Elvis - A Lighted Candle

[juliepresleyfan]

Hi Wanda
was wondering if Elvis had any cats, wonder what his dogs where like too, getlo looks cute in pics, lovely dog .
I think i read on here that He had a cat called Sylvester didnt he ?
did you ever see any of his pets, i suppose he must of took dogs for a walk in gracelands grounds maybe.
there ought to be a book dedicated to his pets maybe, i would sure love to see it, love the pic of Elvis at christmas with a little dog in his arms , and the dog is definitely looking with love up at his master, any one know the little cuties name, ofcourse i know the other cutie is Elvis LOL, sorry could not resist that tee hee.
but the little cuddley cutie id love to know his name too lol.
julie xx

[ALNA]

I know he had two Great Danes, Snoopy and Brutus, have lots of pics of them.

Priscilla also had a poodle, Honey and a white Maltese too.


Nadine

[Rainbow Light]

Have also seen a picture of Elvis and Priscilla with a collie dog that sort of looked something like the famous "Lassie" of movie fame - her name was Baba and was the one used in the helicopter scene in "Paradise Hawaiian Style".

Think they had tried to get her trained for that scene, she did get on very well with Elvis apparently though it maybe didn't look that way in that particular scene, it has to be said! though maybe they had trained her to bark and snap at him on a cue.

Know which little dog you mean in the Christmas picture, Julie but don't know it's name, yeah Elvis was cute too though!

Can't say for 100% definite about the cat but know his Aunt Delta had that little Pomeranian, Edmund who, legend tell, was miserable and not great tempered at times!

Seen a picture from a concert in a book where Elvis introduced - on stage - his little dog 'Getlo', real sweet!

Wanda, have heard that Elvis kept peacocks for a while in the 60's too? and that one got into a fight with its own reflection in the mirror on one of his prized automobiles?!

[maia]

Wanda can go into more detail feline-wise, but I do know he had cats and one was named "Sylvester", whom he said drooled on his blue shirt...this when he was telling Wanda...really quite casually, that he wanted to be buried in that shirt. It was 1977.

[Wanda June Hill]

Hi, he had lots of animals, birds, the chimp, mules, cows, pigs, chickens of course, peacocks, a parrot that spoke "his" language, cats some were dropped off there, and I think Sylvester was Lisa's cat some one gave her, but I don't know that for sure as he never said and I don't recall ever reading about it. He said he was alergic to cats he thought-His mom liked dogs and he had given her a little pom and then his Aunt had one too, that he called "that dawg" who didn't like him sometimes apparently. And wasn't entirely housebroken either as he found out one day, unhappily so. The collie was a favorite and I think was Priscilla's or maybe his, whatever it was one that he said was "in heaven" and came rushing to greet him when he was with his mom after being very ill and nearly dying, apparently. He felt the dog and then it leaped on him as it used to do when he came home. The Great Danes were favorites-and got in his bed with him in it! He was laughing and saying, get off me, oh god get off me! and they were slurping all over his face and he couldn't get untangled or out from under them-they were huge! He got them to take care of Lisa! She was like a toy doll to them but I guess they were very, very gentle and good with her. I think they had fish too, a fish tank or two and someone gave him a little octapus that he called "Ocky" and said it would flip water at him when it wanted to eat with one of it's legs.
Apparently, while he wasn't going home to Graceland much right after his dad got married, the little creature got out and apparently no one had been feeding it so it got out and dried up under his desk or bed, not sure now what that story was. He told that one to my sis-in law...that he wanted to get it a mate and did, but he didn't know that the females had to be bigger than the males so his male ate the other one. He liked to cried she said...and he was horrified to find the remains. The tank was full of black from the ink I guess of the one being eaten... And of course, him being him, he felt guilty for not being there to take care of the one who got out and died. So he didn't have any more fish tanks up there if anywhere. He wasn't into snakes much though and I know he didn't really want to eat the survivial insects that the army has them "try" but he did and said it wasn't that bad, just the idea of the thing. Then he told some gruesome stories of what people in other countries eat on a daily basis-ugh- And he laughed of course and went into great detail on some of them.
He would have loved seeing his Cilla eating earth worms on that tv show she first did about animals. She was the animal lover also-very much so-they had that in common. The peacocks he had scratched up his new car's paint and he wasn't too happy about that. He could really imatate them calling though-very close! And he sent Starla some feathers-which she still has, bedraggled that they be. He told about finding a baby gray squirral that was not doing well in the yard and trying to save it, but it died and "they burried it" out there. I guess him and Cilla as she was visiting at the time. And crows-he had this thing about crows lighting in the back yard or hanging a round-he said they brought warnings of bad news etc: and so on. And said that when he went home when his mother was sick and in the hospital and the night she died, there was a flock of them in the trees behind the house, silently sitting there as if holding a wake. He was talking almost to himself when he said that, and I remember I had the phone almost shoved inside my ear trying to hear what he was saying, some I missed but I sure didn't ask him to repeat it. He did love animals though, liked to see the geese on the lake near there and ducks and didn't want to duck hunt though I guess as a kid he did do that but he couldn't shoot them.
He said he never liked killing animals-though he had shot some to eat a time or two and he had caught fish to eat also. He just didn't think they had to suffer before dying or while dying just for human beings to eat. That's about all I know about his dogs. Except he never had one growing up because they were too poor to feed themselves much less a dog. wjh

