When Suki met Rusty

Despite adopting Suki the Staffie almost a year and a half ago it was only recently she became acquainted with Rusty the Cat.  (FYI, Rusty lives with my parents - or in Rusty's opinion my parents live with her!) Suki has been to my Parents house and stayed over on a number of occasions and although she can smell Rusty and knows she is there they have never actually met face to face, this is because we were told that Suki isn't a big fan of cats (and has a scar on her nose to prove it) so kept them separate.

All that changed during our visit home for Mother's Day weekend, an oversight on my part meant Suki casually trotted into the kitchen to check whether any of Rusty's food (or poop) was hanging around.  It wasn't just those items she happened upon, but little Rusty herself.  The rest is a blur of shouting (me), screaming (me), barking (Suki), hissing (Rusty) flying fur (both) and crashing cups of cold tea flooding the floor.  Suki was on top of Rusty and then Rusty was on top of Suki (it was like they were in a cloud of dust, just like in the cartoons I used to watch as a child) and I just remember dragging Suki out of the kitchen, somewhere quiet where I could inspect her scars and calm her down.

I must confess that I was more worried about Rusty, a small, delicate and thin but fluffy cat, rather than our well padded Staffie, however I seriously underestimated her.  When the dust settled and the tea was mopped up, I went up to check on how Rusty was.  Completely fine as it happens!  She was spitting and hissing whilst staring at the door seemingly wishing for round two.  In contrast, Suki was trembling with a sad and sheepish look on her face and a scratched tummy.  


The next day my Dad, who was first on the scene of the fight, remarked that it was in fact small, delicate and thin but fluffy Rusty that had spotted Suki ambling into the kitchen and started the whole thing!  

I think they are both sorry for how their first meeting ended and to make amends Suki is posting some yummy treats for Rusty to enjoy and says she is sorry for trying to steal her dinner (and poop).  Rusty has decided to sent Suki some of her favourite treats and wishes to apologise for overreacting and resorting to violence.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Happy Valentines Day: Have a Heart for Animals

Me and Suki.

Love is definitely in the air.  Tonight we are cooking a (hopefully) delicious vegetarian meal and curling up with Suki.  Are you celebrating Valentine's Day?

If you are planning on celebrating with chocolates please make sure you keep them well away from your pets.  One thing that isn't forbidden is plenty of loving cuddles, although I know Rusty would prefer a nice gentle brush of her fur rather than a big squeeze and for Suki the bigger and longer the cuddle, the better (especially if it's from her Daddy!)

Me and Rusty.

BUAV is reminding us to have a heart for animals this Valentines day (and always) by treating loved ones to gifts that are not tested on animals.  They even have a special offer!  Bulldog Natural Skin care is offering all BUAV supporters 30% off, for more info and BUAV's latest news check this out.

Happy Valentines Day to you all with Lots of Love from me and my girls xoxox

Fluffy Friday #41

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely festive season and wish you warm wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012. To celebrate the first Fluffy Friday of the new year, I want to share with you a few of my animal moments this Christmas.

Happy Friday!

Our Day at Discover Dogs

I was lucky enough and absolutely thrilled to win tickets for this years Discover Dogs event at Earl’s Court in London.  This time last week, myself and my dog loving other half had an absolutely fantastic day, spent an awful lot of money and learnt an awful lot about dogs.

The aim of the Discover Dogs event is just that, discovering.  We discovered dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds.  It is an ideal event for anybody considering adopting a canine friend with lots of dogs to meet and many experts to chat to and learn from.

The most exciting part of the day was when we slowly worked our way round each section of dog breeds - Toy, Terrier & Hounds and finally Working and Pastoral dogs.  Each group housed many different dog breeds and was chock-a-block with information on the breed itself including health, behaviour and more, I obtained as much information as I could carry to take home and peruse.  I will to share this information with you in the new year in a series about dog breeds – although I must admit, my motives for this are slightly self-seeking as I am desperate to know more about each breed of dog, especially in a behavioural sense which I find fascinating. 

I wanted to stop and spend time with every single dog at the event but there simply weren’t enough hours in the day!  Here are a few images of some of the dogs I was lucky enough to meet, courtesy of my other half's camera and the Discover Dogs Facebook Page.

