Heads or Tails Tuesday

Today's Heads or Tails Tuesday offers a choice of two themes, "Pets" or "Pet Peeves". I've decided to opt for "Pets", because if I start discussing my pet peeves, I'll be here until next Easter.

This first pic is of Liberty. At fourteen, she's quite an old lady now. She has kidney disease, so needs monthly steroid shots, daily medication and a prescription diet. She also has a misaligned jaw after an accident two and a half years ago, plus some missing teeth - and she drools a lot as a result. Liberty can also be a bit whiffy, as she has the tendency to pee and poo in places she really shouldn't. Her saving grace is the fact that she is incredibly affectionate, and demands to be cuddled several times a day. In fact, if I let her, her whole day would consist of one long cuddle. She's so affectionate, I have to fend her off on times, or I would never get anything done. Quite a tiny little thing, Liberty's a very shy cat, and loathes strangers. She hides if anyone comes to the house, but can be tempted out with chicken and tuna.

This guy's called Leo, also known as the Blue Meanie. He's seven now, a number which roughly corresponds to the number of dinners he demands each day. Big and muscular, Leo is a force to be reckoned with. Don't be fooled by the charming exterior. He's a fiend in a fur coat. His crimes include:

• biting and scratching humans until they bleed;
• attacking other cats;
• stealing food, jewellery (UK spelling!) and other items;
• murdering small creatures;
• smashing and tearing household items;
• howling in a loud voice at 3 AM;
• attacking sleeping humans (who awake terrified, and convinced there's an intruder in the house);
• walking over the kitchen counter;
• sitting in the crockery drainer;
• invading kitchen cupboards;
• hiding in the bathroom so that he can attack the bare bottom of any human who uses the toilet;
• drinking water from the toilet;
• chewing house plants;
• clawing the fruit in the fruit bowl (especially grapes);
• opening the bathroom curtains at night, when the light is on. and the human in the bathroom is in a state of undress;
• tearing refuse sacks open;
• stalking the neighbours' toddlers.

Apart from that, he's quite a nice cat. Except on his biting days.

The rest of this post is in remembrance of two dear, departed friends. This big red and cream guy was called Tim. He passed on nine years ago, at the age of eleven, due to kidney failure. He was a magnificent fellow, large and fluffy, and resembled a Maine Coone in many ways, although his parents were just ordinary house cats. Tim had a fantastic temperament with humans, very friendly and confident, and also very loyal. I suspect he wasn't much of a lap cat due to his size - not many laps could comfortably accommodate him. He was a terror where other cats were concerned. If they didn't live in his house, they were fair game for a good thrashing, which he carried out with glee. Dogs also felt his wrath if they got too close. This pic doesn't show him at his best. He was a much nicer, more subtle red colour than this. All of my pics of him were taken with an old film camera, so in order to get his image on to my laptop, I had to take a pic of a pic, with my digital camera.

Last but not least, is Noddy, or Nod the Plod as most people called him, as he never rushed anywhere. He was a lovely, daft old thing, slightly lacking in the brain department, but very friendly and loving. In fact, I used to worry a lot about him, as he would happily wander up to anyone who said hello to him. One Christmas, he got drunk. I left a glass of Bailey's on the table, and went to the bathroom. As I was returning, the phone rang. So it was about ten minutes before I went to retrieve my drink. I found old Nod with his head in the glass, and most of my drink gone. A couple of minutes later, he started to sway a little, hiccuped a few times, did a silly dance, rolled around on the floor, burped, and fell asleep. Luckily, he was fine afterwards. Sadly, his kidneys also failed, in November 2002, just a few weeks short of his fourteenth birthday.

Liberty lived with both Tim and Nod. Leo only knew Nod. Tim was before his time, which is a shame, as he would have most definitely put the Blue Meanie in his place. This is the first time I've put them all together in a post - I hope you enjoy looking at their pics as much as I do.