It’s Day 10 of favorite dog and cat pics. And bunnies and horses! But today it’s mostly cats. I did not plan that; I published the pics in order of when the emails arrived. I wonder, did we have more dogs than cats, generally? The whole series is here: Favorite Dogs & Cats Series
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This is Tiny Cat and Tutu (plus the owl statue to keep the crazed robins from attacking the glass door) looking at a passing group of elk that often passed through the backyard at our prior home. (StringOnAStick)
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This is Jasmine, my lifelong soul kitty that I still miss to this day. (StringOnAStick)
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This is Joe, who we’ve had since he was a foster. He’s been featured in the pet calendar in the past. He’s probably about seven. His hobbies are zooming around, being petted and demanding treats from human servants. Right now he’s out of his usual room because it’s less insulated, and it got down below 50 degrees last night. (Redshift)
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Essie and Taz (both over the Rainbow Bridge) in 2004 in their favorite pose. (GBinChicago)
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Beauty Queen in her prime, now sadly passed away. (GBinChicago)
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TyTy in 2010. (GBinChicago)
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This is Leonard, lounging in the kitty bed. (Mel)
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This Leonard’s brother CoCo, who has the cutest bat ears, and Leonard and CoCo’s best friend Miss Pixie. She is an absolute sweetheart, a constant snuggler, and loves everyone she meets. We adopted the boys as kittens after we lost our beloved ebony kitty girl Jane three years ago. Despite still grieving and missing our girl Jane so much, Pixie jumped in to Auntie mode and made those little guys feel right at home. She has the softest fur and the kindest heart! (Mel)
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This is Leonard and CoCo, snuggling together. They are such funny, sweet boys. (Mel)
Leonard has spots, stripes, tabby swirls, and agouti ticking – he’s the very definition of “extra”, and has the personality to match.
If Leonard were a person, he’d be the friend that does tequila shots, dances on the bar, and then streaks totally nude down a busy thoroughfare with police in pursuit for a dramatic end to the evening.
CoCo, on the other hand, is a dark horse. He’s calmer and seems sooo much better behaved than Leonard, but while Leonard is constantly getting stuck on top of cupboards, or leaping randomly in the air to catch an imaginary bug, or running into walls, or knocking over every item on every shelf, CoCo is behind the scenes, coolly opening the kitty treat drawer and stealing Temptations or pulling open the folding linen closet b/c he has seen warm towels coming out of the dryer and being put in the closet. He knows to use Leonard’s (many!!) moments of mischief as a cover for his secret activities.
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The next 6 are the current menagerie at my old home. Feeling a little sentimental tonight as they are with my soon-to-be ex and I haven’t seen them in a couple of months. All were rescues.
This is Tuiren, who passed away a few weeks ago. We rescued her from previous owners who knew she had heartworms but claimed to not have the money to have her treated. (Nukular Biscuits)
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This is Yin. Yin and Yang, like Scylla & Charybdis, came to us as babies and had to be bottle fed. (Nukular Biscuits)
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This is Yang. (Nukular Biscuits)
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Fenris was a rescue from the local shelter. He’s around Scylla’s age. (Nukular Biscuits)
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Chimera was found as an abandoned newborn on the cold ground on Christmas Day about 4 years ago. We didn’t think she’d make it, had to sleep with her tucked under my arm every night to keep her warm. To this day she hates cold weather. LOL! (Nukular Biscuits)
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Scylla, along with her sister, Charybdis (who is no longer with us), came as babies and had to be bottle fed. She’s getting up there in years. (Nukular Biscuits)
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This is Katie. “Beast after the Feast.” (eachother)
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This one is “gigi up!” (Something Fabulous)
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This one, of course, is “gigi DOWN.” (Something Fabulous)
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Here’s our son’s kitty, Pico de Gato, having a tiff with our pup, Cheddar. (Virginia)
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The Princess of Quite A Lot is a purebred Tonkinese sold as a pet because she’s cross-eyed, asthmatic, and has bad teeth. Her champion bloodlines show when she poses for photos. She’s as good as any cover model. (Carol V)
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Mr. Striper insisted he could quit the ‘nip anytime he wanted. Honest. (Carol V)
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Mr. Striper, sleeping with the fishes. (Carol V)
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Mr. Striper (in very recent memorium after a sudden illness), asking me to come to bed and remove the Princess of Quite A Lot from his spot. (Carol V)
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Here she is. Artie! (Raven)
🎄 End of Day 10. I hope you have all enjoyed the BJ dogs and cats and bunnies and horses. 🎄
WaterGirl
For some unknown reason, Ty Ty really grabbed my heart while I was putting this together.
Alison Rose
I have really loved seeing everyone’s pets! Thank you for putting these posts together, WG.
Mel
@WaterGirl: His face looks so sweet and gentle, and his coat is so lovely!
