I remember as a little girl, my grandmother had two cocker spaniels and I simply adored them, I remember chasing after them in the park and across her landing, I knew then that I loved animals. Growing up, when I was at primary school a friend and myself collected spiders in a mason jar and shared the responsibility of caring for them, well not until my mother found out and made me release them verrrrrrrrrrrry far from the house, the only pets then that I could bring home was our school hamster, who was called toffee, obviously to his caramel covered fur.
Growing up I never had pets in my home, my grandad did he had a cat, who had a huge litter, imagine to my granddads surprise Cameron (our cat) brought a litter of 5 adorable kittens to his feet one morning when he was getting ready set off to work, what was funny none of us even knew she was pregnant. One in particular who is with us still to this day 16 years later, Cheetah, he and I have a very close bond, he is a little aggressive, we've seen him fight and win against foxes, he takes pleasure in allowing other cats to come into the garden for him to sneakily pounce on them, our neighbour who had a Persian was not best pleased to find her fluffy white Persian practically bald after it's brief encounter with Cheetah. Cheetah is built just like that, a Cheetah! He likes to be stroked, he likes a bit of roughhousing, but not too much before gives you a little nip to let you know he has had enough and to back off. He is getting a little old now, moving a little slower and his best fighting pall is him and my grandad, my grandad who is now retired and in his 80's is not homebound but like Cheetah, he moves a little slower, but still gets out and about, most Sunday's if he's not in the kitchen cooking, he is having a cheeky drink in the conservator talking to Cheetah. What is nice and beautiful to see, how they have grown together, my grandad was the first human/family member that Cheetah has seen, they've had their scraps in his teenage years, my granddads have been stressed when he has gone off all day with worry, my granddads even chased him out the house from knocking his cooked fish out of the oven and they enjoy a cuddle on the sofa when the horse racing is on, they are not just family but firm friends and companions above it all.
Milo, my little boy! I actually got a cat because there was a mouse in the house which I pretty much refused to live in for the best part of year, so when I saw an advisement for kittens for sale, I simply had to have one, either that or Leanora and I would be intentionally homeless and living back at our family home forever. Who would have thought a grown woman in her 30's is scared of a little mouse but has no problem with spiders or even snakes!
The minute I Milo, my little black and white cat, I knew he was for me, it felt right, he did not feel just like a pet, but family, he completed us and now we were a family of three, Leanora, Milo and me.
Milo my boy, he has sure been through a lot, with Leanora the tyrant, god knows how he has put up with her and continues to return, but they have a great bond, well kinda. One time I caught Leanora burying Milo, I asked what the hell she was doing, her response was that it's hot outside and Milo asked her to as that how he likes to sunbathe! Don't ask! She has wasted numerous of nappies on him, swaddling him like a baby and strapping him to her toy buggies and wheeling him around the house, he no longer runs off, he accepts defeat and lets her, come dinner time Leanora and Milo have a love for chicken and broccoli, they sit down eating together whilst watching tv, that is if they are not chasing each other around the house, they have a great bond a brotherly sister type of relationship and both can get up to mischief, especially when the house is quite you can always find the two of them behind a door scoffing there faces off with my secret stash of chocolate's, with Leanora blaming Milo who forced her too.
What I love the most about being a pet parent, is the companionship and love that our Milo has brought, how he teaches Leanora and myself on the importance of caring for him and other animals too. The worrisome time was what happened last year, throughout the summer Milo was in so many fights it was unreal and extremely scary, the last major one I thought he was going to die, I thought his eye had fallen out he was literally covered in blood, if it was not for the help from my sister, who helped clean him and help me stop the fight between him and another cat, I do not know if Milo would be here plus I had no insurance at the time, but thank god he was not a badly injured as I thought and he was taken and mended up by the vets and was back to new in a week, with his boys lobbed off!
Petplan recently got in touch and supplied me with so much positive and amazing information about them and the brilliant work that they do, they notably offer Petplan Pet Insurance for our furry animals, but they do great work with more than 1200 charities throughout the UK since 1994 and the formed the Petplan Charitable Trust and since it's ignition it has raised more than 7 million towards a better healthier life for animals. Petplan has recently launched there Pethood Stories campaign where they encourage pet owners across the country to share there beautiful journey's, funny or not. Alongside this brilliant campaign, Petplan has recently revealed the results of it's 2018 Pet Census, the largest to date. With over a staggering 60k, yup 60k pet owner entrants, the Census have provided an unrivalled insight into the lives and attitudes of the UK's pet owners household, you can find out more about the census by clicking Petplan Pet Census 2018.
FYI, since we've had Milo no sightings of a mouse (touch wood-knocks head) - Also, I would love to share your wonderful journey with your furry animal on social media with the hashtag #PethoodStories do not forget to tag me in so I can read them!
Lindsey
Disclosure: This post is in conjunction with Petplan but all thoughts are my own.
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