Soda and I Discuss The Economic Crisis

Everyone always makes comments that Soda and I are "a little bit blonde". I'm not sure what that really means as I'd say I'm more champagne and Soda is more of a brown tabby, but the humans seem to find it funny.

I suspect that everyone thinks that Soda and I aren't very intellectual. Although we might not be plotting to take over the world or raid the pantry (although that bird seed I ate a couple of days ago was really yummy), we still like to keep up with current affairs and the state of the global economy.

I take an active interest in kanagroo bone futures, while Soda is always checking the price of her Whiskas and Go-Kat shares.

Soda and I like to watch the news to keep up with the latest in world events

Afterwards we discuss each topic in detail

Wow she makes some really good points!

Sleeping, Walking and Bone Eating

Hey get that camera out of my face!

The weather has been pretty bad the past couple of days, and there hasn't been a lot for a little doggy to do. Dad and I have tried to get out for our walks but they have had to be short ones as the rain keeps interrupting them. Yesterday morning we only walked for about 10 minutes as we had to wait for the rain to stop and then Dad had to rush off to work.

This morning Mum, Dad and I all went out but it started to rain quite heavily and we had to cut across the school oval and head home. I got a bit wet and had to be dried off with a big fluffy yellow towel. Mum and Dad then insisted on taking photos of me - so embarrassing!

So hard to find things to do on rainy days, can't have long walks, can't go outside to play, and can't even enjoy a sniff around the backyard. Boring!!!

I have spent the past couple of days just lazing around, eating bones and sleeping. Oh and while Mum and Dad went out for lunch, I stayed in their bedroom and watched a bit of the rugby.

I got a little bit wet!

I'm not sure if this is the best way to eat a bone but it works!

Cola and I sleeping on the sofa. Cola thought Mum's jacket made a nice bed! Personally I prefer a stack of soft cushions!

A Good Place To Sleep!

Dad cleaned the house today while he was home from work on an RDO. I went into the bedroom to get away from the noisy vacuum cleaner, and found a really cool place to sleep. Dad wasn't too impressed when he came in and saw me in his pile of clean washing though!

Dental Hygiene

Mum and Dad tell me that dental hygiene is very important, and that I need to regularly use my chew toys and bones to keep my teeth and gums healthy. To help me they have bought me a range of chew toys most of which I don't play with. Dad keeps complaining about all the money he wastes, but I just think it gives me options - I might want to play with them someday!

I have lots of chew toys but this is one is fun. I really want to pull it apart and see what happens!

The best way to do this is to chew!

I like to chew the soft bit at the end!

Dad also buys me these great Kangaroo bones. Ultra yummy!

Soooooooo good!

But so messy!

Sometimes the cats get a bit upset when they see me with a kangaroo bone as they think it smells really good. A couple of days ago they tried to gang up on me and take it off me, but I had to growl at them to scare them away. Last night while I was watching TV I caught Solo licking my kangaroo bone so I had to move it to somewhere safer. I usually take them into Mum and Dad's bedroom (where most of the above pictures were taken) so that the cats can't get them.

Golden Retriever Update

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to give you an update on my previous post about the Golden Retriever. Dad tried to ring the Rangers yesterday but couldn't get through (on Sunday the Ranger said that they were having problems with their phone system) so he tried again today. The lady who answered the phone said that the Golden Retriever was collected by his family, so we are all so happy for him and glad that it ended well.

I'm not making much of a post tonight because Mum and I are watching a show on TV and I don't want to miss the ending!

A Lost Dog Tale

The Golden Retriever in the back of the Ranger's van. I've been in one of these and they aren't very nice.

Yesterday Mum, Dad and I went out for our nightly walk. While we were passing the local school we saw an old Golden Retriever walking very slowly (and limping) around the school on his own. Dad tried to get it to come to him, but he just kept walking away. As it was starting to rain, Mum and Dad decided to take me home and come back in their car to see if they could catch him.

Mum and Dad drove around for a while and couldn't see him, so eventually they headed home. Funnily enough the Golden Retriever had made his way up to near Mum and Dad's house, so as they came home they saw him. Mum managed to get him in the car, but once they got home he refused to get out of the car again.

Eventually with a bit of lifting and pushing Mum and Dad got him into the back yard and tried to dry him off as he was very wet. I saw him through the glass door and we wagged tails at each other and he also wagged his tail at the cats.

However it began to rain very hard and he was getting wet even stood under the patio. He was also having trouble standing on his front leg. Mum and Dad decided to bring him into the house, and put him in one of the spare bedrooms.

After Dad used three bath towels to dry him off, the Golden Retriever lay down and fell asleep. He seemed to have a sore front paw, and was very very sad. Dad tried to offer him dinner but he wasn't really hungry.

