Pet Profiles

Tell us about your pets!!

Jayne Sullivan: Bee, Bear, Oogway, Merry and Pippin

Here are my 2 monsters; Bee and Bear.

Bee is 3 on Monday 4th May, (of course we’ll have a party for her and she’ll have her own cake, just in case you were wondering!) We’ve had Bee since she was 8 weeks old. My mother in law has her brother ‘Chip’ and they love spending time together. She is such a little ‘princess’. She loves nothing more than to cuddle up (under a blanket) and gets annoyed with me working from home because she doesn’t understand why we can’t just cuddle. She’ll play with Bear for a short while but then skulks off back to the couch to lie down. Such a hard life.

Bear is our baby. He’s only just turned 1 and is still such a fluffy, bouncy pup. He’s stupid by the way! He loves hiding in the Hebe bush in the garden and often hides his toys in there too; until the frogs appear and then he runs a mile. He loves attention and does whatever he can to get it, as you can see from the photo. He can be naughty, no, more like mischievous! He loves to hide in the bottom of my wardrobe too and I have locked him in there several times without knowing.

We also have a tortoise called ‘Oogway’ who is a real character. He wanders around at his leisure, but if you get in his way he will nibble at your toes…..

…. and 2 Axolotls; Merry and Pippin. They love to eat worms but their reactions are quite slow so it usually takes a while to catch them.

Natalie O'Brien : Logan and Archer

These are my two cats Logan and Archer:

Logan (the ginger and white one) is actually from China. I found him as a six-week-old kitten on the streets of Shanghai when I lived there and brought him home with me when I moved back to the UK. He is a gentle soul who like to laze around in the sun, and has a daily attack of the zoomies at around 9am and 6pm when he runs from one end of the house to the other for no reason whatsoever.

Logan (the white stud) was a birthday present from my best friend for when I turned 21 (for the 9th time). He is definitely the master of the house, and likes to strut around the place purring randomly to assert his authority. He also enjoys playing fetch with hair bobbles which is entertaining until I need one and he has hidden them all underneath the sofa. He makes an amazing cat activation noise of prrrrp when you sneak up on him, and may soon be put on a diet as he is getting a little chunky.

Nat

Jane Kennedy : Harvey and Stella

Both of our dogs have come from rescue centres.

Advertised on the website as an “8 month old black Labrador cross”, we organised to meet Harvey. I was horrified when this “donkey” walked down the path! Despite my initial misgivings, we adopted Harvey in October 2014.

Harvey was 8 months old when we got him but sadly his third home. He had been beaten with brushes, walking sticks etc., and was frightened of anything and everything. In his second home, Harvey had lived in a ground-floor flat, slept on the sofa and his only exercise was the owner opening the door and letting him run out onto a field behind where they lived. As a result, walking him on the lead was a nightmare initially. On many an occasion, I ended up in a hedge at 5.30 a.m. before work!! It’s a very long time since that had happened!! Thank goodness Harvey was frightened of the ducks otherwise I may have ended up in the local duck pond!

It was devastating to almost lose him at Christmas 2015. It was at this point that he went into “Addison’s crisis”. His condition had gone undetected because he had symptoms that could easily be explained as usual issues without ever being linked together until it became a crisis. He had lost his appetite, 1/3 of his body weight, was losing fur and just looked like he’d given up. In fact, the vet said he was within 24 hours of dying. Anyone who knows me and my family will know how hard this hit us! The good news is that, with lots of TLC, he made a full recovery. His condition is controlled with monthly cortisone injections, daily steroid tablets and regular blood tests. Thank goodness for pet insurance!!

In July 2019, the same rescue centre phoned and asked whether we wanted a second dog. Although we weren’t looking for another dog, we offered to help them out by fostering said pup for a couple of weeks. Suffice to say that when it came to handing her back, we couldn’t do it!

Stella is a Lab cross. I think that she thinks she’s part kangaroo!! She is as mad as a box of frogs but full of character. Escapades include lying across the top of the sofa like a cat; jumping onto the windowsill to bark at the builders next door; chasing a flying seagull up a sand dune on Crosby beach and having a “mad half hour” around 6.30pm daily. She is extremely affectionate and loves nothing more than to try and curl up on your knee – she’s no lap dog and usually ends up with the seat to herself! Unlike H, she’s no guard dog!! If she hears something, she’ll bark (the cluck of a chicken) and then run and hide halfway up the stairs or behind your legs.

Having said all of this, they are both very much part of the family and are loved dearly. It’s hard right now not to be able to take them to their favourite walking spots but they’re providing much entertainment in the house and garden. Jane