#lolololol you get me started on my pets and cannot shut uppp

[blackratchet]

Lemon! I want to hear about your cats' names, personalities, and the most annoying and sweetest habbits!

Do you have any pets and what are their names?: OH BOY.  I don’t think you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into but here goes lol.

The pet I have had the longest is actually my wonderful corn snake Hannibal. He’s an extreme okeetee morph and he’ll be 4 years old in June. He is a precious noodle, very sweet. I’ve had him since he was only 2 weeks old. Back then, he hadn’t been socialized at all, so every time I tried to get him out of his terrarium, he would repeatedly bite me lol. Thus, he earned his name. AND THEN. One night a couple years ago, he escaped his enclosure. I couldn’t find him ANYWHERE. I searched my entire room, the only place he could have gone was through a hole in the wall in my closet. I thought, well, it figures. He’s living up to his name again. How unfortunate. But I left a frozen/thawed feeder mouse out on the closet floor the next night and OF COURSE he was lured back by the prospect of food and I managed to catch him. Naughty noodle, but I adore him. Unfortunately, his feline sister wants to eat him...

At the shelter, they called her Faith. She was 1 year old, the most petite little calico kitty you’ve ever seen. I saw her photo online and we went to meet her specifically. When I entered the room full of 50+ free-roaming cats, I knelt down a few feet from her and she immediately came to me and jumped up on my leg for loves, literally hissing and swatting at the other cat that tried to come sniff me lol. My heart was stolen instantly. We renamed her Robin because my husband desperately wants a cat named Batman someday lol, and she settled into our family like it was meant to be. She is almost 4.5 years old now, and such a love. She drools when she is happy, and she has the most quiet, subtle purr ever. She is notorious for chewing on plastic though, the dork, so we have to be careful about leaving anything where she can reach it. And by that I mean, we can’t leave anything ANYWHERE because she rules this house and is allowed on every surface lol. Well... every surface except for the lid on Hannibal’s cage. I’m worried she will bust through the mesh! D:

About a year after we adopted Robin, we adopted a little longhair tuxedo kitten that we named Gau (the Japanese onomatopoeia for a lion’s roar). He was sick his whole little life, my poor GauGau. We made what little time he had on earth the happiest it could be. He finally succumbed to liver failure and an abdominal mass due to FIP, and we had to put him down at only 7 months old. It broke my fucking heart. I was devastated for so, so long. But it was because of him and his health issues that I began my research into feline health and nutrition and learned just how terrible so much commercial cat food is for cats. It was because of him that I began making cat food myself and even though he didn’t live long enough to benefit from it, Robin surely has, but even more critically, so has Quixote.

Quixote (named after the ‘There Might Be Giants’ film reference of Don Quixote) was one of the only things that brought me out of the devastation of losing Gau. I put a deposit down on a pedigreed ragdoll kitten through a breeder about 3-4 weeks after Gau passed away. Knowing that I had something to look forward to kept me going, even though most of 2015 was a grey fog of despair. We brought Q home that October. He was a bit sick, but I expected him to bounce back asap. He didn’t. His respiratory concerns and his watery eye lingered despite the frequent vet care we sought for him. After about 6 weeks, things finally calmed down, but never truly resolved, occasionally worsening. He was a crazy, energetic little puff ball though. So happy and always ready to get into trouble. Unfortunately, his health has always been affected by what we now know is a TON of allergies. 31 environmental allergens and 11 food allergens. When we got the test back, my vet told me point blank, “It’s a good thing you already make his food and can control all the ingredients, because I don’t know what he would eat otherwise!” Despite being a financial blackhole, he is the PERFECT little fuzz ball. He’s still rotten to the core and picks fights with Robin and gets into all sorts of trouble, but I’m extremely bonded to him and him to me. I can’t imagine life without him. He plays fetch and talks to me and he will literally whine and complain when he’s upset about something. He sheds like a son of a gun though so I am ALWAYS covered in cat hair, but it’s worth it!

About three months after we got Q, we got a shipment of betta fish at the pet supply store I work at. There was one male betta who was vivid orange with bright, metallic teal highlights. He was the prettiest betta I’d ever seen and I thought for SURE a customer would scoop him up immediately, but no one did. One week passed, two weeks passed. I’m always the one who tends to the bettas in my store because I’m ANAL about keeping their frustratingly small cups clean, so every week I would clean the cups on Monday and Friday and keep an eye out for Mr. Handsome, as I had dubbed him at the time. No one bought him. After a solid month of watching him not find a home, I couldn’t help but give in. I bought him myself and set him up with a nice heated, filtered tank on my nightstand, prepared to give him a great and spoiled existence. I named him Poe after Poe Dameron because duh, Mr. Handsome. I couldn’t help it lol. Buuuut he didn’t take well to the transition from store to home and began EATING HIS OWN TAIL. I was at such a loss!! What had I done wrong?? How is it that special needs pets are so drawn to me??? It was maddening not knowing why he exhibited that behavior and it’s a problem we still deal with occasionally even now, over a year later. I think it’s stress related, but it’s not something I can prevent him from doing. I just have to keep his tank very clean so his tail won’t get infected, and keep his tank light off so he won’t see his reflection. At least his tail always grows back! And honestly he’s such a good fishy!! He dances when I come up to his tank! He makes big impressive bubble nests when he wants to show off! I think he’s probably about two years old, but there’s no way to really tell. I’m glad I was the one to finally adopt him, otherwise he might have gone to a less devoted home where they wouldn’t have managed his behavior well. As it is, he is super spoiled and very happy, even when he chews his tail down to a stub lol.

Aaaaaand that’s all of them!! Sorry for the novel... but you did ask ;)