This is too funny!!! I was telnetting when I wrote that comment to Ree about her guinea pigs, and I thought about creating such a topic. When I got back to windows, there it was! *lol*

did i read your thought, perhaps? (or just the comment in rodents??? *laugh*)

With you, my dear wolfie, it is sometimes hard to differentiate! *lol*

well, much to the dismay of my children, their pet hamster, milton, passed away yesterday apparantly from old age. they've had him since he was 4 months old. it was kind of funny how they found out--he didn't move when they messed with his cage so they put the cage on the floor and took him out. of course, he still didn't move and my daughter comes running down the hall hollering for me to check milton. they were sad but got over it really quick. i think we had him for 2 years so he's actually lucky to live as long as he did!

Oh My! I don't know if I could handle an animal attachment which only lasted 2 years...David came totally unglued when his goldfish died and a dog ate his turtle (out for some sunshine - the dog thought it was snack time). Of course, he was very young (and 2 years is a very short life span!)

yeah, but this was a hamster! *grin* my husband said he was always losing his as a kid. the thing would get out of the cage and end up holed up in the wall and they'd just run out and get a new one. my son had some apprehension concerning the rat because he would bite. he was upset but i told him it wasn't his fault. milton had lived a long good life with us considering what could've happened. (like if we hadn't found him underneath the washing machine when tim left the lid to the cage off)!!

Oh heavens!!! I guess! It also helps that you have lots of pets around with Bert and the dogs... (Did they not begin to smell bad when they holed up in the walls? I know warehouse rats do!) Shhhh...don't mention that it was *just* a hamster...Ree is sensitive to these things, and we would not wish to offend her *grin* How long do Guinea Pigs live? Those I played with next door lived a long time - I do not recall their having died...!

I got to cuddle with a juvenile koala in Sydney many years ago (sounds like a statutory offense). It was an absolutely spiritual experience. He was curious, gentle, soft, furry, and smelled like a eucalyptus cough drop. His name was Gray, but I called him "Smitty" (Smith Brothers, furry and mentholated).

Wow, I never thought of that! Do koalas really smell like eucalyptus candy? Oh, and that's why babies and little kittens smell so nicely like milk, I love this!

Oh, the poor hamster! I once had a hamster called Charlie when I was 19. He was a sweety. One day, when I was 21, and 9 months pregnant with Isa, I picked him up out of his cage, and noticed he had suddenly gone tame! I ran to show Chris - that's when he fell over in my hand, and I noticed he was no longer a living Charlie. Then I cried so much a baby came out the next day. And 2 months later my bunny, Darradi, died too. That was even sadder, because she was like a dog - she didn't even have a cage she was potty trained, and followed me everywhere. Marcia, guinea pigs live about 5 years, but some live longer. I hope mine never die. They have even more personality than Charlie had.

Ah Ree, that explains the Darradi topic I found elsewhere. I am sorry about yout Charlie...how sad. It is gonna be bad when your immortal Guinea Pigs go - if they go - before you do. Ideally, our children and pets should bury us, but it does not always work out that way. I can't even imagine how a bunny manages to use a potty without falling in, but I imagine that is for another topic altogether.

She just sort of pushed her backside into a baby potty that I bought her, and that was it. At first when she made bitsies on the floor I'd scoop it into the potty, and that's how she learned. But she was a clever one too. I really don't thinks my guinea pigs will die though - they just don't seem the type.

I am sure those ones I played with and fed next door to us lived several years...perhaps many...I most assuredly would have remembered if they'd died when I was young and playing with them...and I do not recall anything of the sort! Vive les Guinea Pigs!

It is good you chose a female...if you had a male, he would have left the seat up and hit all around the potty rather than into it...*grin*

*lol* bunnies can be trained to use a litter box too.

I have heard of litter boxes for them but never potties. They do not do "liquid" waste? Just Rabbit "pellets"?

i imagine they do liquid. most rodents do (i know, they're cuddly).

