Pets

It seems to be my lot in life to end up in houses with pets. I was a bit slow off the mark this year, in a house with only one, fairly boring, cat. Annie is a ragdoll cat who had never quite learnt to sit on a lap. I taught her  that laps are pleasant and desirable to sit on however she seems sadly confused about how to actually get herself from beside the seated human to sleeping on the seated human. Most cats stare at you until you move and make room and then they stomp around making themselves comfortable, sticking a tail in your mouth and finally settling down to sleep. Annie somehow isn't certain about the ownership procedure most cats employ when manipulating their humans. She comes up on the couch next to you and then leans against you and tries to lie down sort of half on your lap and half on the chair. This doesn't work so she swaps to the other side and tries again.

Now I have moved and live with 2 cats and a dog. The 2 cats are sisters and are like chalk and cheese. Pickles owns the house, is self assured and has definite ideas about what she likes and her place in life. She will act like she is condescending to sit on your lap and if you pat her she will leave (sometimes) she doesn't like being picked up, ignored, touched on her tummy, feet, sides, tail or ears.  Chutney, her sister, is much slower to warm up to a new person. This is to the point where some people are dubious about her existence. She skulks and hides and hates changes in routines.
Millie is a black and white staffy. Apparently she used to be completely mental but now, after lots of manners training and 2 walks a day, she is a lovely pleasant easy dog to have. All one needs to do is wear her out with a ball each day and she sleeps.

Lastly there is a new puppy belonging to the family I work for. She is little with sharp teeth and an unerring instinct to mess inside the house mere seconds after coming inside.

This is a bit like last year, 3 cats and 2 dogs at the house last year, one of whom was a puppy, and 3 cats and 2 dogs between the 2 houses I spend a lot of time at here.

Luckily I like animals :)