{For these and more photos check out our Facebook Page here}

Throughout the day there were frequent seminars run by all sorts of canine experts, we hand picked a few to attend so as to leave ourselves enough time to meet the dogs and shop for Suki.  One seminar that was of particular interest to us was the seminar on Puppy Farming given by famous vet Marc Abraham, he has personally investigated this issue both in the UK and in the US and has actively been campaigning for this cause for several years with his Pup Aid campaign.  I will post more information about Marc’s seminar and Pup Aid campaign in the next few days so keep checking back.

As the day drew to a close we rushed to grab some bargains for Suki (we couldn’t go home empty handed) and without giving anything away let’s just say that Santa is definitely paying Suki a visit this year.  I even picked up a lovely gift for Rusty at the Mayhew Animal Home stand, it looks so much fun that I had to prize it out of the hands of my other half!

Some (of the many) highlights of the day:

Meeting Ripley from the Pedigree Adoption Drive and having a quick cuddle.

Being smothered in love by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier that was as full of energy as Suki, I only wish we could have taken him home to meet her.

Having a nice cuddle with a beautiful little fellow (as pictured above) and a chat with his friendly owner.

Suki’s face when we presented her with a special doggie brownie from a doggie bakery at the event (No chocolate allowed! Dog friendly ingredients only)

Roll on next year…

Update on... RUSTY!

A few of you have said you miss hearing my personal stories about Suki and Rusty and there is an awful lot of catching up for you all to do.  I am going to try and start running Suki's Serene Sunday again as soon as I can lay my hands on a new camera (unfortunately I lost my camera over the summer).  As Suki has her own feature on The Animal News I would like Rusty to have a regular feature as well but so far I can only think of Rusty's Rules or Rusty's Recipes and Rusty neither follows rules or recipes!  If you think of anything please let me know by commenting in the box below, posting on the Facebook page or sending me a Tweet.

This week I will start by giving you an update on Rusty as it has been a long while since I last posted about the little rascal.  Things for Rusty have been mostly good over the summer, long days of sun bathing followed by evenings snuggled up on the bed.  Now myself and my Sister have moved out of home she can take her pick of beds.  Last time I was home for the weekend she glared accusingly at me as she wanted to sleep in my bed but I was in there, instead she lay on the window sill shooting exasperated glances in my direction.  

I say things have been mostly good because she has had a few bad experiences over the past few months, as well as having conjunctivitis and a bug that made her very sick and involved a trip to the vets she was left at a cattery for a week whilst we went on a family holiday.  It was even more upsetting for poor Rusty as we took Suki with us, I can imagine she was seething!  When she came home from the cattery she seemed to be quite spooked by the whole experience, she hid under my sister’s bed for a time before wolfing down as much food as she could manage.  We noticed that all her fur was quite matted and it took her a few days to acclimatize to being home.  It’s not that I think she was badly looked after but I think she could have been distressed by the whole experience.  Last time she stayed at a cattery she was with her sister Dusty and together they had a whale of a time together and barely noticed we’d gone.  

I’m told she is doing very well now and has settled back into her routine of leaving the house at the crack of dawn, spending the day chasing leaves and sleeping all night.

Fluffy Friday #23

I miss Rusty. 

Entangled in blossom.

Sun baby.

Rusty is an unusual cat who actually enjoys having her tummy rubbed.

 Images courtesy of my little sister.

Hello Suki!

Despite my vow to keep up with the blog as much as I can I'm afraid I haven't done very well at all, I have made quite a big change in the last month and moved out of home and in with my boyfriend, I have a new home and new job. Ten days after we moved into our flat we added something new to the mix... A dog! She is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and her name is Suki. Isn't she adorable?


We wanted a Staffie in particular because so many of them are being dumped and regrettably having to be euthanised as people aren't rehoming them due to the negative press they have received. We know little about Suki's history, just that she was used for breeding, dumped at the pound and luckily rescued by a charity called Knine and Kitty Rescue. It was technically Suki that found us as Julia from Knine (Suki's foster Mum) saw my boyfriends advert offering to rehome a Staffie and she felt drawn to telephone him.