Mike E
The ears on those cats!
raven
I told Artie to quit messing with that doggie. Now she has a nicked nose!
indycat32
This series has been great. Love seeing all the beloved pets, past and present. Quick feral kitten update: number one is home from the spay/neuter clinic. He’s a boy!. Two and three are currently residing in the traps in my teeny, tiny bathroom. They go to the clinic tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen Houdini since he made his great escape on Monday. Except for that, all is well and I’m feeling much more relaxed. I will worry about Houdini later.
WaterGirl
@raven: Well, my cocker spaniel only figured out that the cat did not want to play after there was blood drawn.
scribbler
@indycat32: You’ve done such a good job! Thanks for taking such good care of these kitties. Houdini will come along in his/her own time.
raven
@WaterGirl: And sometimes it doesn’t stick!
WaterGirl
@raven: Well, if it doesn’t stick that means she’s stubborn, and I’m guessing that being stubborn helped save her life, so overall that’s a bonus trait.
NutmegAgain
Oh, boy–Nukular Biscuits, I am currently fostering a rescue who is going through the full heartworm treatment–part of why I’m his foster; I can keep him quiet and administer copious meds up to 5x a day. He’s a Newfoundland from a puppy mill (was a breeding dog). He came with both heartworm and the worst ear infection I’ve seen. Thankfully that’s now well on the mend. It really makes me … angry to encounter animals suffering from neglect of such easy stuff to prevent and/or fix. Well, and especially when some creep is making thousands of dollars off them.
Maybe if Water Girl decides to continue I will send over a picture or two of Gunter the giant grey Newfie (he’s very tall even for a Newf, and has movie star looks if I say so myself!)
WaterGirl
@NutmegAgain:
Not complaining, but these posts take a ton of time to put together, so we won’t be “continuing”, but if there’s interest I think we could do one weekend a month where we have these on Saturday and Sunday.
something fabulous
Aww, Gigi Marie (we all need a middle name for when we are in trouble) has her moment of internet fame! Extreme Pillbug in the “gigi down” position only seems to happen every one in a while– so glad I was able to capture it.
Thanks everyone for sharing your beasties with us! 💕 We can come by and look at the collected links any time we need cheering up– I know I will!
And thanks as always to WG for the idea of calling for these, and then putting them together. I think in reply to an earlier thread about doing them more often (late as always), monthly would be too much, but maybe a Pets of Midsummer? Sort of a Longest and Shortest Day celebration of our animal spirit companions?
EDIT! …and now I see WG is on the case while I was posting! I still think less-frequently would be less hassle and also make it more special to look forward to, if we are taking a vote :).
NutmegAgain
@WaterGirl: Thanks for all the effort! They’ve been wonderful posts, so all the work is much appreciated.
Kristine
@WaterGirl: Just checking to make sure you received my Gaby photos. I didn’t get any error messages, so I assume you did but thought I’d ask.
Whenever you have the time to post, the photos will be appreciated. They are cheering. Thanks for doing this.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: My WaterGirl email was down for the count from yesterday at 3:01 until about an hour ago.
Kristine
@WaterGirl: Okay–I’ll resend.
realbtl
@WaterGirl:
I can quite imagine the time this takes, thank you for it. I’d be happy with a Christmas/4th of July biannual.
Mel
@WaterGirl: Thank you for all the time and energy you invested in these posts. It is so appreciated. They have been a joy to see and read – so many beautiful critters and so much love surrounding them.
WaterGirl
@realbtl: @something fabulous: Good ideas!
WaterGirl
@realbtl: My Christmas / holiday gift to everyone on BJ. :-)
jackmac
Very enjoyable series WaterGirl. Please consider doing it again next year!
Happy New Year.
J R in WV
Great photos or great little critters. Thanx Watergirl for all the work to put these together, as well as all the other work you do to make Balloon Juice a best place on the innertubes!
My dogs have helped me a great deal over the past week as I recovered from a bladder procedure last week. Cuddle puppies, about 155 pounds between the two of them, Black and affectionate beside me in bed. So much love !! It makes me teary to think of how much help they were for me.
CaseyL
Oh such wonderful, photos of such fabulous animals! Thanks to all who shared their fur persons with us, and extra-special thanks to WaterGirl for the posts!
WaterGirl
Chimera looks like someone has screwed up and is about to get a talking to. And Jasmine is making me cry.
zhena gogolia
@raven: She’s gorgeous!
Great pets, all!
Joy in FL
This series has been so good for my heart and mind, and my eyes are very happy, too.
Thanks to everyone who contributed a photo, and to WaterGirl for getting the photos from our emails to these posts.
FelonyGovt
Thank you, WaterGirl, this has been such a sweet respite from… well, everything!
WaterGirl
Nukular Biscuits, which one is Yin and which one is Yang?
