More favorite pics! No one took me up on this yesterday, but I think we need to suggest captions for some of these!
🎄
Is the dogs and cats a hard rule? I have the most adorable picture of my pet rabbit. Basil was curious about our christmas tree and was exploring. (chbnna)
🎄
🎄
It’s a joy to see the beloved friends, especially at this time of year. Our dear Boots is attached. She passed away in January, so it would be so nice to share her sweetness with the crew. (daize)
🎄
This is Snickers who we got at 8 months and was instantly my husband’s soul mate. He lived a charmed life until age 13. One of the best photos I’ve ever taken. (MrsCoach B)
🎄
This is Fuzzy who came to us about 9 months ago. He met a sad ending last week, but was a total sweetheart and chill kitty cat. (MrsCoach B)
🎄
Pearl looking her usual gorgeous self with her green space-laser eyes. (Mike in Oly)
🎄
My first kitty, Tuck, posing majestically in the garden. (Mike in Oly)
🎄
Oliver, our beloved departed chonk, being his usual silly self. (Mike in Oly)
🎄
Miss Gracie in the sunshine. She was quite the character. I miss her so much. (Mike in Oly)
🎄
Orville and Wilbur. RIP (Jenny H)
🎄
🎄
Bailey (the Aussie) and Rocco (the tough guy city cat) plot their escapes. (Jackmac)
🎄
This is Rocco, a fox terrier we had from 2009-2018. He had several homes before us. He was rescued by Animal Control and he was so skinny they thought he was a Chihuahua. He was adopted but then his family lost their home in the 2008 housing crash so they surrendered him back to the rescue group. We met him at a pet store when his foster mom had taken him for an outing. He was the friendliest dog we ever had. He loved EVERYBODY. He was also a good older brother to our Sonia (2009-2019) who was twice Rocco’s size but very, very timid. (Cliosfanboy)
🎄
Here’s a pet pic of my long late dog, a coyote/chow mix named Wiley. My screen name is a tribute to him. He’s about 9 or ten weeks old. Pic taken in late ’87, this is a scan of the original photo. Hope you can use it! (Wileybud)
🎄
Bigo, enjoying a sunny spot. (Virginia)
🎄
Here’s a couple of Tigger Too, the rescue cat who loves everybody. (oklahoma)
🎄
🎄 End of Day 6 🎄
WaterGirl
I have several crushes in this batch!
And hey, we have crossed into Tuesday territory with one picture from Tuesday! So more Tuesday submissions are coming up tomorrow.
Ken
Caption for Bigo: “Yes, right in the middle of the floor, you got a problem with that?”
BTW did my On The Road submission (Morton Arboretum) go through?
Miss Bianca
Whee! This is such a nice feature, WG, thank you!
WaterGirl
@Ken: Yes! I have your Morton Arboretum OTR scheduled for Christmas morning. So we had one today and will have one tomorrow in honor of the holidays.
WaterGirl
I texted Cole the photo of Oliver since John plans to get a similar hat as soon as he’s feeling better.
dexwood
Great group of pictures. Basil under the tree put a big smile on my face. Beautiful picture of Snickers. Merry Christmas everyone.
Ken
@WaterGirl: Thanks!
Now if I can just figure out what “butter, at room temperature” means under these conditions, I’ll be able to finish my Christmas preparations.
zhena gogolia
Beautiful! That picture of Boots is heavenly.
Scout211
Wonderful fur babies, all.
The pic of Bailey and Rocco is, wow. I thought at first it was a painting.
Bailey is one expressive pup.
eclare
@zhena gogolia: Agree.
eclare
The photos of Basil are adorable!
As are all the critters, so happy to see them.
jackmac
Love the pix of Basil the bunny! Tigger Too is a dead ringer for our late tabby, Minxie.
Thanks for including my guys (Bailey and Rocco) today and all the other great photos of dogs, cats and other creatures this week. What a treat!
Happy Holidays to all!
Another Scott
Thanks for the photos and the stories. :-)
FlightRadar24 is keeping an eye on Santa’s sleigh.
Cheers,
Scott.
MagdaInBlack
I do love these! Thank you all for sending to them Watergirl to post. And thank YOU, Watergirl ❤️
WaterGirl
@Ken: 70 degrees
Josie
Basil is so cute and Boots is lovely. Thanks, WaterGirl, for posting these.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: It is nice to see all these happy critters, isn’t it?
Ruff the dog
I missed the contribution instructions,
Ken
@Another Scott: Isn’t that an assassination risk?
(Reminder to self: Re-read Hogfather tomorrow.)