I know they are cuddly - there are even angora ones...and the tiny bunnies are so soft you can hardly feel the fur with your fingers - you must put them next to your cheek. I am sure they do liquid...it was not metioned in Ree's potty story and I was curious how that fared as to actually getting inside the container...but it is not something I really NEED to know to live...I am just too curious *grin*

My bunny peed like a hose! No aiming problems - it worked just like with us girls. It never occured to me to get a litter box! I had this potty from my baby days that my grandma wanted me to take along when I came to Europe (the don't-forget-your-roots-thing), and it seemed a handy thing to have when Darradi came to me.

OT, I know, because apparently dogs don't have many fans in this conference... But Patas uses a cat litter box, only it has to have high walls for him to lift his leg at.

I KNEW there was something good about being a girl...

Patas is NOT a dog, Gi...he is your furson!

I had to take my son's hamster to the vet. Here's what happened: Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two hamsters he holds prisoner in his room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "Oldest trick in the book," I informed him. "You go in to see what's wrong with the sick one and the other one sneaks up behind you and bonks you on the head. Then they change into your clothes and escape." "I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?" I put a hamster-healer expression on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little rodents was indeed lying on his back, looking distressed. I immediately knew what to do. "Honey," I called, "come look at the hamster!" "Oh, my gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute. "She's having babies." "What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie!" I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I accused my wife. "Well, what did you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired sarcastically. "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her. "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed. "Well, it was a little hard to tell," she informed me. By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience," I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth." "Gross!" they shrieked. "Great; what are we going to do with a litter of tiny little hamster babies?" my wife wanted to know. "Well, when my parents' dog had puppies, I took them up to the grocery store in a cardboard box and gave them away," I recalled. "So what are you going to do, go up with a pair of tweezers so people can pick out their hamster?" she asked. We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later. "We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "A breech birth," my wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged. "Okay, okay." Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gingerly tug. It disappeared. I tried again, with the same results. "Should I dial 911?" my daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through it." "Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged. "I don't think hamsters do Lamaze," I told him. The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass. "What do you think, Doc, an epidural?" I suggested scientifically. "Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside. "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked. "Oh, perfectly," the vet assured us. "This hamster is not in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen....Ernie is a boy." "What?" "You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, male hamsters will, ah..." He blushed, glancing at my wife. "Well, you know what I'm saying, Mr. Cameron." We were silent, absorbing this. "So Ernie's just...just..." "Excited?" my wife offered. "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood. More silence. Then my wife started to giggle. "What's so funny?" I demanded. Tears were now running down her face. "Just...that...I'm picturing you pulling on its...its..." she gasped. "That's enough," I warned. We thanked the veterinarian and hurriedly bundled the hamsters and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay. "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me. "Oh, you have no idea," my wife agreed, collapsing into laughter as I gave her a dirty look.

Loved it (twice!):-)

Marcia, Patas is my furson, but he is a dog :-)

I emailed you the second copy so you could forward it to whomever you wished to see it. You mean to tell me my furnephew is a DOG?! Not! I have seen the faces he makes and they are more expressive than a lot of humans I could mention...! *grin*

Yet your furnephew trades news through urine drops at street corners and not through email or Spring posts... But you are right, he thinks very much like we do. Did I tell you how once he took responsability for waking me up every morning at 7.30? And did it, workday or sunday... for a loooong period. I'm glad he stopped, although it was done very nicely... but very insistently! And it wasn't like he wanted to go out, or to eat, because as soon as I was up he would go back to sleep.

Oops! I thought I'd closed the tag, sorry.

Patas is like a little kid who is so delighted he has pleased you that he cannot turn off the machine making him do it. How funny and how sweet!

i thought we had a topic for our furothers! my dogs are definintely expressionists! they use their whole body!! every night around 9 or 9:30, they wait anxiously for me to go to bed so they can settle down too!

*LOL* ...furothers...Love that!!! (We do have a topic for them...I guess they did not like being left with the ordinary Dog-dogs!!!