This morning Dad drove around to see if anyone had put up any posters for a lost dog but they hadn't. Eventually Dad called the Ranger who came to get him. The Golden Retriever was still lying in exactly the same place in the bedroom as he had been the night before. He couldn't even stand when the ranger came to get him, and had to be helped to his feet.

The Ranger said that someone had reported a Golden Retriever missing on Friday and everyone was hoping that this was his family. The Ranger tried to call them but they weren't home so he left a message, and took the Golden Retriever and left.

Mum and Dad were very sad said that if his family couldn't be found that they would try to find a home for him. I asked Dad if we could keep him, but he said no, but he said one of the rescue centres might be able to help. We all just wanted him to go back to his home though.

Anyway, just before I started to write this, Dad checked on the pound website and the Golden Retriever's picture had been taken down, so we are all hoping that he has gone home. Dad is going to call the pound tomorrow to check!

There is just one thing that Mum and Dad have asked me to mention. Will everybody please put a name tag with a contact phone number on their dog? Although the Golden Retriever was wearing a collar he didn't have either a name tag or registration tag. It would have been so much easier to get him back to his family if he had these two tags. A name tag can be ordered from the vet or pet shop and only cost around $20. I have a blue one in the shape of a bone and it is very cool. So please, get a tag for your family pet too!

A serious post - rescue pets

Although living with Mum and Dad and the pussycats is lots of fun, I wanted to take a moment to talk about something that is very close to my heart - animal rescue.

Not all pets have such luxury. An old photo from when Mum and Dad first moved into their new home (notice the lack of furniture!). L to R Solo, Soda, Topsy (on sofa), Cola (on bed), Pepsi (on top of sofa).

When my previous owners didn't want me anymore was handed in at a local vet surgery, who sent me on to the local dog pound. Dad came to the dog pound and saw me and told the ranger he wanted me. However due to a paperwork mix-up I was sent to live at the K9 Dog Rescue centre rather than with Mum and Dad. Thankfully Dad came and got me out of the rescue centre and brought me home.

I wasn't the first rescue pet that Mum and Dad had adopted. Topsy, the dog that lived here before me, was picked up by Mum and Dad at a local shopping centre, and ended up at the APS rescue centre. Topsy had already been re-homed by the rescue centre once before after being rescued from the pound. Although they returned her to her owners, the owners had mistreated her and after a report to the RSPCA, the owners gave her back to the rescue centre. The lady at the APS rang Mum and Dad and asked her if they wanted her. The rest is history.

Cola was also a rescue pet, coming from the APS as a 12 week old. Though you'd never know it now, Cola was once a scrawny little rescue kitten. He's hidden all the photos of him as a kitten, so I'll have to try to find them!

Dad caught Solo who was living in the bins at the back of a McDonalds store. Dad thought Solo was just a lost kitten, but Solo was actually feral and hissed and snarled a lot at him. When Dad brought Solo home, Cola remembered how sad it was to be a scared and abandoned kitten and adopted Solo and raised him to be the lovely domesticated cat he is now.

Dad also rescued another two cats that don't live with us. Dad found Melissa as a kitten living near a shopping centre. He took her to live at the APS and Mum and Dad sponsored her for a few years until she sadly passed away. Mum and Dad would have loved to have given Melissa a home but they already had four cats.

Melissa the Cat at the APS (R.I.P.)

While Dad was working one day he visited a vacant house and there was a skinny cat there meowing loudly. The owner of the house told him that the person who owned the cat had left three weeks before and not taken the cat with them. Dad gave the cat some food (he was very very hungry) and brought him home. Once again, Mum and Dad couldn't keep him, but some friends of theirs had recently put their sick little cat to sleep and so he went to live with them. They named him Jellicoe and according to Mum and Dad he has put on heaps of weight and looks a lot healthier now.

Jellicoe the day Dad rescued him. He stayed in our bathroom for a couple of days and ate lots of food!

Anyway, if you would like to support either the APS or K9 Dog Rescue, they would appreciate your help, or perhaps you could give a home to a dog or cat that has fallen on hard times. I am sure they will repay you with love and loyalty for many years!


http://www.animalprotectionsociety.westnet.com.au/

http://www.k9dogrescue.com/

Some of the cats at the APS

Cat run at the APS

I wanna be a pussycat!

I've seen the cats sitting on the top of the chairs and jumping from the top of the chair to the ground. It looks easy, it looks like fun, so why is everyone so concerned when I do it? Dad keeps shaking his head and muttering about vet bills and broken legs, but hey, I just wanna be a pussycat! Meowoof!

Cola sits on the chair and no-one cares...

Soda and Pepsi sit on chairs and no-one cares (although Soda does look a bit silly)

Yet if I sit on the arm of the chair, Mum worries I might fall off!

