Our Zoo

My husband and I have a Zoo of animals who own us. 6 in all! 4 of them are cats and 2 are dogs. Photos on this site are all by moi and can be found on Instagram!

The Cats:

Our cats are all rescued and are all boys – don’t you just LOVE boy kitties? They are the loviest! Razzle, Malcolm, and Alex were all born in 2006-2007 and so they are all around the same age. We adopted Mr. Cosmo in 2009 so he’s a little younger than his brothers. With all of them being around the same age, for the most part, we have been going through the teenage kitty years for a while. They are fun to watch together though and all get along well for the most part – like siblings, I suppose.

We adopted Razzle first. We got him during a rough time…we had just had to put down our beloved kitty, Zagnut (who we had since he was just a tiny kitten!), due to the Diamond food recall of 2006. We didn’t look for a new kitty right away, because we still has Skittles, who we also lost due to the recall, at the time. We were kind of waiting for a kitten to fall into our laps and Razzle did just that. He’s a Manx, just like Zagnut, and also a polydactly. I always thought it would have been cool to get a polydactyl cat and we really wanted another Manx if possible. How surprised was I when I found BOTH?? lol So Razzle had to be ours! We got him when he was a tiny kitty, and he’s probably the loviest cat we have. His nicknames are: Yidda, Mr Thumbs, Mr Beige, Yidda Kitty, Yidds, Beige

We adopted Malcolm next. We were volunteering at a local animal rescue at the time and well, all I can say is we ended up bringing our work home with us!  When people say that animals “adopt” them, I totally understand because this big boy adopted me. I couldn’t leave him in the shelter…so we brought him home. He’s our biggest boy and he’s such a moosh! Which is why his nicknames are Moosh, Mooshy, and Smooshy…he has some other nicknames as well, but they aren’t so family friendly. lol He’s also our bad boy! He teaches all the others his bad habits. He’s a lover though, likes to snuggle right up to you.

Alex was an unexpected addition. I should let my husband write his little blurb because bringing this kitty home was all his doing! He was volunteering at the shelter one morning and someone dropped off a kitten in a carrier and left. Alex was that kitten. I got a phone call saying I needed to come to the shelter to see the “unique” kitten that was dropped off, so I did. He was/is beautiful! Very exotic looking, but not an exotic cat breed. Anyway, my husband KNEW we were taking this kitty home with us, but he had to work on me. 2 dogs and 3 cats was PLENTY…what did we need another one for? Eventually, someone came in and was interested in adopting Alex…I called my husband…who exclaimed, “Don’t let anyone adopt my cat!” *sigh* I am weak…and so I put an “on hold” sticker on his cage and showed the man a different cat. We brought Alex home shortly after that…and I wouldn’t have it any other way! The husband is his most favorite person and he sleeps in his armpit every night. Alex’s nicknames are: Fanna, Fanna Banana, Little Baby Fanna, Fanna B, Mr Hair Tie, Foon, Foon Banoon

Cosmo is the youngest of our boys and also the smallest – small but bratty! He’s the most vocal at dinner time, he loves on his own terms – just like a typical cat, right? He has a large personality for such a tiny guy!! His introduction to the family was a little slower than we would have liked because he had a cold from the shelter. Because of this, he earned the nickname “Snorty” (or Snorts) because he was snorting and sneezing when we brought him home. Of course, the cold cleared up but the nickname stuck and he’s known as Snorts more than he is Cosmo. It is kind of weird calling him Cosmo lol. He is frenemies with Razzle and in a bromance with Topaz. He’s a special, special boy! 

The Dogs:

We have 2 dogs, a male and a female. We’ll start out with Onyx, our female. Onyx is a lab mix…lol…isn’t every black dog in a shelter a “lab mix”? lol She’s definitely not mixed with pit or anything…probably border collie and something else…maybe really a lab. Anyway, she’s about 35 lbs and looks similar to a black golden retriever. She’s a little grey in the muzzle now, since she’s over 12 yrs old! She is SUCH a sweetie though…so lovey…gives lots of kisses and just a happy girl. We got her when she was just a puppy, so she’s been with us for a long time. She is a stubborn old girl, and keeps everyone in line. Her nicknames are Ony, Missy, Missy Girl, Queenie, The Miss

And last but not least we have our Puppa boy, Topaz. We got him when he was 7 months and our lives have never been the same since. We were told he’s a border collie, but I’m really thinking he’s more of a Australian Shepherd or a cross between the two. He’s too big to be a Border Collie and not quite right enough to be an Australian Shepherd. He’s 60 lbs of crazy, fun, puppy love! He is a pushy, jealous, loyal boy. He is my heart dog and anyone who is a dog lover and has had multiple dogs in their lives, you know what I mean. He’s my special boy and even though he basically refuses to give ME kisses, he sleeps in bed with me every night and is my protector. He has canine epilepsy…I’ll probably make a page just for that…and he has his own blog for those…it’s basically a journal for me to keep his information in, but it’s been helpful for others as well. http://www.peargirly.com/k9epilepsy/ Topaz’s nicknames are: Puppa, Puppa Boy, P, Mr Puppa, Boofie

So there you have it a glimpse into our zoo. Thanks for reading! ~ Heidi