Fact is, our "furothers" (I like the term too, Wolf) tend to pop out everywhere :-)

...sorta like my son...is there a conference in which I have not mentioned him?! furothers are the same way...*smile*

:-)

Rio's Pet Owners Dress Dogs, Hamsters RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio's pampered pets can now get into the spirit of the city's world-famous Carnival with party costumes including tutus and wedding gowns to take them through five days of revelry. The options are limitless for those owners wanting to indulge their dogs, hamsters or parrots with the ultimate holiday treat. A ballerina or a bridal outfit? A bow-tie or a veil? ``Whatever the customer asks for we will make it, for all types of animals'' said Monica Morgata, owner of the ``Mon Amie'' pet store in Rio's fashionable Ipanema district. Carnival kicks off on Friday evening with a street parade in the city center and will continue next week. ``We've got tuxedos and ballerina outfits for hamsters and we've already done a small parade for them. Cats don't really like dressing up but we have bow ties for them and we once made an outfit for a parrot. But that didn't last too long.'' Other fashion accessories include masks similar to that worn by last year's unofficial Carnival queen, Tiazinha, a scantily-clad dominatrix whose trademark is a black eye mask and riding crop to whip her admirers into line. The most popular item was a T-shirt for dogs with this year's official theme of Brazil's 500-year anniversary, retailing at just five reais ($2.85), said Morgata. ``Carnival is for everyone. People like to joke around and get into the Carnival spirit, so they dress their dogs up when they go parading,'' she said. ``Last week I saw somebody dressed as a dog in a parade. So why not the other way around?''

yeah, i've heard about this! i forgot about their carnival.

Don't we need to have a carnival, too? For our Fur-others?

well, we have mardi paws around here!

That is good!!! Fat feet...hmmm...

Oh, I have a neighbor who named her cat Mena-Paws. She claims her hot flashes arrived with the cat. Honest!

haha! that's a good one (maybe she's allergic? *grin*)

(Could be!) Apallingly, she is the only other Penn Stater on this side of the Island who admits to being one!!! (There are several on the UHHilo faculty)

Rabbit Rescuer Braces for Easter NEW YORK (Reuters) - Easter is definitely not the favorite holiday for a rabbit rescuer. Just ask Mary Cotter, head of the New York metropolitan area's chapter of the House Rabbit Society and founder of a group called Rabbit Rescue and Rehab. Easter inevitably ushers in a round of calls from people who have found, or who want to ditch, unwanted pets, said Cotter, who helps tend to scores of rabbits abandoned in New York each year. Some calls come from parents with regrets over buying a rabbit for a child's Easter gift, while others have discovered abandoned rabbits dumped in the city's parks or lots, she said. And the system of foster care for rabbits awaiting adoption in New York City is already overflowing, she said. ``This has been a terrible year for 'dumps,' the worst year I can remember,'' Cotter said on Thursday. ``I've had more calls with fewer people able to take care of their rabbits than ever before.'' Waiting for homes are rabbits like Ginger, a big orange and white bunny found dumped on a golf course who needed to have her diseased front teeth removed, and Stubs, found abandoned in Manhattan, whose ears were somehow chewed off. Others are happily ensconced in new homes, like Lance, a white rabbit who was rescued from a Manhattan butcher selling him for meat and now lives with Iris Farrand in Brooklyn. The rabbit's quirky personality helped Farrand survive the tough times following the recent death of her husband, Farrand said, by greeting family and friends who came to pay condolences. ``I may have made a couple rabbit converts while they were here,'' she said. ``He thinks he's a puppy. He doesn't know he's a bunny.'' Plenty of other sad rabbit tales have had happy endings as well, Cotter said. There was an executive who adopted the rescue group's sickest rabbit, despite the sky-high veterinary bills, and a child who chose the most bedraggled bunny, fearing otherwise it would be homeless forever, she said. ``Just when you have think your faith in human nature is destroyed, someone will do something wonderful that you just can't believe,'' Cotter said.'' And of course Cotter, a photographer and writer, puts plenty of love into every bunny that hops across her doorstep. ``I've stood at the door and really embarrassed myself by bursting into tears when a rabbit left here,'' she said, adding, ''If you don't get attached, you're not giving them the care they deserve.''