Another Scott
One for the birders… Science.org:
Neato.
Cheers,
Scott.
MomSense
These photos are so sweet. Just watched a wonderful short film by Vermont Public Tv called The Mountain Dogs. I guarantee you will all love it.
WaterGirl
@Ruff the dog: Send your pics to me by email. my nym at balloon-juice.com
edit: less cryptic instruction are in the white menu bar – contact us.
edited to add the M in .com
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: “back ends of small birds” that’s like the bat signal for Albatrossity. :-)
stinger
What fantastic pictures of beloved critters! Condolences on those who are gone. Thanks, everyone.
MazeDancer
Perfect babies are perfect.
Jager
@WaterGirl: I have a picture of Anze the Dog with my wife on the day we adopted him…they are both so happy the picture vibrates.
I tried to send it to you but got a notice of being unable to deliver.
Mel
Thank you, WaterGirl, for this. Seeing all of these beautiful furbabies and hearing some of their stories has been a lovely bright spot each day.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: [ You’re missing the “m” in “.com” there. ]
Thanks for all you do.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Jager: Maybe you got the hyphen wrong or too many Os or Ls in balloon-juice?
I SENT email to the address you use for BJ, and you can try replying to that.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: That could be a problem! :-)
WaterGirl
Rocco is rocking that sweater.
Anotherlurker
Water Girl rocks! Thanks so much for the pictures of these wonderful fur babies.
Even during my darkest holiday moods, you and your pet posts drag me back to smiles and treasured memories.
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: I love them all, but I am particularly charmed (this round) with the bunny under the tree. Of course, now I want a bunny.
indycat32
Pearl is so regal. I’m sure she’s thinking bring me food, peasant.
eclare
@MagdaInBlack: I think we all want a bunny now!
mrmoshpotato
Oh, plotting their escape. Also, looking at some jackass acting a fool.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: @eclare: Basil is hard to resist.
WaterGirl
I just realized we have two different pets named Rocco in this post. What are the odds?
Jess
I love them all, especially the bunbun! Anybody have a ferret to share? Cody made friends with the ferret at the local pet shop, and now I want one. Would name it Twizel (after the town in New Zealand).
Wileybud, if you’re around, I would love to hear more about your coy-dog. How was he different from other dogs? Any interesting quirks? As I mentioned in Favorites Part 4, Cody is an indigenous landrace dog, the original primitive dog, and a lot of his behaviors remind me of coyotes. I’m curious about the other primitive dogs out there.
Wileybud
@Jess: Hi Jess, Wiley was a coyote/chow mix, at least that’s what I was told when I got him. He had coyote skittishness and liked to howl along with them (I’m in Tucson). When someone came to the door he would hide under the table and bravely bark.
Kept him on a dried dog food diet with a can mixed in every Sunday. He would go frantically crazy while I was preparing it. When ready I would tell him to “say grace” to which he would enthusiastically go “WOOF!” Then not go for it until I told him “OK”.
As the picture shows a pup is not happy until he has his Budweiser and his sock.
@Jess:
Joy in FL
I love seeing these photos of such dear and dearly loved animals. Thanks to everyone who shared : )
raven
I posted this in the last thread but it didn’t get any traction so. . .
“It’s 12 here and I just got through searching for an old pup that wandered out my neighbor’s dog door sometime during the night. She is a really old pitty mix named “Cookie” and I was pretty pessimistic about her. I came home to warm up for a minute and they posted on FB that they found her in the kudzu field behind out house!!!! Yay for Cookie!”
FelonyGovt
I have loved seeing all these photos and sharing my own. WaterGirl, you are a treasure ❤️❤️❤️
WaterGirl
@raven: Practically a Christmas miracle that she was found safe and sound.
zhena gogolia
@raven: Happy ending!
Jude
This series and people’s comments have made it abundantly clear that I’m never going to stop missing my sweet India. He was the best cat who died at an old age almost 6 years ago. Three more cats since can’t take up that space.
jackmac
@Ken: Hogfather is a fun read (like anything by Pratchett) and the movie is available on Amazon Prime. Michelle Dockery played a great Susan before going on to bigger things like Downton Abbey.
ChristmasPinko
The longhaired cats in this post are looking especially regal!
raven
@WaterGirl: It really is, it was brutal and she’s really old, deaf and can hardly walk. It’s downhill from their house to ours so that may explain it! Here’s cookie recovering!
Manyakitty
Thanks so much for this! Can’t wait to see my jokers!
Elizabelle
@raven: Cookie gets all the blankets.
