Togetherness

If you're looking for the May Challenge, please scroll down one post.

Hello Fellow Crafty Critter Crazies,

This is our mid-month post, where someone on the Design Team gets to share some pics of her pets.

We have a multi-pet, multi-species household. Not all of our pets mix. We don't let the cats or dog into the aviary with our birds, but you can find all kinds of videos on You Tube of prey animals co-habiting with natural predators. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it unless closely supervised.

Here are a few pics of my pets enjoying each other's company.

 Cats generally are tolerant of each other, but they usually have to work through some issues before becoming friends. Even then, there can be the occasional tiff. Since all of our cats are neutered, the arguments are never serious and always about one cat (the youngest) wanting to play and the older cats being annoyed by his playfulness.

 Samson (dog) and Sebastian (cream cat in previous pic) were babies that we got around the same time. I expected that they would become friends, but Sebastian only tolerates the big guy. Our 14-year-old cat, Plussette, is the one who regularly cuddles up with Samson.

 Guinea pigs can be territorial, especially the males, and need time to acclimate to each other. Emma and Malu are both females. Malu was only a month old when I got her and Emma was about nine months, so they became friends pretty quickly. I gave a temporary home to two brother GPs when I first had Emma. Even though the boys had grown up together, they were ready to kill each other once they got a whiff of a female. I needed three separate cages until I found a good home for the brothers. They are happily co-habiting again.

 I have a large, mixed-species aviary with Doves, cockatiels, budgies and finches. For the most part, everyone gets alone well. My male budgie was flirting with one of my female finches the other day, even though he has three female budgies from which to choose. Go figure. One of my cockatiels is enamored with the doves.

Some of you read about my adventures in trying to find a friend for my little rabbit, Ricky. I tried for 3 months with another neutered male, a very sweet-natured bun. It ended with both rabbits having battle scars and Jelly Bean returning to his previous home. Then I brought a neutered female home for one night only. Ricky was curious, but her aggression was explosive. Finally, I brought home Petunia, a Flemish Giant. It took almost a week of regular, supervised "date nights", but now the two are a very happy couple. Petunia was not yet spayed when I got her, and females are usually the more territorial of the sexes, so this is a testament of the gentleness of the breed.

Thanks for stopping in for our mid-month post. I don't have a digi for you this month, but you never know when one will pop up, so be sure to check every month.

Hugs & smiles,
Teresa