Nukular Biskits
@NutmegAgain:
Yeah, it’s EXPENSIVE to treat a dog who already has heartworms.
But we didn’t have the heart (no pun intended) to let Tuiren’s condition get worse.
She was a strange dog. She never played that much, which made me wonder what her former life was like.
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
The “mini-black panther” is Yin (female).
The dufus (LOL) is Yang (male).
You should also consider doing a series on pet nicknames (or did you already do that?).
Yin is a.k.a. “Yinny Bug”.
Yang is a.k.a. “Yang Yang da Very Stewpit Kitty”.
BTW, thanks!
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits: I updated the post up top. thank you
Wyatt Salamanca
WG,
Thx for all these great photos
OT
h/t https://gothamist.com/news/nassau-county-da-opens-investigation-into-rep-elect-george-santos
Poptartacus
Dogs rock Cats rule
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
Chimera can be a little … well, you know. Never aggressive or bitey but she’ll only accept pets on her terms, otherwise, FU.
You’d think the little shit would be more grateful. LOL.
prostratedragon
Thanks for the series. Always brings a smile.
NeenerNeener
Wow, no lie about Leonard’s coat being “extra”.
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits: She looks like she is double-dog daring you to disagree, and if you do, you will get what’s coming to you!
Assuming that’s not her only look, then I like it! :-)
Chat Noir
Beautiful cats and dogs and bunny! I love this series!
WaterGirl
@something fabulous: These are the best pictures of Gigi that I have ever seen. She is really beautiful.
My mom used to use extra names where we were in trouble: my sister was Kathleen Joan Elizabeth. (She even tossed the confirmation name in there.)
My mom’s names were Blossom Janet Therese Marie Condelos (and then our last name). But we never got to call her on the carpet, so a lot of good that did us!
Henry is named for the grandfather I never knew, so I do sometimes use his entire name. My dad got his love of dogs from his father, so I like to think that my grandfather would have been pleased.
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
LOL!
Too bad we can’t imbed videos here … I have a vid where she is decidedly loving … but on her terms.
Alison Rose
Oh man, Jamie Raskin just announced he has lymphoma :(
something fabulous
@WaterGirl: Yes, thanks I think so too. I often ask her what is her Beauty Secret. She never tells.
Your mom’s first name was Blossom?!? That IS fabulous!
I always love how you call him “my little Henry” like, 1) that is his full name, and 2) you have a bunch of other-sized-Henries also on deck, and we should be prepared :). He is too adorable.
CarolPW
@Alison Rose: I went to the Lombardi center – they are seriously good. The combination of who he is (not his position, his gumption) and what they are lead me to be hopefully optimistic.
schrodingers_cat
@CarolPW:
@Alison Rose:
Agreed Lombardi is good and their hematology oncology team is top-notch.
zhena gogolia
@Alison Rose: Oh, that’s terrible.
Van Buren
Katie is a real beauty.
Leslie
Thank you for all your hard work in putting these together! It’s been wonderful. An occasional reprise would be lovely.
WaterGirl
@something fabulous: That made me laugh!
eachother
WaterGirl
Thank you for the gifts of Love.
Thank you all for sharing your Loves with me. Fun and uplifting. Sometimes sad.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this series. Then not surprised how I looked forward to every installment.
eachother
@Van Buren:
Katie says thank you. You know the pink skin on a Border Collie’s snout? Your compliment made her’s a little pinker.
Michelle from Chicago
@WaterGirl: Hi — my name is Michelle, and my husband, Gary, and I were Ty Ty’s human parents. Ty was a very special, and absolutely wonderful, kitty. A friend of ours once said of him, “This cat is the embodiment of love.” And he wasn’t far wrong. When Ty went to heaven, it didn’t feel as if I had lost a pet; and felt as if I had lost a close friend. Rest in peace, my sweet boy.
MazeDancer
Do not want it to stop. Couldn”t we have Pet of the Week where people write a nice featurette about their critter?
Would prefer Pet of the Day, like OTR. But trying to be mindful of reality and WG’s time.
pieceofpeace
With all understandable due respect for your choices, WaterGirl, this series has been like a prize following the election and turbulent times of the past 2+ years. And something I’d like for the next 2 years. Every day brought assured positive feelings.
Today’s animals and the owner descriptions are so full of enthusiasm and love, the names of many were a challenge to pronounce and I’m curious about the names’ origins. Doesn’t everyone enjoy the naming-their-pet part?
Thanks to you and everyone who sent in submissions.
JML
Love this series. Props to Carol V for the Star Wars rug too…
cvannatta
@JML: Thanks for the compliment on the rug. I coveted it the moment I saw it at Ruggable, and was thrilled to find a place for it. Mr. Striper loved having a playground that had decent traction.
Kudos and appreciation to WaterGirl for doing this wonderful series of posts. WordPress+HTML can be a definite time suck.
— Carol V.