Do you or have you ever had an imaginary pet?
Oddly enough, I never had an imaginary pet as a child. An only child (to all intents and purposes, explanation with-held as its tedious) with a vivid imagination who didn’t have a real pet until the age of seven (and even then it was short-lived and not particularly interesting funfair-gleaned goldfish) seems prime imaginary per material, but for some reason I never imagined one.
However, on the way to work today I suddenly dreamed up three imaginary cats that i owned. A grey one called Smokey, a black one called Velvet and a very playful, agile tabby kitten called Nimble.
My imaginary girlfriend has a pussNEVERMIND, no, never.
I tried to have an imaginary pet when I was a child, for about five minutes, because some children in an Enid Blyton book I read had one. It didn’t work out, partly because our house was too full of people to get any time alone with my imaginary pet, and partly because I had real stuffed animals who I could make talk and be my companions, if that makes any sense.
when you say *real* stuffed animals do you mean animals that have actually been stuffed, ie by a taxidermist, or do you mean stuffed toys?
If you mean the latter, then yes, I had loads of those and their presence may have been the reason why I never imagined a pet.
I remember having a toy elephant who wasn’t very elephantine (ie was smaller than most of the teddies) and seemed to involve little effort on the part of the toymaker (ie, take 1 x teddy, give it grey fur and a trunk and different shaped ears) yet kids, suspension of disbelief blah blah blah. The elephant *may* have been called Edward but I don’t remeber if I gave it a name or if it was just ‘the elephant’. One thing I do remember about it was that it smelled strongly of lavender, with the result that if I smell lavender, even today, I instantly think about the elephant.
I mean toys. Actual stuffed animals=creepy. I remember my granny had a fox stole, and I used to stroke it and wish it would come back to life and run away.
it isn’t accurate to equate the stuffed toys I had with imaginary pets tho and not only coz they were tangible. I spoke to them and made up adventures involving them, some of which I was actually in and some I narrated to myself in the third person.
that’s another thread. I’ll just create it.
it is interesting that after I had thought up my three imaginary cats I saw a real cat outside someone’s house which was a more grown up, slightly slower version of Nimble. Immediately the cat, far from running away, started walking v deliberately towards me. It didn’t rub against my legs—maybe we were not on its territory and that’s why, but it did look at me and start mewing when normally a cat in those circumstances would have ignored me or ran away. It was almost as if the cat knew I’d been thinking about cats! I say *almost*—there is an excellent chapter in Konrad Lorenz’s book King Solomon’s Ring in which he explains why animals seem telepathic coz humans make subtle changes in the way they move, their eye contact or their breathign rate that the individuals concerned are blissfully unaware of but the animals pick up on. My fave e.g. Lorenz gave was of a vaudeville act involving the Amazing Horse That Could Do Maths! The showman would say something like “What’s the cube root of 27?” and the horse would tap three times with his hoof! Apparently given the appropriate stimulus to start tapping without detecting the guy’s excitement as his trusty steed reached the right answer, the horse would’ve gone on tapping ad nauseam!
on the way to work today I suddenly dreamed up three imaginary cats that i owned
You know you’re not posting to Sinister, right, you twee fucker?
why animals seem telepathic coz humans make subtle changes in the way they move, their eye contact or their breathign rate that the individuals concerned are blissfully unaware of but the animals pick up on.
Ha ha, except my dogs, who are rubbish at this kind of thing. They have no clue when I am upset, they’re just all “yum yum, salty tears, let me lick them”, whereas my cat is more “aw, tell your uncle Linus all about it, you poor thing”.
Then he pisses on my coat or something.
I never needed to have an imaginary pet when I was little, as I had a real cat to play with. He would patiently permit me to dress him up in baby clothes and take him for a walk down the road in my dolls pram.
i have no idea what you’re on about mark
I have a smoke monster.
first public showing of my pet portraits:
Greenwood Phinney Art Walk
Friday, May 14, 6 -9 pm
Mud Bay Granary, 8532 1st Ave NW
check out the paintings at http://wepaintyourpets.com/.
