Sweet Gum Minis' Pets

Our Pets

Last Updated: 12-23-10

Meet the pets at Sweet Gum Minis.

Kitty Cats I have a very soft spot for cats. As a result we often have several. All of our cats are rescues in one form or another. Some were homeless and we took them in and others were foster cats that we adopted through the Kitten Action Team. We volunteered with the Kitten Action Team from 2003 till 2004. I had to stop fostering because I had a hard time letting them go. :o) Kitties are in order of when they joined our family.
	Wendy DOB: Estimated 3/2000 Inside ~ This is Wendy. Wendy was a stray kitten who was walking along the menu sign at Wendy's restaurant in the drive-thru one night. She was approximately 5-6 weeks old. I convinced my (now hubby) to go back and catch her. Little did we know it was just the beginning to our kitty adventures. ~ Wendy is very affectionate to us but shy towards strangers. She's a lap kitty loving to cuddle. She's really claimed my hubby as her person.
	Felix DOB: 3-28-03 Inside ~ This is Felix. I was fostering cats and kittens for the Kitten Action Team and he was a kitten in my first litter to raise. We'd actually decided to keep a kitten and chose him because he is completely black. Black cats are very hard to home for some reason. I loved his 3 siblings dearly and wanted to keep them all. He's my way of remembering them. ~ Felix is my baby. He has been spoiled by me since he was 2 weeks old so he's not shy at all. He's a huge cat too, being part main coon. He's pure fluff and not aware of his size. He did have to battle with an upper respiratory infection as a kitten so he has permanent respiratory issues but we love him no less!
	Itty Bit DOB: Estimated 6/14/04 Inside ~ This is Itty Bit. This itty bitty kitty decided to "call" us. LOL We were leaving and at the car we heard faint meows down the road. Well of course I had to check it out. We walked down the road less than 30 feet and I saw this terrified little kitten sitting maybe 5 feet from the road (dangerous road too) and hunkered down. I mewed to her but she didn't budge and had a fearful look in her eyes so I said, "come mere little kitty" and she immediately ran to me. I scooped her up and toted her to the house. She was called Itty Bit from the start so it stuck. She has turned out to be quite the sweet little kitty.
	Tigress DOB: 2009 Barn Kitty ~ This beautiful orange and white kitty is Tigress. Her brother and sister joined our farm to be barn mousers and the only one who has hung around is Tigress. Her sister is a blue-eyed girl and her brother was a big ol' boy. They're likely to show up again one day. Tigress has taken to hanging out in the barn fully and became the milk parlor pal quickly. She learned that after I finished milking and jarring my milk, she got to lick the milk bucket clean and has made sure to be in the parlor every morning when I milk. Smart kitty. She was a very timid kitty to begin with having been a feral kitten, but you can't tell that now. She's a wonderful kitty cat.
	Lil' Grey DOB: Sept 2011 Inside ~ This little guy turned up in our barn one morning. He ran off when the goats started the feed time commotion. He came to the right place though. We found him up near the road and brought him in. He got to enjoy goats' milk until he was big enough to be weaned and has stayed indoors since. He's a character and my daughter's pet kitty.

Dogs
We turned our attentions towards retired racing Greyhounds and volunteered and fostered with Greyhounds & Love. We did this from 2004 till 2005. We 'chipped' with our last foster dog, Ace. Both Ace and Bear have since moved on to the Rainbow Bridge. Rest in peace sweet boys.

Barnyard Critters Other critters residing here.
	Kuzco DOB: 4/2010 Guardian Llama ~ Meet Kuzco, click his picture to see his page and learn more about guardian llamas.
	Rags DOB: 2004 Pony ~ Meet Rags, click his picture to see his page. Rags is our first equine and my daughter's first pony.

Rainbow Bridge Animals who have graced us with their presence but have since passed on to the rainbow bridge. Rest in peace my sweeties.
	Chloe DOB: Estimated 1997-11/11 Inside ~ This is Chloe. Chloe found us. We were renting an apartment in a large house at the time. We were feeding a stray tom who hung around a lot and one day I heard a cat fight outside. I was so use to running out to chase the big toms off Max that I was surprised to find he was the one doing the fighting. This terribly skinny white cat trotted up to me and looked down in the empty food bowl. I knew she was in need of food desperately so I opened the door to go in and get more food and she darted past me into the house. So I opened our apartment door and in she trotted and never went back out. She's been a permanent resident with us ever since.
	"Ace" Yer My Pick ~ RIP DOB: 9/11/00-08/11 Retired racing Greyhound ~ This is Ace! His racing name is Yer My Pick but we call him Ace. We were fostering retired racers for Greyhounds & Love here in SC and Ace was our 5th foster dog. We got very attached to Ace after he had a run in with an aquarium here and cut his leg. He just couldn't leave. We picked him up to foster in November 2004 just before Thanksgiving and officially adopted him in January 2005.
	Lily ~ RIP 4/2003 - 6/2009 Inside ~ This is Lily, she's Tiger's sister. Lily was a feral kitten hanging out with her mother and 2 siblings behind Burger King at the dumpster. I was fostering for the Kitten Action Team so I purchased a humane cat-trap and set it to catch these cats. Lily was the first one of the 3 kittens to take it. She was completely terrified of humans in the beginning and was scared to death of what we'd do to her. We placed her in a cat-cage at our house to tame her. The next morning we caught her brother Tiger. Tiger was even more scared of us. Over the course of several weeks we got them to come around. A foster mom cat named Katrina that we had helped to bring them out of their shells. She would meow to them in her mamma cat voice and they'd run to her. When they saw that we weren't hurting her they let us pet them. Lily came around first and has become the best cat! She is the biggest lap cat I've ever seen even though she's the smallest of our adult cats. ~ Lily lost the control of her rear legs today. We took her to the vet and it was determined that she had a blood clot lodged in her spine causing cold feet and no feeling. She was humanely euthanized. We are very upset and will miss our sweet little Lily. Rest in peace sweetie.
	Tiger ~ RIP 4/2003 - 11/2006 Inside ~ This is Tiger, he's Lily's brother. We trapped him the day after catching Lily and kept the two of them together for comfort while we got to know them. It took several weeks to get them to trust us enough to touch them but with the help of one of my foster mom cats, Katrina, they came around. Tiger took a lot longer than his sister to trust us. She seemed to know that she was in a great home but Tiger needed a little extra reassuring. After being with us for over a year he finally sees what he's been missing out on. He is a pure and total lap cat now. ~ Tiger died in November of 2006 from a urinary blockage. It was sudden and completely heart breaking. We miss this sweet boy terribly. Rest in peace Tiger.
	"Bear" Budda Bear ~ RIP 6/19/1996 - 8/06 Retired racing Greyhound ~ We adopted Bear in January 2004. He was our first retired racing greyhound. He was 8 years old when he joined us and died in August 2006 at just over 10 years old. He was a super sweet boy, my shadow. He followed me everywhere I went and was most content to be at my feet. I was a part time tech student at the time so we spent a lot of time together. Rest in peace sweet Bear.

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