella is about 14 years old, she was exclusively an outdoor cat, but not feral. She is adapting well to being indoor only, meaning she isn’t complaining with howling cat noise or violence. She is actually a quiet cat, very amenable to being handled and petted-I think she is secretly happy to be warm and safe inside. We are letting her set the pace for ratcheting down her flight response, and she is slowly exploring beyond the safe places she has picked in the house. Sophia is confirmed at 22 years old, which is the oldest cat I have ever had. Apparently, she was also an outdoor only cat, brought inside to die when she began to look frail—this was an unknown number of years ago, and she is still hanging on. She is creaky, cranky, and old-thin, but moves around well from nap spot to nap spot, almost trotting when food is on offer. We are treating her for the typical old cat problems, namely hyperthyroidism (medicated), kidney failure (subQ fluids), with her diabetes testing still inconclusive. I know she is on borrowed time but I am terribly happy we could give her a final landing place that is peaceful and quiet and safe.

Thanks for all you do for the Ace of Spades weekend edition.

Lisan

What a wonderful story, Lisan. Billy looks like a superlative dog. One of the kitty photos didn't come through. Maybe we can try again.

Let me introduce to the newest member of our family.

This is a baby green cheek conure. He/she hatched on Father’s Day morning. As you can see, there will be more siblings in the coming days.

He will get his first feeding this evening and moved into a brooding box tomorrow.

I’ll try to send more images as they grow.

David

One of the tiniest PetMorons ever!

From By-Tor

Thank you for sharing your pets with us. If you haven't seen yours yet, we are still untangling submissions from the past few weeks.

If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:

petmorons at protonmail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Until next Saturday, have a great week!