[Rainbow Light]

Thanks for telling us so much more about all the animals had, Wanda! Understand that Elvis and Cilla were both so fond of animals and that Priscilla would find and bring back some strays too which they would add to the collection?

It must have been so sad and hard for Elvis when Gladys died and how strange that flock of crows were sitting up in the trees behind the house too.

[Wanda June Hill]

Apparently crows have special meanings for indians-my husband's mother who was indian and his father was full blood Creek indian, also looked to crows for things. A feather falling curved side up near you as a one flew over meant good luck soon. You save the feather and put it with whateveryou need-money etc;. A crow feather upside down is a warning to watch your possessions. A crow who comes to your home and hangs around, lighting in the yard etc; and watching you, quietly, is there as a messenager-and will lert you to danger-and they do! Our crows yell and arch their neck and point with their heads and beaks just like a dog pointing when a stranger is around, coming up walking on our long drive or in the lots next to ours. They never miss anything "strange" or out of the "ordinary" even strange dogs are noted and called to our attention. Our crows who were born here and came to our bird feeder for the cracked corn I put out just for them, with birdseed for smaller birds raised their young h ere, when the young began to fly the adults gave them areas to stay in and then they took off. The young ones would hollar, jump up and down, turn summersalts and carry on but their parents kept going. The young ones would not leave the area they were "told" to stay in either. It was amazing and so human like at times! If one did disobey, he was punished by being left in a small area, where he had to stay-sometimes he had to sit on the fence all day-getting down only to eat or drink then jumping right back on that fence. He screamed and hollared but he stayed there until they flew in for him. Then of all the begging you ever saw from that young one-and his parents fed him. That isolation lasted a couple of days, and the area bigger each week until they got to go with the parents. The older crow young, from the year before had to babysit the new ones also-it was funny.
I taught them to not sit in our trees by the house and yell by going out and making a loud noise and saying, "outof my tree!" And now all I have to do is step outside and say quietly, "Are you in my tree yelling?"
And they instantly hush and stay quiet. Occasionally one will be there and yell after I go in. I go out and say Ok out of my tree now! And clap my hands. He takes off to the neighbors and yells there. It's a riot. I'love them.
And I believe they do bring messages- when Jim's sister died, 3 crows sat in our tree in the front yard for two days-saying not a word. On the day she was cremated, the 3 day, they left. And what was stranger, at her home where daughter and husband were, 3 crows sat on their roof and left on the day she was cremated. They took a picture of them...because they knew she believed in their "magic ways". wjh

[Lighthouseseeker]

beautiful Wanda!..I love them too..I always carry some dry cat food in my bag cause I meet cats,dogs in the streets here,everywhere and crows also follow me and they know what I leave in the corners,are something to eat whenever I do that for a cat or a dog and I give some more for them in a different corner and they come and get it usually..you can easily communicate with crows and they love cat food too,I know it very well.

