Tag Archives: pets

Goodbye, Poppy

Posted on by

28

As if 2020 couldn’t get worse, The Boy passed away on Thursday. He was 14 years old and hadn’t been well for a while – being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease last year – and despite the endless tests and multiple changes in medications it became obvious that his quality of life was declining and he was becoming distressed, so we made the decision to say goodbye. I have known it was coming for a while and so I made sure that we had a lovely last day together, and he went to sleep peacefully on my lap which is the best thing I could have hoped for. He is the last of our three cats to pass away – we lost his sister in 2016 and our 19 year old cat in 2014, and it never gets any easier.

He’s been my little dude since he was 5 weeks old. He and his sister were brought to my house in a carrier bag and he’d had a horrendous start to his little life, being so small that he could fit into the palm of my hand. For the last 14 years he has been my personal shadow and has seen me through every step of my life – following me from room to room, only settling when he was on my lap, proudly bringing me socks that he had stolen from the hamper as gifts, joining in every Zoom call and entertaining The Bloke and I by screaming the songs of his ancestors at 3.00am… and 4.00am… and 5.00am… and… Continue reading →

A Difficult Day

Posted on by

Looking a bit special

Yesterday sucked. 

I’ve noticed that the cat hasn’t seemed himself over the last few days, particularly in the fact that he’s been drinking more than usual, so when he suddenly developed a weakness in his back legs we booked him into the vets. I was worried that he had developed diabetes – his sister had Type 1 which we treated for years with twice daily injections – so I also requested he have his bloods tested as an extra precaution.  Continue reading →

My Cat is Still a Jerk

Posted on by

30

An angry cat…

I had planned to take the day off on Saturday and have a bit of self-indulgent me time while The Bloke was off on a photography thing. I had worked every day that week and was looking forward to having the house to myself, putting all the technology away, snuggling up under a blanket and watching a cheesy film and an unhealthy breakfast. 

The cat, however, had other ideas. 

We awoke on Saturday morning to see that Mr Jerk had developed a swollen eyelid and was busy shaking his head and attacking his little face. So, after the usual  ‘there’s-no-way-you’re-putting-me-in-that-cat-carrier’ power struggle, off we went to the vets.  Continue reading →

My Cat is a Jerk

Posted on by

29

One of his more ‘special’ expressions…

It’s International Cat Day and normally I would be joining in with the thousands of people sharing adorable pictures of their little furry companions across social media today along…

However, my cat is not particularly adorable this week. In fact, he’s a bit of a jerk.

I’ve had Poppy for over twelve years. He (yes, I know it’s a girl’s name – I thought he was a girl until he suddenly sprouted boy bits a few months after I rescued him, and by that point the name had stuck) came to me in a bag along with his sister after a horrible start in his little life. They were five weeks old, far too young to be away from their mother and in a mess – fleas, ear mites, stomach problems – I still can’t believe that they survived the first few months. He was so small that he still had blue eyes and could fit in the palm of my hand. Continue reading →

Weekly Word Challenge: Happy

Posted on by

40

Image

I have been wanting to create a community challenge for Suzie81 Speaks for some time now – I have gained a following of wonderfully talented and creative people  decided that the best way to do this would be through a weekly word challenge – I will post a new word every week on Sunday at 7.00pm – with today being slightly different as it is the first challenge.

Happiness. There are a million posts published every day that focus on the idea of being happy – what makes us happy, how to achieve it, why we need to be happy in our lives…

For the first ever weekly word challenge the theme for this week is ‘happy.’ How you respond to the word is entirely up to you – here are some suggestions.

1. Create a list of things that make you happy.

2. Recall the happiest events of your life to date.

3. Create a poem that reflects on the word.

4. Share photographs of things that have made you happy recently.

5. Write a ‘how to’ guide on how to be happy.

6. Create a short story.

Once you have finished your post, include the link back to this page so others can see it or post it in the comments section. If you wish to place this badge on your blog or on the page, feel free! The challenge will remain open all week and anybody can participate whether they follow Suzie81 Speaks or not! Each Saturday I will reblog some of my favourites… It will be a brilliant opportunity for you to gain more traffic and followers!

Enjoy! Share with your friends! I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to ‘like’ my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Suzie81speaks

Small Christmas Hats = Rather Grumpy Cats

Posted on by

24

The biggest achievement in my sad little world last year was the fact that I managed to get all three cats in Christmas hats for a long enough time where I could take a photograph. Since we moved house I have lost the hats, so as part of my prep for Christmas this year I thought I would post last year’s pictures. I know, I know… Cat lady alert…

Image

Sleepy Daisy – ignore the mess in the background I was in the middle of wrapping presents…

Image

Wobbly

And the ultimate…

Image

All three… Not the happiest kitties I’ve ever seen…

Poor things… Made me smile though!!

Things to Be Thankful For

Posted on by

36

image

I refrained from writing these thoughts down on my blog and instead made a list in my notebook to be saved for a later date as I felt that perhaps this post was a little early and these reflections should be saved for New Year (and the realisation that all my American and Canadian friends would be doing the same in a few weeks during Thanksgiving, which we don’t celebrate here in the UK), but yesterday I read an absolutely gorgeous post by Dara from The Clearout about the birth of his baby girl and it tipped me over the edge (in a literary sense – please check out ‘Want To Change the World?’ – I reblogged it.) Suddenly the small list had turned into a five-page epic and I was desperate to collate them all on here to share with you.

My initial opening sentence was going to be ‘This year has been a difficult one‘ and when reflecting on the events of the last ten months as a proverbial ‘big picture’ I suppose it has. I have been so focussed (focused? I’m still confused) on the negative aspects of life that I often forget to pause and give thanks for the continuously good things. These are the things that I think most of us forget to be grateful for. Continue reading →

What’s In A Name?

Posted on by

26

Image
 Technically, her name is Lucy. When I first got her from the RSPCA I referred to her as my little ‘Bob’ (inspired by a Blackadder episode) and somehow it has morphed from ‘Bob’, to ‘Bobbly’, to ‘Bobbly Wob’ and has remained as ‘Wobbly’ for years. She’s registered at the vets as Lucy as I can’t bring myself to actually tell them what she’s really called. It’s a silly name, I’m sure she’s inwardly face-palming (or face-pawing) herself every time she hears it, but she responds to it anyway. Somehow though, it suits her. My friends and family have become used to it and ask ‘How’s Wobbly?’ without even thinking about it.
Today I came across an article about unusual pet names for dogs and cats from a pet insurance company and it made me smile. There are some truly great names… These are some of my favourites:
Sir Knuckles da Dragon
Winnie The Poodle
Wanksta
Squatter
HotRod Woofington
Poopie Boy
Pumpkin Head
Dong Dong
Hank The Tank
Captain Underpants
Agador Spartacus
Chue Man Foo
I adore the idea of a dog being named ‘Captain Underpants’ – i’d love to hear that being shouted out at the park…
I’ve included the link to the website. I’m pretty sure ‘Wobbly’ would be in there too…