Storytelling is a great stress reliever.  People love to tell pet stories.  We all have one.  What’s yours?

Stories do have that magical quality of relieving our stress.  Just ask the family of Walt Disney; he recognized the value of storytelling and turned it into a business.  He has millions of fans worldwide who have been inspired by his stories.

In this time of severe economic downturn it’s important to keep a good attitude so we can function better.  Keeping our spirits up is easy when you begin recalling various pets, yours or even the neighbors’ animals.  Pet stories are something everyone can identify with and recall easily.  Everyone has a pet story that can make you laugh. 

Photo by Olaf @ flickr - Olaf’s story:  “It's not what it looks like. Or perhaps it is. My leg (as briefly pictured in the upper-left-hand corner) is gnarled up with road rash. I was sitting in a media chair with my pants down to ease the pain on my thigh. My dog, Bacca, decided the pants were amply warm, convenient, and inviting, so she crawled in. What? That's not how you roll at your house? Don't judge me.”

***

As I was updating my profile on HubPages I started having some fun relating personality profiles of my current pets. Reading through the profiles on HubPages I discovered there are a lot of sociable fun-loving people who are in love with their children and their pets. Great! A green light to tell pet stories! It doesn’t get any better than that. That’s when I decided to write this pet stories hub. I bet the comments are going to be really funny and interesting! Sometimes, I think I write some hubs just to see the intriguing things people like to impart. People can be a lot of fun too. Life is good.

Zoo pets

This may have to become a series of hubs about pet stories. I have known a lot of pet characters since I was a child. I’ve always been in love with little fur people on four feet. Even when I was a kid I was serious about becoming a zoo vet just so I could have lots of different and interesting pets. Then reality set in and I decided that vet school was just too limiting in focus. The love of animals never left.

I still love zoos and visit with the animals who visit back. When other visitors are jeering or annoying I take the time to calm the animals and whisper, “Yeah! Stupid humans! They don’t know they are the ones on the wrong side of the bars.” Baboons seem to really get that conversation and listen intently, snubbing the mean people rather than retreat from the bullying. Have you ever noticed how their hands are so much like ours? It’s uncanny.

Warrior cats

In this hub I’ll just visit with you about my current family pack of pets: the warrior cats.

Her formal name is Miss Tahitian Black Pearl as she is a pearl of great price. Pearl is a petite black kitty who was a Hurricane Katrina rescue. When she found her way to my doorstep she was in really bad condition and half-dead when she adopted me. Most of her fur was missing (no mange) and her skin was extremely dry.

It took two years to heal her physically and emotionally. She definitely had trust issues, yet, curiously, trusted me implicitly from the beginning. She may be the smallest of the family pack but it is she who is really a warrior kitty; don't mess with Miss Pearl.

To this day she jumps up behind me on the couch and guards me diligently from open doorways. She reminds me of those Siamese attack cats who used to guard the walls in ancient times. They were trained to jump down onto the back of the neck of the intruder and snap their neck. Killer cats. There really is such a thing with domestic cats. Pearl must be one of their descendants.

When she first came to live with us she started to attack my husband for getting too close to me. She literally had my back like any good strong warrior. You should see how fast she can deliver eight right jabs in a few seconds; the old girl is fast. She means business. My husband looked at her and asked me if she was going to rip his head off his shoulders. Oddly enough, she listened to me, calmed down and made friends with him.

Just to make sure she is on the right page with not hurting anyone we have little training sessions from time to time. Is there a Masters degree for Cat Whisperer..? Please skip the application papers and send the degree document. I'll be sure to frame it right away.

Then there's Michael GoodDragon, born in the Chinese year of the dragon, a tuxedo black and white, he's in charge as household prayer warrior turned mellow guy. He is simplicity defined. When he's drowsily sleeping he literally glows from the spiritual atmosphere he has cultivated. You just know he really is praying or deep in meditation. He is so unusual he is special.

Curty Cartier is a burly yellow tiger who is a Special Forces warrior who only fights when given no choice. Then he delights in terrifying the interloper yard terrorist who rarely returns to our back patio for a second round.

He is quite the warrior mentor. He likes to train the other cats in the art of self-defense – all in extremely slow motion until they realize what he is doing. He is a strategy guy and likes to impart his wisdom. It really is something to observe how he tries to demonstrate how an opponent will put them in this hold or that one. You think you are on a military base watching some drill instructor showing recruits how to stay alive on the battlefield.

His favorite hobbies are eating, eating some more and sleeping in my office to guard me, don't you know. He figured out Michael GoodDragon, the indoor cat who acts like a majordomo, has a good gig going.

Leonardo, well, he's another tuxedo black and white who has an AKA (also known as) moniker: Leonardo the Love Bandit. He's getting bigger every day. He doesn't fight the yard bullies; he can out run them. He's such a show-off as he has more lung capacity than most cats and is very athletic.

Lord have mercy on the fool bully that might ever succeed in actually catching him. He can stand his ground quite well when motivated. Curty Cartier is his uncle and fighting mentor; he taught Leo well.

Leonardo sports a purple collar; he’s regal. Leonardo must be Italian as he prefers to be The Lover and not a fighter. He is handsome; it must be true. Those Italian guys will steal your heart. That’s why he is called Leonardo the Love Bandit.

As you can tell, my cat family entertains my husband and me endlessly... how about yours? I’d enjoy hearing about your cast of pet characters at your home! Don’t worry, I have plenty of pet stories from my lurid past; stay tuned.

These blogs are where I park my HubPage hubs/articles/recipes. Also, lots of cool photos from our friends over at flickr as I like to promote the photographers who graciously allow use of their photos in the Creative Commons area to online writers. Lots of good quotes, poems, resources and recipes.

The Social Poets - a blog to read poetry, nonjudgmental place for aspiring writers, also online coffeehouse for discussing the social issues in a convivial atmosphere.

The Soul Calendar - a place for the soul to be nurtured, feeding the curious intellect.

The Healing Waters - a welcoming place to stress down and approach health from many angles, healthy recipes too.

Romancing The Chocolate – yummy photos, recipes and just plain fun. Quotes illustrated with chocolate photos to make you laugh!

Comfort Food From Louisiana – yummy easy comfort food recipes, photos of New Orleans, history and cultural traditions of south Louisiana.

hub #15