WILK AGAIN

This is Wilk at the age of four months after an incident that led him to vet. When I get up, Wilk licks my hands and jumps at me to lick my face. Once he swallowed up my silver earring. I took him to the vet and he had an X-ray done which showed the round earring inside his stomach. The vet gave him some medicine to vomit, but the earring was large and Wilk was not able to throw it up; so a surgery was necessary. When I was signing the papers for the surgery, Wilk managed to throw up the earring – completely oxidized by the gastric juices. Later on I was telling the story to the History Teacher when she interrupted me to make an astonishing comment: «That is nothing compared to what I witnessed at the vet – a distressed master and his dog, a German shepherd, that had swallowed up a mobile phone!» Can you imagine a mobile phone ringing inside a dog´s belly?!

9ºC - BERNARDO B.'S PET - Roxie

My dog was born on August 10th, 2008. Her mother gave birth to eight puppies: six of them died at birth and only two survived. When they were 2 months old, their master offered one of them to my father. As my father came home with a puppy, I was so happy that I asked my mother to let it stay with us. My mother agreed and chose the name of Roxie. As time was passing by, Roxie happened to be a gnawing creature! She has gnawed my bed and bedside table, the chairs in the kitchen and she has made a hole in the couch. My mother asked my father to give the dog away because of the damage. But I could not allow it because I loved her.
I feed her and I give her medicines every month, I take her for a walk three times a day and she sleeps with me. I love my dog and I cannot live without her anymore.

I AM A CAT AND I SLEEP WHEREVER I WANT (2)

9ºC - REVIS S.'PET - Lily

This is my turtle. Her name is Lily. She is still a baby - two months old. She is lovely. She spends most of the day swimming around her aquarium. She loves sleeping on a sort of island inside the aquarium. When she rests on the island, she keeps her shell under the water but her head is above the water. Although she spends most her time underwater, she breathes air and must surface at regular intervals to refill her lungs. Lily is very sweet and I hope she will live long to keep us company for many, many years. Did you know that the flesh of turtles is considered a delicacy in some countries? E.g. turtle soup is a prized dish in Anglo-American cuisine. If they had a Lily like mine, they would not be able to eat any flesh of turtle!!!

FAMOUS QUOTES (2)

«ANIMALS ARE SUCH AGREEABLE FRIENDS - THEY ASK NO QUESTIONS, THEY PASS NO CRITICISM.»
George Eliot

THE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER'S PET - Nina

I am Nina. My mistress has got seven pets, but I am her favourite one! I am the one who enjoys going out with her and keeping up with her, wherever she goes. My favourite walks are across the mountains and along the beaches. At the beach we dig together deep holes and we usually end up eating a delicious ice-cream. We are FRIENDS forever!

9ºA - JOÃO D.'S PET - Buda

My pet is a male chinchilla and his name is Buda because he is fluffy, softy and puffy. He was born August 1st 2007; so he is 3 years old.
Chinchillas are similar to rabbits and they come from Chile where they were in danger of extinction because of their coat.
Buda is special to me: not only because he is my only pet, but also because he is my companion. When I come home, he loves walking around the house, jumping and hiding behind the furniture. I enjoy watching him – I find it very funny.
Buda eats almonds, raisins, nuts, figs and cereals. Chinchillas do not wash in water but in a special kind of sand.
All these details make me be so fond of Buda.

9ºA - JOÃO R.'S PET - Skout

My dog´s name is Skout. He is a sable German Shepherd. He is 2 years old.
He enjoys long walks at the beach and he loves swimming in the waves of the sea. He is an excellent swimmer and a born life-guard! Just imagine the situation: when he watches someone swimming far from the shore, he plunges into the water and swims towards that person in order to rescue him/her! He wants to take people back to the shore whereas people are completely puzzled and do not know how to react!
Skout is loyal, obedient and intelligent. That is why I like him so much. However, he is a cunning fellow! Since he has tasted human food, he frowns at dogs’ feed!

9ºC - RITA G.'S PET - Mio

This is Mio, my lovely cat. I mean, not everybody describes her as being a "cute cat", but I disagree because I can't resist her big yellow/green eyes.
Like any other cat her life is basically sleeping, eating, catching flies, scratching pillows and looking at me while I am reading or studying.
I love her long tail, her curious ears and her strong personality - it is not funny at all, when she shows off her personality by using her claws!
I hope she will become calmer and friendlier to strangers. I hope she will stop making a mess in my room, too!

