Our Pets

We have two beautiful cats, and a cockateil at present but we would like to share some of the memories in picture form of our many past pets as well.

This is Joyce's cat "Batty". He is nicknamed "attack cat" by some very unkind people who have come in contact with him.

He had to be reared from a very small kitten as his mother "Tabatha" was hit by a car and killed on the road at the front of our house.

He has a personality all of his own, and dislikes most other animals, particularly cats and dogs who invade his space. He makes it quite obvious to them that they are not wanted, even the largest of dogs, which he ambushes, who then usually depart with loud yells of discomfort to their nose area.

He loves to take a ride in the car or truck, so long as it is not for long or too far. He has been hit twice by vehicles, the first time very badly and we thought we would lose him. Another time he must have climbed aboard a ute with some bales of hay on the back, which was parked in front of the house. It took a week for him to return from wherever. He is now about ten years old. I think he's just a wonderful cat. (see also below Feb 2002)

This is "Tigger" on the right. How did you guess that we like ginger coloured cats, commonly called "Marmalade Micks".

We inherited "Tigger" from some friends who reluctanly had to part with him. He has come into a hostile area with "Batty" at the helm. "Batty" will not leave him alone and will never accept that he has a place in our home. "Tigger" is a very gentle natured cat and seeks attention and love. He changes affection often, as sometimes Neville is his favourite person and other times Joyce. He is about five years old now.

Although "Batty" is nasty to him most of the time, I think he has a fairly good life and loves being outdoors in the garden, and follows us around when we are gardening.

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Now for some of our pets from the past which have all been greatly loved and wonderful to have around.

This is Tabatha on the left. She was"Batty's" mum, and only lived to be about two years old, before being hit by a vehicle in front of our house . She originally followed our daughter Wendy home from school one day and spent a couple of happy years with us.

Oscar below right, was found in our backyard one night, a very frightened little kitten, and very much undernourished. While with us he became very fat and would lay on his back in the middle of the kitchen floor, with his legs in the air. He had the strange habit of eating cardboard boxes and tomatoes. The conclusion is that he must have been in a packing shed somewhere before he came to us. Oscar would wait for Neville every afternoon to come home from work. He lived to be about about two years old.

"Tuppy" on the left, was a wonderful little kitten who just turned up at our house as most of our cats do. He was so gentle with other animals and at the time of his arrival we had a Little Corella, called "Lindsay". Tuppy would play for hours with the bird and they just loved each other. If Lindsay felt in any danger he would run up toTuppy and try to hide under his chin. I will admit the cat got slightly embarrassed about this behaviour.

It is fitting that I should include "Lindsay" the Little Corella here under the picture of "Tuppy". They were such great mates and spent a lot of time playing together. Lindsay even took to trying to eat meat while Tuppy was eating his supper.

He was a beautiful bird and very intelligent.

Then there were the five wood ducks that we reared from chicks. Eventually we released them into Quart Pot Creek which runs through town. The creek is abundant with wood ducks and brown ducks at the present time. It was rather a stressful time for us to release our little ducks to care for themselves. At first we would let them go every morning in the creek and then in the evening collect them and bring them home. This slightly amused some of the townsfolk and a few funny stories circulated at the time.

This is Freeby our much loved border collie.

Unfortunately she died in 1998, at fourteen years of age. Everyone in our street knew Freeby, particularly the close neighbours, as she would lie under the shade of a small tree at the back of their house and wait for them to feed her. She was an extremely intelligent dog and a great mate.