My pets

Misty
Aliases: Misty-Meow, Meow, Mow, Meowth.
Likes: Sleeping. Eating.
Dislikes: Physical activity. Human Food. People who are not me.

I adopted Misty from Gloucester County Animal Shelter for $5.00 and a 10 lb bag of cat food at a pet shop back in October, 1995. I originally wanted an orange kitten, but they were gone. So I picked a little girl to be BFF with Noelle, my other cat. They were not BFF. Misty is middle aged now and likes to lay around. She picks a spot and stays there for what seems to be weeks at a time. She’s your stereotypical aloof cat. Sometimes, however, she’ll climb up on my chest when I’m about to fall asleep and purr and purr until we both pass out. Misty tolerates Charlie and Ollie, ignores Max, and drools when she purrs.

Charlie
Aliases: Charlie-Boo, Boo-Bear, Boo, Booze, Baby-meow.
Likes: Scritches. Snuggling. Eating.
Dislikes: Physical activity. Human Food. Loud noises

Charlie about 6 months old when I took him home from my then-job in July 1997 because the original owner’s kid was “allergic.” Right. He’s also mid-life, and has suffered from some middle-age spread. He’s a large cat to begin with, though. Yes, I’m making excuses. Charlie’s a scaredy-cat. If anyone he doesn’t know shows up, he dashes into the closet and will stay there until they leave. Charlie likes Misty, loves Max and Ollie and completely worships me.

Max

Aliases: Maximillian, Maxine, Poochus McDoofus, Lightning McPee.
Likes: Rousing walks. Rawhide. Tearing up beanie babies. Tearing up napkins. Stealing food from my trash can. Snuggling close when he sleeps. Paris Pillow.
Dislikes: Sticks. Pouring rain. Strongly scented human food. Being away from home for long.

Max came to me from the Animal Orphanage in Voorhees in 2003 when he was about 1 or 2 years old. We’ll never know for sure. He was a stray before that, so we had a few behavior issues to deal with. But honestly, he’s come so very far that it seems unfair to keep cataloging what he used to do. Max is a social little dog. He constantly bares his teeth, but thankfully never uses him. I think he tries to compensate for his small stature. He’s all terrier. Possibly Australian Terrier, but we’ll never know for sure. He’ll curl up on my lap and snooze while I surf the web. I am completely enamored with this little street dog. He ignores Misty and Charlie and loves Ollie like a little brother.

Oliver Queen

Aliases: Ollie-bear, Droopus McDoofus, Einstein, Stinkpot
Likes: Ball. Fetching the ball. Chasing the ball. Popcorn.
Dislikes: The vacuum, thinking, thunderstorms

Oh Ollie, my 35th-birthday crisis. Ollie’s allegedly a pure Cocker Spaniel (so say his papers) but upon further examination…I don’t believe it for a second. He’s large, drooly and lumbering. He’s pretty dumb. But he’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever owned, bar none. There is no guile in this dog. He will sleep on your feet until they go numb. He will fetch a ball until he passes out in exhaustion. He adores his big brother Max, loves the cats, worships us and he has brought a huge amount of joy to our little household.

And although his name is Oliver, we’ve called him Ollie from day one. As a result, when the vet or the groomer calls him “Oliver” he doesn’t even twitch. Yay us.

Gone before us

Mickey came to us in 1997 from my cousin who couldn’t take care of him anymore. He was quite a little gentleman, and I still miss his snuffles and how good he smelled after his baths.I do not miss giving him twice-daily insulin shots, though.

Noelle was my first cat ever, and arrived on the scene in 1994. We adopted her from the Animal Orphanage. She was slender, silent, and smelled like dust.

Lucky was my dog at Mom’s house. We got her in 1991, again from the Animal Orphanage.