[Wanda June Hill]

Great news! I am not alone...I used to carry a leash and collar, food and water for the stray dogs out here and now I carry a halter and lead rope for one never knows if a horse will appear! And cats-they just come to us-not here though because we had so many and I "said" no more cats! And none came that stayed, until a couple years ago when I thought I heard an exotic bird caterwalling, but it was a kitten about 6 weeks old a long way from any place, so tiny she could barely get up the tree when our half cayote dog and I started walking that way. Hawks were after her, and crows had lined up on the wires above looking down and "talking about her" and chasing off the hawks! They were "our"crows so they knew we liked cats. Anyway, I sat in a lawn chair for hours waiting for Jimmie to come home-so he could climb the ladder to get her-I can't do more than 3 steps or I get dizzy! Anyway, our stallion was right there too and we three, him, the dog Rose and all the crows kept her safe until he came and got her. She stayed in our bathtub for a couple of weeks, then began to get out but we kept her in the bathroom because of the dogs and other cats-until she was old enough to run good. I named her ms Piggy-because she ate so much-and grew so fast. She is the most beautiful calico 4 colors/I have ever seen and marked so uniquely. Her full name is Ms. Piggy Horribella and she lives up to it! She's Jims cat-he "saved her from the tree". We found her little brother under a big weed down in the pasture fence line-I guess he was too weak and dehydrated to make it up to the corral and tree. He was more white than she and just curled up sleeping forever. Have no idea where they came from. But not more than a week before I made the mistake of saying, we've had every color cat eye there is-except the very pale lemon yellow-well, guess what color her eyes are! wjh She is strictly a house cat-does not go outside-the cayote is so jealous of her and Jimmie whom she considers hers, she would kill her and eat her probably. Piggy doesn't mind staying in-she is afraid of the outdoors. And of Rose, I think she may have seen her mother fighting, killed and carried off by a cayote. She doesn't mind at all our big dog who is light tan and doesn't look anything like a cayote, or the other dog who was part lab and jet black. It's just Rose that scares her.

[Rainbow Light]

Well, I sure have learnt some things today, especially about crows so thanks for the enlightening information, Wanda and Zey!

[Rainbow Light]

He said he was alergic to cats he thought

I've heard this too from another source, that Elvis thought he'd been allergic to cats, some people are for sure though but surely if one is allergic to cats they would be allergic to dogs too, or anything furry, maybe?

Elvis sure had so many wonderful pets and loved animals, that we know!

[ALNA]

Lisa is allergic too but still she can't say no to a new kitten

[Wanda June Hill]

There were cats at Graceland, and Elvis liked cats, but they did make him sneeze. Lots of people are that way-it's their washing themselves so much, cats are so clean, you know and use their tongues. Their silivia has a "detergent" element that removes smell and etc; so they can hunt better as they are/were foremost hunting animals, dependant on being sneaky to catch their food-mice mainly though birds are sometimes their victums. Elvis didn't like cat hair or dog hair all over him or the place and he said horse hair made him itch but he still loved horses and enjoyed grooming them.
I am alergic to horse dander, dirt and hay but I still love my horses and wish I could groom them like I used to do. However, allergies get worse as you get older especially if you don't stay away from whatever it is.
Lisa has several things she probably got from her daddy's bloodline. wjh

[Rainbow Light]

Thank you for your replies and feedback, both Alna and Wanda!!

[MaryInTheMorning]

Thank you so much dear Wanda for the fascinating information you shared with us about Elvis' pets and his love for all of God's special little creatures. My thanks to you also Alna for the wonderful information you shared with us too!