9ºC - CAROLINA T.'S PETS - Osiris & Cookie

I have got two pets that I adore. One is a cat, called Osiris, and the other is a hamster, named Cookie. Well, my cat would like to call him an appetizing cookie.
Osiris loves sleeping and he is always «stealing» our chairs around the house. The one he loves best is the large armchair in the living room. I love his yellow eyes. Every time we look at him, he closes them in a lazy way that I love. Just like a coquette! My hamster is a bit different. He only gets out of his little house at night and when he does it, we know there will be noises. We bought him a wheel for exercise but he ignores it and entertains himself by chewing the bars of his cage. He chews it so hard that we can hear the bites and the cage shaking. Usually we have to close the door so that we can't hear him.

I AM A CAT AND I SLEEP WHEREVER I WANT (1)

Special thanks to the Maths Teacher, V.L., who has sent me a set of these photos to be published regularly

THE ENGLISH TEACHER'S PARTNER'S PET - Zita

Hello! My name is ZITA and, as you can see in the picture, I’m a very nice cat. The person who is holding me is Helena. She takes care of me and she is a good friend. She is a teacher of English in a school in Setúbal and that is why I´m talking to you in English. She taught me. She says I’m a very good learner.
This picture was taken when I was almost a baby, three months ago. I’m a big girl now and a very curious one, too. Well, you know what they say, “curiosity killed the cat” and last month I almost died because of that. I really wanted to see what the street was like, so I jumped out of the window. The worst part was that I didn’t know that living on the fourth floor was sooooo high! It was really scary!!!!! I almost lost my tail and I hurt my leg very badly. Helena took me to the Vet’s and I was operated there. I was lucky this time. I’m almost fine now and I hope I’ve learnt my lesson (well, at least Helena hopes so). Bye for now. And ... don’t be too curious!

9ºA - ANA FILIPA L.' PETS - Tweety & Nina

I have to pets: a canary and a dog.
The canary is Tweety and the dog is Nina.
Nina is seven years old and Tweety is four years old.
They are very cute. Tweety is a small, yellow-feathered song-bird. He lives in a white cage and sings the whole day.
Nina is "my best friend».
She can't stop wagging her tail when I arrive home.
She is so funny,isn't she?

FAMOUS QUOTES (1)

«THE GREATNESS OF A NATION AND ITS MORAL PROGRESS ARE MEASURED BY THE WAY ITS ANIMALS ARE TREATED»
M. Gandhi

GABRIEL AND STANLEY - «a cat-and-dog life»

Do you know the phrase «it is raining cats and dogs» meaning that «rain is coming down heavily»? And what about «cat-and-dog life» meaning an existence full of quarrels? Well, these English phrases seem to warn us that whenever cats and dogs come across, you shouldn’t expect anything good or pleasant. However, this is a stereotype! Real cats and real dogs that share the same home can unmask this common sense opinion. Have a look at Gabriel and Stanley! They can be proof to the contrary. Special thanks to the Special Education Teacher who has sent me this lovely videoclip.

THE ENGLISH TEACHER'S TEACHER'S PET - FARÓFIA

- What’s your cat called?
- Farófia Gatucho! :o)
- I see… So your cat is all white, just like the Portuguese dessert…
- Well, I’m afraid not. He looks a bit like a small tiger and he also acts like one at times :o) But to me he’s surely sweet and a great companion.
- And… how old is he now?
- He was born on 17th October 2000. In the meantime, he’s become a handsome middle-aged gentleman, pardon, gentlecat.
- How does he spend his days?
- Well, he just loves sitting by the window and taking a nice sunbath, playing around, doing a couple of crazy things, lying by my side and sleeping right there, as close to me as he can be.
- That’s sweet!
- I told you so! :o)

THE HISTORY TEACHER'S PETS (2) - ZÉ LUÍS

Mourning our irreplaceable Eddie we took a fancy to this street cat which we named Zé Luís. Zé Luís is our companion everywhere in the house, especially when we are studying and working. When we come back home and open the door, we know there is someone in there anxiously waiting for us.

THE HISTORY TEACHER'S PETS (1) - EDDIE

We got Eddie Murphy as a heritage from a divorce. He had moved from place to place before we gave him a new home. His name was due to his black colour, the expression of his look and the sympathy we feel for the actor. Eddie had been living with us for four years when Henrique (the eldest youngster at home) went for a ride on his bike and found an injured dark cat which, after a bath, happened to be white and fair. He brought him home to get him healed and the cat eventually stayed with us facing Eddie’s indifference. A week later, Eddie disappeared. He had jumped over the balcony and fallen onto the pavement. Was it suicide or accident?