(I think the pets were actually Kio and Jessica's pets and Casey was with them when Jessica's hamster "Sage" was buried, IIRC, right?)
The "hope/holt" sounds like she was probably just saying "home" but the line was a little staticky or she had a little nasal congestion or something, but I can't dismiss the possibility that she could have slipped and said "holt" by accident or for some reason.
Thanks for the thread. The weirdest part for me about this conversation between her and Lee is poor Lee asking her if there's anything she can tell them to help them find Caylee, to just tell him or the police directly and not wait to go through her attorney, and all she can say is "Nothing I can think of offhand, but I'm going to be meeting with Jose and he's bringing videos of some of the media coverage and if anything comes up I'll be sure and let you know." And her going on about what her "gut" is telling her. That her "days for the past month or so are all thrown in together" (i.e. she can't really remember one day from the other), but right now her gut is telling her Caylee's okay and "that's my best feeling for the moment, but if that changes, I'll let you know." (And poor Lee just going, "Huh?".) So crazy.