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| Vivian Lee |
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| Ava Gardner |
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| Fred Astair |
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| Elizabeth Taylor |
Today’s post is in memory of a much beloved family pet – a beautiful blue-point Siamese cat called Singe.
My memories of childhood pets gone by…
I grew up with an assortment of child-friendly animals but when I look back at the various pets my sisters and I were allowed to keep I can categorically say that there is no way I would be as cool as my parents were about hosting a menagerie. Not all our pets were loved equally I must confess, and there was something of a hierarchy. At the very top were the discerning Siamese cats that were more like members of our family than mere pets. Then there were the two female mice that through something akin to immaculate conception gave birth to a total of 24 babies within six hours of leaving the pet shop. Let’s not forget the pair of albino rats that were allowed to walk around the house and attempt to torment the cats, the fish ponds with resident spawning frogs, the wonderfully docile bantam hens and their handsome rooster (much to the delight of our neighbours), the rabbits, hermit crabs (active mostly at night while everyone is fast asleep), the somewhat aggressive budgerigar Sunny, and last but not least our guinea pigs Chico and Basil.
I may have had to endure the odd flea-bite and scratch but I also got a pretty straightforward lesson in life and death from a young age. One moment comes clearly to mind. While playing with my Barbie doll and one rather fat mouse that was acting as Barbie’s chauffeur, our cat came up behind me and calmly plucked the unsuspecting mouse out of the pink convertible right before my very eyes. That was a bad day for me but mostly for the mouse.