Hey Cola, I bet you can't see me!

Oh ok, you can see me...

Oh come on Cola it isn't any fun if you don't play along.

Dad would like to apologise for the quality of the photographs, but they were taken in very poor light!

"Fetch"

Dad has been trying to teach me the basics of a game he likes to play called "Fetch". Personally I think it sounds like a lot of hard work for very little reward. Dad throws a ball and I am supposed to chase it and return it to him so that he can throw it again. I have no idea why he enjoys this and the rules of the game seem pretty strange. I don't really get it...

Ok, so I get this bit, you throw the ball...

and I run after it for you...

but once I've caught it...

then what?

I'm bored with this game...

I think I'll go to talk to the dog next door.

Night-time Cuddles

The weather is now getting colder and I have started to look for a warm place to sit and watch the TV at night.

The warmest place in the house appears to be Mum's lap, but that was already taken by "Head Cat" Cola. It took a bit of negotiating, but finally we have agreed to share Mum's lap and even allow our paws and bodies to actually touch!

Mum has this big blue fleecy dressing-gown that is really warm and good to snuggle into. I just fall asleep as soon as I climb on her lap, I just can't help it! I have to say though, that when I look at these pictures it seems like I'm not actually getting to sit on Mum's lap. I'm more stuck down the side of the chair!

Mum says that it is really hard to get up out of the chair, and sometimes Dad has to pass her things off the table like cups of tea because she can't move!

A day out in the cat run

Hello! It's me, Bailey! I'm back again.

Mum and Dad have been renovating the cat run after Topsy died because it was well overdue for a tidy-up but Topsy had been using it as a toilet during the day when Mum and Dad were at work.

So, for the past few weeks that I have lived here we haven't been able to use the grassed area (although we can still use the paved area for sunbaking).

Dad was home on Friday and decided to cut the grass in the cat run (he has planted some new grass seed). He let Pepsi, Soda, Cola and myself go out there to eat some grass. Solo was hiding in his little red cat house, something he does very well - see picture below.

Solo, hiding as usual

The four of us had lots of fun as you can see from the pictures below.

The first picture is an old one from when the cat run was first built. There are a lot more kennels, beds and even a hammock in there now, but this was the only photo that Dad had of the entire cat run. You can see Cola sitting on the window ledge watching Pepsi and Soda at the very end of the cat run.

Old picture but shows the full length of the cat run

Four of us enjoying the yummy grass.

Mmm...this is just sooooooo good...

I enjoyed some bonding time with Cola

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to It's A Furry Life. My name is Bailey a three year old Maltese X, and I live in the suburbs with Mum and Dad and four cats. I have lived here for only a short time, actually about a month. Dad found me at the Dog Pound, and took pity on me and now here I am.

Before I came along, Mum and Dad had another dog called Topsy who got sick and went to doggy heaven. She had lived with Mum and Dad for 4 years although she was 13 years old. Mum and Dad seem very sad about losing her, but now they have me to brighten up their lives.

The last picture taken of Topsy, just a few days before she died (and before anyone knew she was sick)

Well I suppose I should introduce you to the rest of my furry "friends". Let me just say this though, it has been a difficult month trying to fit in with these guys. I seem to get hissed at a bit and even whacked in the nose a couple of times. Seems the cats don't want a replacement for Topsy. However with my charm and friendly nature I'm sure it will work out sooner or later.

Taken the same day as the photo above. Not a great photo, taken by Dad's mobile phone, but shows just how well Topsy and Cola got along.

Our chief is Cola a Russian Blue who is 9½ who rules with an iron paw. In this he is ably assisted by his girlfriend Soda, a generously proportioned tabby also aged 9½.

Now Soda has been pretty nice to me I must admit, but Cola still doesn't know what to make of me. I chase him around lots trying to tell him that I am very friendly and just want to play, but he's not too impressed.

Soda's twin sister Pepsi also lives here, and does not like me at all. Actually Pepsi really doesn't like anyone other than Dad. She says (between hisses) that she just wants to run away with Dad and live on a deserted island where she can cuddle him all day.

L to R: Soda, Pepsi & Cola

Also living here is Solo (known as "The Kitten"), a 6 year old who came to live with Mum and Dad as a feral kitten rescued from the bins at the back of McDonalds. Solo was quite close to Topsy so he really didn't like me very much when I turned up. He attacked me when I first moved in and I screamed lots and lots until Mum came and cuddled me. He is still a bit unsure, but he's not tried to kill me recently.

Solo

Oh yes, and I guess I should post a picture of me too.

Bailey (testing out the cat's bed)

Anyway, I'll be keeping you updated regularly about our lives and let you know what we have been up to. Hopefully everything will work out for me in my new home!

Love

Bailey :-)