Yes I also love animals. I even work in a pet shop (very animal friendly petshop, very well fed and happy animals and birds, because I am in charge of the feeding and wellfare of the animals).
I own 6 cats and one guinea pig (The jolly Jesper)
Some would call his size animal cruelty, but the reasons for his doublechin (I
guess the second one is in the making) is that I give him a lot of fresh grass and icelandic herbs, and that made him gain one-third of his weight in the last 1-2 months, and he is supposed to be fully grown, since he is over one year old.
My cats are: Múddi, he is a rescue from a cat shelter, a very feral one year old that decided to trust me. Now he is 6 years old and the king of the neighborhood, very happy, very confident. Here he is with his "mommie".
Then there is Snælda, she is also a rescue and she is actually a cat I got for Múddi since I thought he was kind of lonely, even if I was home a lot, and they are the best buddies in the world. She always sleeps like this, here she is on the lamb skin on top of the kitty house.
The third one I got was also a kind of rescue. I got her one year old from a family that couldnt deal with her anymore. She is a purebreed norwegian forest cat, that is completely deaf. Besides being deaf she is a great personality and lot of this great personality stems from her deafness. She is always sleeping on the computer table when I am online, even now
The fourth and fifth came to me from a bengal breeder, and they are both retired queens. Vicky is a standard Bengal and I got her 2 years old. She is hyperactive, very clever and kind of (how can I put it?) MAD. But because of her being mad, she is very fun to have around, and she is a poster cat for "the curiosity didnt kill the cat, SEE I am still alive!". This picture is very HER. Notice the moon on the left and the cross of the local church on the right. So symbolic... Well in fact I was just taking a picture of the cat, but it turned out that the moon and the cross were there too.
I got Icy, a snow bengal, 5 years old, nearly completely feral. But with a lot of TLC and training she is a big bundle of purring happiness. It always warms my heart seeing her smile in her kitty way, being pampered like a kitty princess, and being sooo happy with her situation in her kitty retirement, remembering the wild, terrified cat she was in the beginning. She hates when I take pictures of her, but this is the one of her where she isnt angry looking.
The sixth one is very special (Well all my cats are special and I love each and every one of them for what they are, but this one is extra special). He is really the only cat I "shopped" for, or what you can call it. I was in love with his breed from the moment I laid my eyes on a real one.. Maine Coon. Then in 2002-2003 I heard that a Maine Coon breeder had started in Iceland. They got one litter, and then I contacted them to get a kitten from the next litter, but sadly the stud died, and they had to buy a new one, get him sent to the quarantine 6 months old (the quarantine time is 1-2 months) have him mature enough to make the kittens, then the kittens.... you know the drill. Well I waited for the kitten over one year, so I was lucky enough to be the first one to pick from the litter. And of course I chose the black one and named him Krummi (a name for a raven in Icelandic). He comes with me to work every day in the petshop and has since october (he is born in march 2005). He really loves to go to work. I get him into my car, put him in a dog-safety belt in the back seat, and he loves being in the car, just very calm and talks to me the 10 minute ride. In work I have managed to teach him tricks. He now knows how to great, wave, touch me when I say "who is the best", give me five, high five, choose the right hand when I say "left" or "right", choose the rigth hand that has the kittyfood in a closed fist, and the latest one is when he chooses Lego cubes that are in different color (red, yellow, blue, green) according to what color I tell him to choose. I know its hard to believe this but I tought him that by putting the cubes in front of him, pointing at each and every one and telling him the name of the color, then I put them in front of him and say "veldu" (choose in icelandic) and the color I want him to chose. Well enough of stories, here is a picture of my handsome guy, he is nearly 20 lbs (9 kg) and the bottle is 2 ltr. a big soda bottle.
Here he is 1 year old disciplining the hamsters in the pet shop:
