The Zoo

I absolutely love animals. Not like one of those fake people who just love the idea of loving animals who own a dog and pat it on the head on the way inside and that's all the attention it gets or one of those people who could just not bear to have an animal but they love them anyway, nope, I genuinely love my animals and them me.

My fiance, Alan, finds this a little bit much at times and should I eye out any kitty or puppy, he looks and me and sternly says "No, babe! The zoo is closed!"

Our zoo consists of 4 cats, 2 dogs and a piggy. The piggy will be off to a new home soon though as leaving her unsupervised with the dogs isn't a great idea but we'll have full visiting rights.

It is perhaps strange that I have never written much about my animals before as they are such an integral part of my life and each one has their own unique and often amusing personality.

The 4 cats consist of Bean, Sprout, Mo(hammed) and Katastrofes. All of them exceptionally loving and sweet but some stand out a little more.

Sprout, for example, is on life number 6. Not the brightest kitty, she's trapped herself in a roller garage door, on a barbed-wire fence, dived into Alan's bowl of ice-cream (and my face a week later) and is generally just very accident prone. She's always incredibly happy though and you'd swear that she's had the easiest life ever.

Katastrofes is a ventriloquist. She is the only cat I've ever seen who is able to meow with her mouth completely closed.

Mo is the only male cat and the youngest of them. Mo is extremely clever and when he was very little, I decided to see if I could train him to do something interesting. Mo now jumps into the empty bath (although he didn't always check first when he was younger) and reaches up to the side of the bath and pulls the plug down into the bath for me to put in the hole (he's only accomplished putting it into the hole 2 or 3 times himself) and give him water. He also lets us bath him in warm water and loves to play with the dogs. Mo unfortunately only has between 2 and 5 months to live due to cat leukemia but we are doing everything we can to keep him happy and make him comfortable.

My two dogs are very attached to me and me to them and they even sleep with me in my bed, often hogging the blankets and sharing my pillow and snoring little doggy snores (or LOUD doggy snores) in my ear.

Fatty is a chow-cross and is as naughty as they come. She loves everyone and everything and is ready to play with any potential burglars. Having grown up with cats, she believes with all her doggy heart that she too is a kitty and she shows this by clearing our dining room table, lying on top of the couch back rest and clouting the cats, pig and other dog, with her big paws.

Gubbels is a sausage dog. Not a mini, a normal size sausage. This dog has an endless supply of "kisses" for anyone and is exceptionally possessive of Al and I and will do whatever it takes to sit on our laps, even if Fatty or the cats are there already.

These animals are my furry children and I love them with every fibre of my being and I just wanted to share a little bit of the joy that they bring to me every day :)