Supples’ Pub

For those who don’t know, Kat and I are crazy folk. We have three dogs, four cats, three turtles, two rats, and fish. The zoo can be found below:

Update 5/14: I guess I should have updated, but about two months back Mr. Big got taken away from us. His actual owner was Kat’s sister, who is a terrible person BTW, and long story short - she took him. Since then Pumpkin has been depressed and much less playful, but still going strong I suppose. Down to two dogs…almost sane.

Pumpkin, Big, and the late Sweetie - together for size perspective

 

R.I.P. Sweetie-Pie

This is good ol’ Sweetie-Pie, Sweetie for short. She was a Shi-Tzu mix that Kat and her family picked up from a shelter. She was always a great dog, the affectionate kind that would come over and see you if you were upset, but also was plenty fine with doing her own thing (mostly sleeping). She lived a long life, reaching 15 or 16 years. In the end, her quality of life just dropped too much. She was blind and deaf for a while, had been fighting kidney failure, and took a turn for the worse December 16, 2006. We had to put her down and it was pretty much the saddest day of my adult life. I held her as they put her to sleep

Pumpkin-Pie

Pumpkin for short, she is a Boxer that is just a big baby. She was the runt of the litter, but ended up growing to about 80lbs. She was rather chunky at that weight (see picture at top of page), so after taking her to Bowman Integrated Veterinary Medicine (”eastern” as well as “western” treatment) and learning of a liver disorder, we put her on a special diet. Boxers in general have lots of health problems, so it was a good move regardless. Now she eats (with the rest of the dogs) cooked kale & collard greens with some vitamin powders and mackerel from a can. She is now down to about 50lbs, very slim & fit. Unfortunately despite our efforts to maintain her health, she developed a tumor behind her left eye and subsequently got glaucoma in that eye. The eye had to be removed, so she now has the nickname “uni-ball.” (Mean, I know) Regardless, she is a great guard dog and a big attention whore.

Mr. Big

Named after a character from “Sex and the City” TV show, Big (or Biggles) is an all too endearing Chihuahua. Purchased by Kat’s sister, he is pure-bred and apparently a very rare color. What you’ll notice meeting him is his loud mouth, he has no problem taking on dogs five times his size. Pumpkin and him wrestle on a regular basis, Pumpkin laying on the ground and the two going at it; a sight to see! We’re so neurotic he has been pegged with a chide Southern voice, as we speak for him on a regular basis to our own comic relief. He loves to cuddle with everyone and usually ends up on the couch or in bed with us. Oh, and I put him up on my “photography” area one day while I was shooting hard drives…he didn’t appreciate it!

Belly

 

When Sweetie passed, we couldn’t live with the sanity for too long. After a trip to the local animal shelter, we found sweet little Belly. She had been there for over a month, and after that long most animals are put to sleep. She was just too sweet and cute to let go, so she came home with us. A now 7 month old Pitt-mix, she came to us extremely hyper and entirely untrained. She now walks well on a leash, listens to most commands, and seems to be almost fully potty-trained. She is still hyper and chases Big around the house in an almost reckless fashion. The name was given to her at the shelter as she came in emaciated - so once they started feeding her, her belly stuck out from her tiny ribs. Because of her past, she will swallow a whole bowl of food in record time. That is something we want to work on, don’t want her to twist her stomach or otherwise get sick from downing food so fast (yes, that happens in dogs). She is sweeter than sugar and loves attention. Notice her trademark curl position above, she seriously wraps herself in a tiny ball.

The Cats: Brandon (Tabby), Lady (mother), Ewok (son), Mogget-Bojangles (son)

  

OK, yes, four cats is a bit much. Colonol Brandon the tabby was a stray picked up many years ago. He is generally a crank ass: if he gets outside, someone in our neighborhood keeps them in their house for days on end and when he comes home he always wants out. He makes a lot of racket and takes a while to calm down from being “in the wild” to so speak, but he is still a very loving cat when he wants to be. He’s my favorite!

Lady is another stray who was picked up in Kat’s neighborhood back in Asheville, but not long after she was pregnant with a litter of kittens. One of the kittens died after birth, another (Percy) disappeared a year or two later (we think a neighbor stole him), and the other two are still with us. Lady purs like a diesel engine, no joke, and likes to be scratched like a dog (literally like a dog, how dogs like to be scratched really rough). She is still affectionate with her two sons and if Brandon whines too much, she’ll smack him one.

Ewok was named so because as a kitten, he looked just like one of the furry creatues from Star Wars. This was Kat’s kitten and she raised him to be a giant sweetheart. As such, he is friendly to EVERYONE and had a regular row of houses he visited in Asheville for attention. If there are no other cats in the house at night, he sleeps with us. We don’t let him out overnight anymore because as in Asheville, he’s made friends and people keep him inside. Ewok is very vocal and will let you know when he wants something.

Mogget-Bojangles was named…oddly, and I don’t know why. We just call him Moggett and while he generally looks grumpy, he still likes attention and is overall a good cat.

One thing you probably can’t tell from these pictures is sizes: the brothers are nearly 20lbs each, Lady is probably over 10lbs, and Brandon isn’t petite either. Whenever I pick up someone else’s cat that is normal sized, I’m amazed at the difference.

Turk

This is the turtle Kat got for me as a Christmas present - I had always said I wanted a baby turtle and she delivered. I named him for a character on my favorite TV show “Scrubs.” He is entirely too cute, but a little dumb. He’s not the brightest when it comes to feeding time, but I forgive him. He’s is nearly a hatchling in that picture, he’s grown quite a bit since then. He lives in a small tank with a fish & a “pleco” bottom feeder. I had a couple little fiddler crabs in there with him, but they disappeared…we think they got out.

Tut

Tut is Kat’s turtle and he’s been around for a long time. He’s pretty big (larger in length than a softball’s diameter I’d say). He just kinda swims around and eats, only really making himself known through his escape attempts. More than once we’ve picked him up from behind his cage or wandering the carpet, boy does he have spirit.

The Snapper

We never really named this guy. Kat and her sister were walking down at Lake Johnson one day, right after a huge rainy period and overflow of the lake. Thinking this little guy was a rock or something, one of them kicked him across the trail and finally noticed it looked like a turtle shell. After warming him in their hands, he started to show some signs of life and he was whisked home. He made a full recovery and while we planned to only keep him until after winter, I’d imagine he will be here permanently. As you can see, he looks like an evolved dinosaur or something, quite vicious! It is fun, if adrenaline-pumping, to feed him some raw meat. He has a very quick and strong bite, snapping up from the bottom to snatch the food away. Very cool little guy.

We also have two rats (Kat’s) and some fish, but those aren’t nearly as interesting (nor do I have photos of them). A terrarium is on the way and Kat has plans for toads, frogs, geckos, and untold other amphibians. It never ends…