General Chat

Last year i looked after a few pets while my freinds and neighbours and my eldest daughter went away for 2 weeks. Cat,Dog,Fish,Cockatoo,Macaw and my own Budgie everything was fine until the cockatoo (rocky) which seemed to have a mental problem started to cause problems it had a dicky wing and sometimes you had to put a pipe round its neck to stop it from biting it. It also liked to be wrapped up in a towel like a baby and put in a basket you had to do this every morning or else it squaked all the time (deafening),that was fine until it bit me (ouch!!!!) and it hurts after that no one could get near it , unfortunatley when i went to it in the morning it had chewed its wing to the bone not a nice sight,my freinds sister took it to vets were it had to be put down ,vet said it had physcological(spelling?) problems, i was most upset besides that rest of pets ok even though the dog tried to get my budgie. last week i had my freinds yorkie (molly) only a year old wonderfull dog to have (miss her). This week i have my other freinds dog a Boxer(rhoefield) not going to well its only gone a chewed a hole in the back of my front door i am not a happy bunny im livid!!!! want to swear. roll on sunday. Next week i have mums cat for 2 weeks that wont be bad as its at her house. I think i dont know when to say no when im asked to help out. Has anyone else had bad experiences looking after other peoples pets. tracy

Hi Tracy, We swore that we wouldn't have any more pets after both our aged cats died and what happened - my son split with his girlfriend and came home bringing his cat with him. Then off he went to Holland to work. Fair enough but now he's emigrated to New Zealand and we've inherited the cat! Apart from being big (he's a Maine Coon) hairy and vicious when brushed I've got scratch marks all over my leather suite from when he used to climb up there as a kitten.

hi mags I dont mind looking after pets or helping people out saves on the cost for them to go into Kennels , i wont be having this boxer again. tracy

Hi Tracy, Does the dog's owner have pet insurance? You might be able to claim for your door on that.

hi mags i dont know , she might need it by time i have finished with it (only joking) im suppose to be getting a new front door but when i dont know tracy

Hello Tracy, Must add vets and door manufacturers to my list of places to visit in sunny Cltheroe! lol! Keep up the good work - bite them before they bite you! Philip

hi phil thanks for the giggle, i will give you another pets cemetery dont know where nearest one is to here yet (joking) tracy

Hi Tracy, Forgot to tell you that my daughters hamster died while I was looking after it . I think I killed it with ciggy smoke because every time I lit up it would stuff the hole up in its little house with bedding. I didn't think about it until it was too late. Still feel guilty Mags

I had a neighbour's hamster die while I was looking after it. I did get some others to confirm it had passed peacefully before we buried it in the owner's garden. At another home, we looked after your nextdoor neighbour's menagerie. There were 3 labradors, 1 siamese cat and one african grey parrot. We had them several times, and on one occasion the neighbours came back and reported a terrible smell in their bedroom. The cat had access to their house via the cellar window, and had taken a present of a blackbird up to their bedroom during the two weeks! (I did go in to feed and clean litter trays, but never went upstairs.) The next time they were going away, they came round the evening before their departure to tell us the parrot had died. She was very old, but how thankful she hadn't waited just another day!

hi elizabeth The worst thing about the cockatoo( as it was a pain) was that before she went away a few of us including her partner had a little joke about it dropping dead, was i upset and worried. tracy

Tracy, The poor bird was a very old moth-eaten thing, but used to having a fly around most of the time. I had a slight problem, I am happy with a bird in a cage, but have a real phobia about flapping wings in confined spaces. She always had the radio or tv on to keep her company when they were out. I often wondered what they did with her - the wife was a taxidermist!!!

We looked after my sister in laws black labrador Snuggles last year. he wasn't quite a year old and chewed the whole place to pieces. The first Monday, Simon my husband came home to find the front room in pieces, he called the dog over to tell him off adn the dog couldn't walk in a straight line. His eyes were rolling and he'd been sick. Turns out he'd found and eaten a packet of extremely strong painkillers I had for just after an operation I'd had. Simon doesn't drive so had to get a taxi carrying the dog to the vets. Blood tests and stomach pump then a week of eating nothing but steamed chicken, fish and rice he pulled through. He still has a delicate tummy even now a year on but is ok and can be seen in the pictures on Darren's board. Naomi

hi elizabeth you had to leave tv or radio on fot the cockatoo and italways knew if you where there or not. Naomi what a lucky dog i dont know what i would of done tracy