Me and the animals…

I quite liked the band The Animals, not that I ever went to see them or bought any of their music… I wouldn’t even really say I was a fan… and I wouldn’t say – wouldn’t have said, I was a fan of real animals either. I quite liked them, but as an adult never wanted one. I didn’t go out of my way to see them except in the wild and I really don’t like zoos however good they are.

However… having children sometimes changes that. My daughter was desperate for a pet from a very early age. Our lifestyle prohibited it as every other weekend we travelled a couple of hundred miles to stay with my father and disabled sister, and every month or so we travelled 300 miles to stay with my very elderly mother-in-law.

Things changed eleven years ago when we moved south; my father had died and my mother-in-law moved to a lovely care home near us. My daughter’s campaign swung into action; she has always been a very determined character and nearly always achieves her goals.

A friend who had a pet shop recommended rats; they are intelligent, clean, independent and can be left for a couple of days with sufficient food and water… Welcome to the family Babe and Talon:

Babe, my daughter’s rat, was champagne  and Talon who was my son’s, was a husky. They were tiny when we first had them, but from the first they were adorable; so quick, so clever, so affectionate. They had exquisite table manners, taking a treat – a grape for example, so delicately, holding it in their little hands and eating politely, then washing their faces and whiskers when it was finished. Even my husband who is NOT an animal lover (another story) was won over and happily had them curled on his shoulder while he watched TV or read the newspaper.

Sadly Babe died when only a couple of years old; the one problem with rats is their short life span. To keep Talon company we bought two more:

Only my daughter could tell the difference between our new baby rats who proved as sweet as Babe and Talon. When they too died they were planted in the pets cemetery in our garden with miniatures rose marking their graves.

We had always said we would have no more pets, as adaptable as they were, it is still a responsibility being a pet owner. However… mydaughter is very determined, and after a brief interval with an adopted fifteen year old goldfish called LaLa, we had a new member of our family:

Solo was so small she fitted onto the palm of my hand when she first arrived aged about a month. She’s a Netherland Dwarf and a house bunny and from the start she was feisty, and even after we had her spayed she was still what you might call ‘a character’.

She only accepts cuddles from my daughter, she growls at me and nips my ankles when I’m doing the ironing… and now my daughter has left home and I’m Solo’s carer, she’s still no more friendly even though I buy her treats and peel her apple and carrot (she’s a fussy eater like my daughter)… but somehow she is still so cute!