[Swan]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...a long time ago when I was a child...I recall my mum saying..well yes, this is your new dog member of the family and he’s very lovely etc...but he will never, ever, ever be allowed in the front room on my lovely carpet and sofa etc...don’t you children even think about that because I’m having none of that nonsense...he has a lovely bed in the kitchen...maybe a few days or a week or so later...?..there he was, snuggled in bed with mum and dad and her being perfectly fine with it...he was so sneaky with his charm and so shameless with his bed hopping from one family member to another and going around and around the beds...

That's a brilliant story, love it Dogs are just so lovable!

Originally Posted by Ammi

...with cats as well..?...I was always, always a dog person because we’d always had family dog people...but my son found two kittens in a bin one day and adopted them...and oh my Lord, those two cat people......no one ever told me the character of cats...

Yep, same with me really, never had cats as a child. But then, one of the many (grrrraaahh makes me mad) cats they have next door (which they care very little for, shut out all night, left to fend for themselves etc), which they only got to keep the rats they had away, had kittens. There is a few that have had kittens, they never get them neutered. One of their cats who lives in the shed, has had 3 litters this summer, i feed it every day, poor little mite. Anyway, im ranting.....

So basically they would shut this other cat out all night, and every time i let Mickey out in the garden it would run in ours, i fed it, stroked it and off it went. Then it started to come in and run up the stairs, we think so she didn't have to go back out. Anyway she was getting bigger and bigger so we knew she was pregnant. We just said 'ok she's ours now, she can have her babies here and we'll give them good homes'. Baring in mind she was barely a year old and about to give birth, a tiny cat she is too. So the time came, she had a big box, papered and comfy, she gave birth to SEVEN kittens. However, we started to name them, we gave 3 to friends, and kept 4 (yes we only intended to keep one haha). Molly, Teddy, Daisy, and Gizmo because that one looks kinda like a Gremlin

All lovely, all have their own characters. Sadly, my boy, the only boy Teddy, got ran over and died 3 weeks after Mickey passed. It was rough!

Here are some pictures