Ashley, Nikki and Rufus, courtesy Ashley Niels
Each week, we feature a new multi-pet household and today we’re featuring another household full of all kinds of species! Ashley and Nikki are the bloggers behind I Love Rescue Animals and, judging from the gang they live with, it’s true!
Here’s their line up of three dogs, six cats and four rats!
Spunky – Husky/Shepherd mix – Dog – 8 years old
Snarf – Briard mix – Dog – 3.5 years old
Rufus – Maltipoo – Dog – 5.5 years old
Zane – black, short haired cat – 7.5 years old
Akima – Diluted Calico cat – 7 years old
Merlin – Classic Tabby cat – 4 years old
Cleo – Tabby cat – 3.5 years old
Satsuki – gray and white short haired cat – 3 years old
Jacob – orange short haired cat – 3 years old
Tootles – Himalayan – Fancy Rat – 3.5 years old
Twinby – Himalayan – Fancy Rat – 3.5 years old
Athena – Grey Hooded – Fancy Rat – 3 years old
Artemis – Fawn – Fancy Rat – 3 years old
The first kid Ashley says she adopted was Spunky, back in 2004. The last to be adopted was Jacob, in 2010. Everyone else is scattered in between.
Spunky, Rufus, Akima and Zane are all from the same shelter in Northern Wisconsin. Merlin is off the streets in Wisconsin. Snarf, Cleo and Satsuki are from the side of the road in rural Tennessee. Jacob is from the gutter outside Ashley and Nikki’s house in Texas. And finally the rats are rescues from a pet store in Austin.
How they ended up with so many is because, as Ashley says, “animals just have a way of finding us and we have had several failed fosters.”
Rufus is Ashley’s mom’s dog but thy are caring for him while she’s going to college. There are also times where Ashley and Nikki’s family grew in huge spurts. For instance, Snarf, Cleo and Satsuki were all found together on the side of the road.
All the rats (five at the time) came home on the same day too when a pet store worker begged Ashley and Nikki to take them because they had been raised as pets but because they were older, the pet store owner kept throwing them in with the “snake food” rats.
Ashley says, “We had a much more ‘normal’ amount of animals before those incidents!”
Ashley says the gang gets along very well. “The dogs, especially Spunky, has always been around lots of other animals and species so he sets the example for everyone else,” she says.
She says they are cautious with a couple of the animals around the rats but for the most part, everything is harmonious.
Ashley says a multi pet household is a good thing. “Everyone always has a friend to play with and can keep each other company.”
Way to go, Ashley and Nikki! Thanks for sharing your story with us!
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Wow, they have almost as many animals as I do. Good for them. It sounds like they all get along really well. Those people are so wonderful to adopt all those lucky animals. Love this story.