I’ll be there, probably around 8:30. Is it also Saturday this year, or only Friday?
also—congratulations! I love these :) Esp. Harry
thanks, jaq! it’s tomorrow also, but i couldn’t bring myself to commit to spending the entirety of saturday in a pet food store. paintings will still be up, though.
see you tonight!! <3
aw jaq, thank you for ‘esp. harry’ <3<3<3
have fun lxy<3<3<3
i wish i could go
me too harbl, wouldn’t that be fun and funny!
thx esta, i will.
<3 you guys
estela, my workmate who designed the flag for the african union LOVES harry, it’s his favorite! he even remembered harry’s name after seeing the pic on my website. :)))
:D
also, i love his flag.
i searched for a “pet” thread to bump with a question about “how’s harry?!” with no recollection whatsoever that i had previously bumped this thread. silly.
anyway: estela, how is your fine example of civilized behavior?!
civilised behaviour
he is wonderful as ever but his other knee has apparently developed the same problem as the other one so he has to have that awful surgery and then the whole locked in a pen/slow recuperation/can’t be left alone saga is back on, starting later this week i think, i have to see the vet later today. at least it happened at the end of our trip and not before or early on, otherwise i would have had to stay here and i would not have wanted to miss that superb vacation.
i think he’s a little bit mad because we woke up at 3 and for him that’s the middle of the night so now he’s lying on a pillow with a dramatic exhausted look on his face. (it’s 5am here now.)
i <3 poor put-upon harry so much
now he’s cadging little pieces of toast.
from a willing donor
he accidentally got two dental bones, his most favourite things, this morning via sad, hopeful looks at f. and i when the other was not in the room.
he drooped his tail sadly when f. was leaving for work but as soon as the door had closed he raised it up again and wagged it at me. he would have done the same if it were me leaving and f. staying, he is a disgrace.
surgery on friday:;_;
subtract :
i wish this part was imaginary
oh the little angel ;_;
i bet he’ll be happy to see the playpen again
oh i just saw the thread title change<3
i think he will be horrified to see the playpen again. last time i sat in there with him and nonchalantly read a book for a while so he would think it was a new couch and not a punishment cell but he was plainly dubious.
he’s licking his lips in the dark ( it’s early here but i can’t sleep, we’re still a bit on californian time, i am posting from under the blankets). he doesn’t know he’s having a surgery today, the poor little bosthoon.
i am thinking of my little friend
your little friend just attempted a giant leap off the bed in the dark and when i thwarted it and lifted him down he showered me with terrible kisses, he is a wrong’un.
luv
<3 thank you
i do, you know. sorry i was mean in that other thread.
where?
well then, never mind :)
i have to know now.
f. just took harry for a walk and he’s nil by mouth so he got no little snack afterwards and now he’s giving us these ghastly starving yet optimistic looks, his eyes look huge.
i was catty about your wisjes for southeastbound travellers. :(
do you think harry would perk up if you showed him this picture from damage control? it’s been slaying me for a full 30 hours.
that little smug one on the left is cut from the same cloth as our harry, i am certain. the sad one on the right is sad indeed, is he not?
how is my friend?
he’s in surgery now, the vet scooped him up into his arms and beamed at him and said, ‘we’ll fix you up, monster!’ and there was a distinct note of <3 in his voice. sometimes he calls harry ‘mate’.
i’m nervously wolfing down milk duds.
<3
he’s going to have to wear one of those buckets next week, between the bandage coming off and the stitches coming out, because he is a stitch-attacking duffer.
he’s done! he has to stay in overnight and we can get him in the morning.
oh yay! mending already!!!
he’ll be a sad-faced rotter for a week, and then he’ll be a pampered babby for five, and then he’ll be better than ever for the foreseeable future!!!
he will be bored is the worst thing, usually he has little lightbulb ideas throughout the days and evenings and he zips around the house carrying them out and he won’t be able to do that due to being locked up.
i have already picked out a name for my imaginary/future dog: mavis
jordan wants to call it catpig or thrillpony or one of many other v stupid names that he comes up with on purpose to annoy me.
lxyjergz when are you getting a dog???
lol never!