We went to meet Julia and Suki and immeditaely fell in love with the black and white bundle of fun with her soulful brown eyes and forever wagging tail. We took her home with us for a weeks trail (mainly for her benefit) to see how we all got along. Despite a few flatulance issues and training Suki to not cry when we went to bed we all got along like a house on fire and within a few days had decided we could give her the life she deserved. A few weeks ago we took her to say goodbye to her Foster Mum (we will be keeping in touch) and Suki is now a permenant part of the family and a real character!

We have learnt so much in the past few weeks about Suki and dogs in general. It has been a few years since my beloved Lucky passed away but Suki reminds me of her in so many ways, that adoring look in her eyes, her soft fur, the doggie smell, pink tummy and wagging tail. Like Lucky, Suki wants to cuddle ALL THE TIME and we are happy to oblige. A few days after we took her home we realised Suki was in heat and although initially didn't have a clue what that meant we now know a lot more about it and although Suki won't be experiencing that again as she is being spayed it was an experience for all of us (it even involved doggie pants!)

I'll be updating you regulary on Suki and Rusty (who I miss terribly) and I have some interesting articles planned for The Animal News so hope to see you here later on.

Fluffy Friday #6

It's about time the lovely Rusty featured on Fluffy Friday. I have taken lots of photos of her performing cat yoga in the sunshine so thought I would share them with you :)

Phew!

It's been two years.

This time two years ago Dusty and Rusty were introduced into my world. On May Day Bank Holiday 2008, Mum and Dad came home wielding a box containing two wriggly, curious and absolutely beautiful kittens. I have never owned a cat before so this past two years has been a real learning curve for the whole family, and we are still learning.
Two became one on the 21st January this year when our beloved Dusty was mysteriously found dead. She had been out of the house about an hour that morning and had run into some trouble, we will never know how she met her untimely end and that is probably for the best. After three months still feel a sense of shock and deep loss. I worry an awful lot about Rusty as she seems lonely, she wanders around the house meowing and for the first few weeks after we lost Dusty she would sit in the kitchen at night staring out of the window (we used this window to let the cats in and out) as if waiting for Dusty to come back.
Dusty always used to be very clingy and liked to know where we were at all times, she seemed to prefer being indoors to outside, Rusty was the opposite and although she still loves the great outdoors she has become more clingy. I have done some research on pet bereavement and found a few interesting organisations and also this very good article by Sarah Hartwell about cats mourning the loss of others.

Animal Samaritans
Association of Pet Loss and Bereavement

In Animal News this week...

Dancing polar bears?

A collection of 40 pictures selected as the greatest nature photographs of all time were put on sale in New York for yesterday’s Earth Day. Pictures include dancing polar bears, giant tortoises, and several under water images. Money raised from the auction will be donated to four conservation organisations.

Source

Brave Robin Red Breast

On Wednesday evening I unfortunately discovered a little robin lying dead in the grass. It looked like he had died of shock as there wasn’t a mark on him, poor thing. My first thought was to blame Rusty but there was a cheeky black cat hanging around so my suspicion has fallen on him. I happened upon a story in the newspaper about a bold little robin who has forged a close bond with a little girl and thought it was a nice story to share with you. It seems that the robin waits for the little girl named Lauren to come home from school each day and likes to take food from her hand. It is lovely to hear about this little girl loving animals and it certainly sounds like the feeling is mutual!

Source

Forget The Dog Whisperer, new Rabbit Whisperer on the Block!

A lot of people were amazed at the story about the “Rabbit Whisperer” who appears to hypnotise rabbits, putting them in a trance or relaxed state to enable them to receive veterinary treatment or to calm rabbits with behavioural problems. There is some debate over whether this experience is stressful for rabbits and one suggestion is that the rabbit relaxes their muscles but remains highly alert and in a stressed state.

Source

Planes for Pets?

One of my favourite stories this week… A new airline is set to launch in May but not your regular airline, it is the USA’s Pet Airway which will be flying pets from LA to the East Coast. Also on board the flight will be Pet Attendants who are the equivalent of air hostesses! Only pets are allowed to use this service but owners are able to monitor how their pets are doing. Sadly, in Britain, flights into the UK are forbidden from carrying pets in the main cabins (except guide dogs). However, in Spain it is possible for pets weighing no more than 17lbs to travel in a crate at the feet of their owners.

Source