Stay home, Cookie.
rikyrah
Mrs. Claus with her pre-Christmas Eve preparations😂😂😂
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTRqCRKh7/
WaterGirl
@raven:
Cookie gets all the blankets, indeed!
joel hanes
Merry Christmas to all the jackals that celebrate the Christian or secular holiday.
My very best wishes to those of other traditions, or no tradition.
And may 2023 be a better year for all of us.
CatRadio
This has been great fun, WaterGirl, and a wonderful antidote to years of grim news.
Every photo and every story shared brings a moment of shared remembrance.
How was I to know I needed a bunny under a Christmas tree? :)
Yay.
WaterGirl
@CatRadio: And there are at least 4 more days of photos to go!
We may yet end up with the
12 Days of Christmas12 Days of Favorite Dogs & Cats (& Bunnies!) !Redshift
@eclare:
That is the correct response. :-) I just sent more bunny action for future days of pics.
raven
@WaterGirl: These folks were on the early morning trek to the school where they would pet Artie. The young lady moved on to middle school this year and I never get to see them. I had never met Cookie but was happy to help try to find her. I had just told the young lady to be careful of the cold and she found the pup just a minute later. Good thing she’s a tough Cookie!
Redshift
@joel hanes: Hear, hear!
I wasn’t around for the Jewish Christmas thread earlier, but wanted to mention that my family tradition was entirely non-religious, and we celebrated what I like to call the secular American holidays – the quarter days (in proper pagan tradition) of Easter, the 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas, plus Thanksgiving.
SpaceUnit
Apropos of nothing, I’ve always wanted to set up an outdoor Christmas nativity scene in which Baby Jesus’ head rotates 360 degrees and shoots lasers from his eyes while The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy blasts from a speaker. My HOA would shit itself.
mrmoshpotato
@SpaceUnit: I hope it’s a heavy metal version with a headbanging Baby Jesus.
eclare
@raven: Sweet Christmas news!
eclare
@raven: Awwww! Poor girl!
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: Hilarious!
eclare
@rikyrah: Hahaha…
SpaceUnit
@mrmoshpotato:
I think I’d have all the manger critters do the headbanging.
eclare
@Redshift: Yay!
Mike in Oly
@indycat32: Miss Pearl is SUCH a princess. She demands I sit next to her multiple times a day while she eats her kibble and pet her. She is quite insistent that this is the only acceptable time and place for petting.
Oliver was the BEST cat. He was just such a loverboy and has so much personality. Those Bombay types are always wonderful. This photo is bittersweet for me as we lost him the night I took it.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly:
I see that Pearl won the battle of wills.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: Oliver is one of my crushes in this group. Love that photo, and I can see how it can fill you with love and break your heart at the same time. :: tears for Oliver ::
Josie
@SpaceUnit:
Sounds like fun. I’m in favor of anything that would appall an HOA.
SpaceUnit
@Josie:
Amen to that.
WaterGirl
@Josie: I had a similar reaction!
J R in WV
These photos fill me with emotions of all kinds. Thanks, everyone, for sharing all the love these critters have to share. Bunny is esp wonderful surprise!
rikyrah
All of the pictures are too cute :)
CliosFanBoy
@WaterGirl: my wife knit it. :) Rocco was terrified of thunderstorms. So when we had one come through I’d take him into our basement and he’d sleep curled up next to me under a light blanket.
WaterGirl
@CliosFanBoy: Nice.
NotoriousJRT
Another round of lovely pet pictures and tributes. This is a fine community. Thanks again, WG!
Jess
@Wileybud: Thanks! Cody is also skittish/cautious, and must check out every new thing. But once he’s figured it out, he’s fine with it. He’s incredibly alert, always taking notes and mapping out his world. Has the best sense of navigation I’ve ever seen in a dog. Quiet and still most of the time, but with very quick reflexes. He’s extremely intense about whatever he does. I’ve seen videos of tame coyotes and foxes, and they have very similar ways of moving and being.
Wileybud
@Jess: Cody sounds like a great pup! After Wiley was gone I was on the road too much to get another one. Until October 2021 when I got a seven week old Rottweiler pup. He’s sixteen months old, his name is Rascal which he lives up to. He’s in last year’s calendar sitting inside a mail bin. And in this year’s Calendar A in September. Can’t miss him with his tongue is hanging out.
daize
Oh my gosh, Basil bunny! And Snickers! And all of the lovely friends!
Thank you, WaterGirl for these lovely posts. And for including our dearest Boots in this list. Listening to The Night Before and wishing for the best for all in the coming year.
Jess
@Wileybud: Aww! I’ll check it out!