:(
they never will.
more dogs for you, ruby!
how is my imaginary pet today?
we’re picking him up in 30 mins, forgetful of the past 24 hours I hope.
he’s sitting in his pen glaring at us. but he seems quite well, better than last time i think. <3
my little glarer <3
currently calm with a touch of gloom.
partly cloudy
he is such a little champion.
a terrible poodle from up the street who has had both of her knees operated on in the past just galloped past our window with a gleeful look on her face and harry did a sad puffy little sigh.
it’s a hopeful sight though!
that’s what i told him.
dogs think they are master of all they survey so even if they’re friends they get annoyed with each other for walking past each other’s house. harry is street friends with these other dogs near us but if he’s out walking and they’re not he will deliberately loiter outside their house until they angrily notice him and then he swiftly scarpers with a pleased look on his face, it’s quite rotten.
i never had a pet when i was a kid because my mom is allergic to everything except hoarding, but i always loved my aunt and uncles’ kitties
i acquired a pseudo-family from my best friend when i was in college. they were (and are) the very best and as a pseudo-child i was immune to anything but <3
they had two cats. sheba was a beautiful sleek black cat who tolerated no one but my friend’s mom. and harry was this big sloppy orange cat who, when i was there, somehow knew when i was unhappy and would climb into bed with me. that was a long time ago and he died after a good long life. but man, harrys are the best
mookieproofs are pretty good too
<3
i wonder if harry the dog and harry the cat would have got along, harry the dog is very interested in cats but i can never tell if it’s a wholly benign interest.
he is so bored by now that if i say woof to him in a normal human voice, making zero attempt at dog mimicry, he barks enthusiastically as if i’m his slightly dim friend charlie.
(charlie is a bichon frise, not a simple but goodhearted boy.)
the little thing
poor harry with his poor elbow
pls send pics of you and harry arm wrestling
aw, there will be no wrestling featuring me and any of his feeble little limbs, we all want this convalescence to be over with as fast as possible.
i keep imagining our harry sitting in an armed wooden chair, smoking and drinking, leaning on his wee crooked elbow. it’s killing me.
maybe he’s been playing poker. maybe he has poker elbow.
<3
his little elbow is not crooked, that’s his tiny knee, but he does have a callus on his elbow from leaning on it which is slightly rotten.
it’s his birthday here today, he is 10. i’m going to bake him a meatball, i did that last year and it was a huge hit.
harry is my birthday twin! it’s an extra-special day of extreme happiness!
yes<3 (although to be pedantic it’s the 24th of may here)
harry wants to know if you will also be spendng your big day locked in a baby pen.
oh happy birthday harry!!!
i meant crooked like crookt, not like crook-ed. crooked, like bent. bent for leaning, and smoking, and drinking.
harry crooked his callused elbow and leaned heavily on the arm of the chair. thus posed with his cigarette and cocktail, he eyed the birthday meatball greedily.
oh of course, crooked! lol
Harry’s my other side of the planet upside down and over the dateline birthday twin! what a sweet crooked little rotter—tell him i’m indeed locked in a pen, but it’s full of grownups acting like babies.
he said, why is everything so unfair these days.
perhaps estela will read passages from sweet thursday aloud to harry while he savors his birthday meatball
i definitely will, his two favourite activities are listening to literature and eating punctiliously.
his greatest sorrow is that he can’t turn the pages of books by himself because of his paws layout.
harry gutsed down his meatball and now he’s being a terror, trying to do dangerous acrobatic leaps off the couch which are completely against the recovery rules. f.‘s got an iron grip on him. also he got a surprise parcel from sydney containing a plush squeaky toy and some carob drops, both of which he likes, so apart from being jailed and having a pitiful limp it’s been a pretty good birthday.
happy birthday, harry (here it still is!)!
aw thank you. he is fast asleep now, his eyes are squeezed shut and his elbows are crooked and he’s resting his chin on his favourite toy piglet (who is so grimy from ten years of being harry’s best friend that he looks like a chimney sweep).
when i was a wee bairn my mom made me a stuffed pooh and a piglet and then even a kanga and a roo (who fit in kanga’s pouch of course). they are still in a chest in my dad’s house; i should probably have him send them to me as i could use the company tbh
at any rate <3 harry + poor chimney sweep piglet
she did not make me an eeyore, presumably because it was a bit too close to home
yes i’m sure harry thinks we have gone mental and he’s hoping we’ll come right again soon which we will next friday.
