Feb 13, 2011

How many pets did you have? Which one was your favorite?

I had several pets or at least we did as a family. Many of them I don't remember their names but one of the earliest was a large black dog that was very protective of us. The story is told of him walking between Marsha and the hole to the septic tank that was being dug out in the field.  I don't know when that dog died or why but it was probably poison that had been left by neighbors at the edge of the fence between our properties. We lost a number of dogs to that.
The three pets that I remember best were a small black female day named PeeWee, an old grey cat named Smoky, and her kitten named Flame. PeeWee was brought home as a pup and died at an old age of at least 15 or more. I was married before she died. She was a fun dog to have and didn't have pups until she was actually several years old. She had two pups that lived for some time and I don't really remember what happened to them. PeeWee used to go for long runs or adventures and one time didn't come home for several days. When she did she was walking on three legs. She had been apparently caught in a trap and finally chewed off her leg to come home. Dad took her to a vet in Roosevelt and he removed the leg to the shoulder. She was with us a lot of years after that. I still can see her climbing the hay stack with just those three legs and sitting on the top looking across the valley and watching the traffic (I Guess) on Highway 40.  She could run pretty fast on those three legs and the front one that was left became very large and strong. She would stand along by the cows when I milked along with the cats and lap up milk as I squirted it on the cement floor for them. 
Smoky was a pretty special cat. She and Flame were around for a lot of years even though I believe they disappeared before I left for my mission. Smoky was a very good hunter and kept the mice from over-running the barn and stack yard. She gave birth to a lot of kittens. Smokey may have been one of the 27 or more cats that we had on the farm at one time. We ended up having to take many of them to the ranch. Smoky and PeeWee and their off spring were all outside pets. Mom would not allow pets in the house even though we did sneak PeeWee into the basement room several times and occasionally I would take Smoky in so she could catch some mice in the basement for me. She was so scared though that it didn't really work very well. Smoky loved to have you rub and pet her though as she sat on your lap. She would purr quite loudly at times as well while petting her. 
These were all special pets and I loved them a lot. I guess that is why when Pookie was brought home I let him stay since he was the male version of PeeWee.