Sunday, April 4, 2010

Pets and Such

In my home I have several pets.  Ok I have A LOT  of pets.



There is Brooke  our 4 1/2 year old Anatolian Shepard mix. She is a pound rescue. She had been picked up as a stray and had been at the shelter for about a month when we came along.  Brooke was about 9 months old when she came to live with us.  Technically she is my daughters dog, but I inherited her when my child went away to college.  Brooke is a happy girl, always happy to see anyone (she can look fierce to strangers, which is her job) she meets, and has a perpetual smile on her face.



And there is Bailee, who came to live with us a little
over a year ago.
She had been picked up as a stray alongside a busy highway. Rather then go to the shelter she stayed with some friends who tried to locate her owners, after a month  she came home to us.  She was about 2-3 months old at that time, so we had the joy of house training her. She is so smart, and very manipulative.  Some how she always gets her way, if its a belly rub, cookies or being hand feed each meal.  She really has me trained
 
April 1, 2009  











September 14, 2009      



  


 Next come the fish.  Years ago in another life (it seems) I raised and sold Betta fish.  About a year ago the itch came on to try it again. The only problem is that I was not able to find any buyers when they were young so I have seven males, and a tank with 8 females. This pic is before they were separated into different tanks.

Read all about the Betta's beginning here    read about the tiny fry here The Betta's are a month old in this post Most recent update on Betta's here

The most recent addition to my slew is Usdi which is Cherokee for Baby.
 When he first  came to be with me I thought he was a baby rat, so his nickname is Ratbaby. 
Usdi is a baby Meadow Vole. This picture is slightly larger than life size
Usdi came to us via Bailee on March 24th. His eyes 
were barely open, ears still pressed against his head. He was wet from being in the dogs mouth, very cold, and very frightened.  I did not know what to do at first so went online and researched and to my surprise realized I had all the necessary items to keep little Usdi alive. 
So very adorable!
Here is Usdi at one week of living with us.  His ears are up, and he is growing hair on his paws.
He does not hold still on my hand long enough to get a good picture.







Here he is in his Critter Carrier that  I purchased from  MarinahLynn on Etsy . She did a fabulous job and even made it with room for Usdi to grow.








This was his first home, a little Critter Cage that I just happened to have on hand.  Once he became a little more active  I decided to see about a larger enclosure so he could better exercise.









So I brought in a 10 gallon tank that I happened to have in storage and put his smaller and familiar home inside of it.  Perfect fit!









Here he is getting ready to explore his  new digs.  Usdi was a little unsure at first, but has now very much made it his own.









A few minutes after exploring he stopped to look out the window.  Wonder what he is thinking about.








Here is his new home, complete with water bottle (which he has not yet discovered) and a wheel (which he has discovered and enjoys) .
Take note of the water bottle cap that has milk in it.  For the first week he was here I fed him about every 3-5 hours with an eye dropper.  He is now drinking and eating on his own.  I put some milk in the bottle cap and came back a few hours later to find it dry.




Usdi is quite content in his new home, and growing up so fast.   He will be slightly smaller than a softball when fully grown.  A little round bundle of furriness... who is currently content  in his Critter Carrier on my lap.   He is a smart little guy, comes to his name, and very much has his own mind and personality.




So there is the story of my pets.
Oh did I mention I have five bird feeders with seed, three humming bird feeders, and three squirrel feeders?
♥It would be safe to say that  I love animals♥

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update on Usdi ....
    looks like he is training you well
    KB

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  2. Your big heart is showing !
    Thank you Kay ;-)
    HW

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  3. If only you could have trained the dogs as fast as Usdi trained you. Loved the story so far.

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  4. What a lovely picture story of your furbabies. I especially think you take wonderful pics of Usdi. He is adorable. Gush, gush.

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  5. Great blog - I finally get to see Ratbaby! All your furbabies are adorable!

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  6. You forgot about all the little geckos running around the house :P

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  7. What a sweet family you have, Kay! So nice to meet you all :) I lost my sweet Coal Easter morning - he was one of my black cats. I have always surrounded myself with critters - up to 5 dogs and 2 cats at one time.

    JOYful D*Sign

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  8. I found a vole today on the driveway and brought him in and got a cage for him to save him from the 3 cats that would have ate him. He looks the same size as your vole at 1 week after you found yours. I gave him some millet and he has been eating it between napping. He seems a little lethargic and is napping most of the time but I'm hoping he'll perk up a bit. I am going to try feeding him with the dropper like you did.

    I didn't even know what a vole was when I found him and assumed he was a mouse till I did some research online. I came across your youtube video of Usdi and thought it was great that you wrote about him in this blog because I wouldn't have known to try feeding mine with the dropper.

    Thanks so much for sharing your experience with you vole! I will let you know how mine is doing in the future.

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  9. Thank you everyone for your comments

    Marilyn, I did not specify that the milk I fed Usdi was soy baby formula not dairy. I mixed 1tsp formula 4tsp water, feeding every 2-3 hours followed by a warm bath and wiping him down well with a damp paper towel, then drying him thoroughly. This is important as it aids in digestion. When you wipe his little belly with the damp paper towel he should urinate/defecate. What you are doing is mimicking what his mama would do after feeding.
    It is important to keep the baby voles body temp up until he is able to regulate it himself. I kept Usdi's little box warm by placing it on top of one of my smaller Betta tanks that has a light in the top. It was just enough to keep it nice and cozy for him.
    I wish you the best of luck with your little one. :)

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  10. So far he had been eating lots of millet and I also saw him drinking water from the little water bowl I put in his tank so I'm not so sure I need to use the dropper after all. He is still sleeping a lot though and I think he may have some kind of tiny mite on him. I am going to do some research to see if I can find out how to get rid of mites. Other than that he's doing great.

    Thanks so much for the advice :)

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