only one long week fo go.
i think we will need pics then
i have no objection but i’ve still never bothered to set up a pics account anywhere, which is best (easiest)?
poor harry, i thought it was this friday, that is, today.
xp i use a flickr account i inherited as a handmedown when jergins switched to photobucket. in my opinion flickr is not extremy intuitive but i haven’t used other ones so can’t say what’s easiest.
you could send me a pic and i could put it up for you, or send you the image link and you could post it. that’d be easy.
thank you, i’ll try and make myself figure it out but if i don’t i’ll send you a picture.
he is very strong already, much faster than with the other knee. this will soon be over and he’ll be a galloping fool again.
and i will hopefully then have more interesting things to talk about. i have remorse about being such a cabin feverish bore. you all have been very kind and patient.
you can also use imgur and just drag the file from your desktop to the browser window but you can’t take it down ever
today we are going to see doctor mark and he is hopefully going to say no more baby pen for you, little mister.
omg fingers crossed!!!!
thank you, it has been a long haul, almost as long as since i saw you.
that is forever. poor harry, poor you
harry?
doctor mark said his knee is solid as a rock so we can ease him into normal life (no jumping on the bed yet but no more pen, and he can have regular walks again and can start using the stairs after a week or so etc) so he’s free! he had such a fun evening. but we just woke up and i brought him downstairs and he walked straight into the pen and now is lying in there with the gate open and a miffed look on his face lol.
yay!
that funny, funny little guy. <3 very much.
i’d forgotten about the frequent sound of his little paws clicking across the floorboards, he is keeping quite busy now that he’s free. he’s in such a good mood! no grudges.
<3 i’m glad they saved him.
as of last night he’s allowed to use the stairs again so now he keeps unnecessarily charging up and down them like a little bull and he’s in a very good mood.
that harry, what nonsense he gets up to! <3
he’s carked out on a pillow and hie’s got his tongue sticking out like a cat.
where are the harry photos i ask u
i’m on it.
(lol)
harry had to have another surgery last week because his stitches had never dissolved properly and his knee went all lumpy, i didn’t post about it because enough is enough, but he’s getting the new stitches out in an hour and then it will officially all be over and done with and i will try to force myself to rustle up some photos.
this morning f.‘s brain tried to make him say ‘goodbye harry’ and ‘goodbye buddy’ at the same time so it came out as ‘goodbye barry’ and then he tried to pretend he hadn’t just called harry barry but it didn’t work.
i will try to force myself to rustle up some photos
i ilxmailed you, mookie, let me know if you didn’t get it.
i did not! but my email is just my username at gmail
i have seen harry!
he is awful cute and has good penmanship as well
what did he write to you?!
he said HI MOOKIE
!
i love him
aw!
<3 thank you, he is a little corker.
this is the first time i’ve been away from harry since may, i miss him! but f. says he is doing fine so i’m not fretting.
I am calling my landlord tomorrow to ask him if I can have a not-imaginary pet.
specifically:
OH! Awwww! I hope your landlord says “why, of course!”
In other pet news, Morrie and Drac were terribly perplexed by lxy the other night and have been roaming the house looking for her ever since she left.
aw
I am so scared that even if landlord says yes the adoption ppl will not like my apartment :(
!!!!!!!!!!!!! so jealz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jordan is working on our landlord (she loves him), to convince her we should be allowed a dog. she is “thinking” about it.
so my lease says no pets but when I rented the place 2.5 yrs ago the guys daughter said he might be ok with a dog (but no cats bc they pee places lol!). He really likes me so I’m going to try being super sweet and tell him it would be my Christmas present or something.
I just decided though... I deserve a dog! I have wanted one forever! Damn it, I’m gonna make it happen!
They are convinced lxy is either in the coat closet or behind the door to the attic stairs. Or possibly on top of the dining room table, under a nice crunchy plastic bag.
good luck to the dog-lovers of the sandbox! also, lol, those cats are silly. i hope (xp wish) they’re looking for me inside of that thing.
They keep giving their cat ball the stink-eye, those rotters.
that is an awesome dog
he said yes!!!!!
Oh yay!!
yay t, that is a lovely dog<3
now i am nervous.gif that the rescue people won’t think i’m fit enough to be her mother.
that’s just plain wrong, of course you are!
I know I am but i wonder if I will be judged for my apartment? (It sucks)
*sigh*
that face is a face that my favorite coworker makes all the time
woof
thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening harry
late this afternoon i had to take harry to the vet to get a shot and doctor mark said (to harry i hope) “hello monster!” and then he cuddled him and told him, “you’re so gorgeous” and then he gave him his shot and admired his stoicism and then when i was paying the bill some people who harry had rushed over and kissed in the waiting room also said he was gorgeous and they asked me what his name was and when i told them they were impressed and said he was 100% harry-ish and then i took him outside and bundled him into the car before he could poop on doctor mark’s garden which i could tell he was considering doing.
hello monster!
a lovable monster!
if i ever meet estela i hope i remember to say ‘hello monster!’
that pic of harry you sent is sorta horror movie-ish
it’s a disgrace, i love it.
our neighbours moved and there was a farewell love note for harry in the letter box from their cheerful baby girl. she only recently learned to walk and she would stagger past our front window and when she saw harry she would squeal really loudly and if we saw her on the street he would give her a little lick on the hand and he would be patient when she awkwardly clutched him, they were bona fide buddies. she most likely didn’t write the note and harry certainly couldn’t read it but it was still <3.
awww
Chancer imo
he is an angel.
he is, by chance, an angel.
best beloved bosthoon
he’s staying with these great people who always look after him when we go away, it is reported he has been roughing it up with their little dogs, sleeping in their bed, eating their salmon, and being feted by everyone in their street. yesterday was their annual burns day celebration and today it’s australia day so he’s also keeping busy attending parties.
lol, he is a bbb.
I am worried about poor Harry’s origami ear tbh and hope he is milking it for treats and sympathy like nobody’s business.
did it occur to anyone that george w. bush was trying to paint harry but, as usual, couldn’t get it right
tijiji
thanks jaq, harry’s ear is almost fully recovered but he still has to wear a bucket on his head so he won’t scratch it. but he is in high spirits.
that proud bush with his artless bichon painting photo is lol, it reminded me of occupational therapy at rehab which i had not thought about for years. the whole room couldn’t believe we were doing irl occupational therapy, it was a new kind of low for people with considerable experience in lows. cynicism, merriment and ugly leather goods abounded.
13 years old today and still cavorting with his tail held high, the little champ<3
awww, my little friend!
<3
❤
we have another dog staying with us for christmas, an affable and slightly dim shitzu who doesn’t eat very fast, and i have seen rat cunning in harry that i didn’t know he had, he is swift and stealthy and shameless❤️
resident rascal <3
i don’t think i’ve ever previously prized shamelessness and disgracefulness so much
our most darling harry is 15 years old today, a little deaf but cheerful and spry <3
which means a special meatball must be baked and also:
very happy australian birthday wishes to jaq<3
happiest of days to all of our cheerful and spry ones! <3
omg <3
oh happy harry birthday!
happy birthday you mischievous devil! <3
saw this thread over yonder, thought it was going to be about henry
i mean harry! of course
haha aw <3
we lost our beautiful harry early yesterday morning, very suddenly. he took ill so we took him to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with internal beeding from a large tumor on his liver and spleen. he had to be euthanised immediately as he was in pain and failing very quickly. he’d shown no symptoms at all, he was cheerful, eating well, walking 3–4 times with enthusiasm. his death was very peaceful. our grief is indescribable. he was a wonderful little dog and we are very grateful to have had him for so long. rip little man.
I’m so sorry to hear that <3 he was a little champion of dog pictures on the internet
thank you deems, he really was a wee corker
oh i’m so sorry <3
aw estela i’m sorry. i know he had a long and happy life with you though.
I am so very sorry, e. He was the best little rotter.
thank you mookie and harbly and tza. this is so painful, we can hardly bear it. but we know we were very lucky to have him for 15 years, and it was our great pleasure to give him a lovely life. he was a delight.
he was far and away the best quadruped ever to say hi to me on the internet, that’s for sure
i’m so sorry. i wish i could have flopped his ears and given all of you a hug
<3