... about 4,000 ants and a cockroach called Steve.

a barrel being scraped.

a year or two ago. I used to talk to it in the garden. Then it got bored and wandered off.

A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Holly watching me as I type this and an old Grande Basset Griffon Vendeen called Kura snoring away on the landing.

Never had a cat. Never wanted one.

I also love dogs (with some exceptions).

I love cats for their independence, beauty and contempt.
I love dogs for their dependence, beauty and unconditional love.

I'm just a crazy, mixed up kid.

A few mice at the moment, though. Little sods. Maybe I should get a cat. Possibly two. If I did, they'd be called Titania and Bumble so I could call them by their shortened names and make the neighbours think I've gone mad shouting rude words out of the back door when I'm calling them in.

Wifey and i helped set up our local branch of the Cats Protection League which is still going strong--must have rehomed hundreds of cats/ kittens and even some Boxing Day puppies..found dumped in dustbins by idiots who don,t realise animals have bladders! Now down to one dog, 2 cats, and 2 5month old kittens--and yes, the house does whiff a bit!!

Cats

Just the one Marge remaining now - we used to have a Bob but he's no more.

We also used to have quite a lot of guinea-pigs. Baby guinea-pigs are fantastic. Fully cuddleable from day 1, how cool is that? These were a pleasant surprise one evening:

looks like a Thundercat. Does that help?

Have I come to the wrong place?

the way cats look at you, as if they know what you're up to.

Dogs are simpler, and therefore more suitable.

irritation with our 13 year old cat.
But to be fair, she started it.

A friend of mine always used to that a dog observing you put up a shelf would think, "Isn't he clever?" Conversely, a cat would watch your DIY and ponder, "He's doing that wrong."

In the New Scientist's controlled labatory environment, Dogs won:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.200-dogs-vs-cats-the-grea...

I have three cats and no shelves.

Our cat has been with us for twelve years. My children have gone through fish and hamsters; now I have to feed live crickets to my son's leopard gecko.

is a Shetland Sheepdog. Grew up with cats and dogs. Not going to have any more cats, I think.

Got him from the pound, such a weird looking little fellow that when I asked the vet what breed he was the vet said, "I don't know what he is"

He's a cute little bugger, the size of a Jack Russell with the markings of a Border Collie except for huge fluffy ears. He's the toughest dog in the world, or so he thinks. More people in the neighbourhood know his name than know mine, a lot more.

We don't have any pets at all for the moment but while I was courting the FPO she had a cat called Ollie. A haughty and insufferable little bleeder.

He was terribly sniffy. He just about tolerated my wife-to-be who doted on him but anyone else was given the treatment. If you tried to touch him he would arch his back and stride away with his eyes closed and his nose in the air, flicking his tail up to give you a prime view of the a-hole. When he was hungry he would sit directly in front of you and whinge incessantly whilst never losing eye contact.

Eventually though, to WTBs amazement, he came round to me. Some mornings I'd wake up in bed to find him sitting on my head like a sentient Davy Crockett hat. This meant he liked me.

apart from Mrs F-C of course, a beautiful Bengal cat called Ingrid.

She's six.

but if I ever get a dog (which I'm not too keen on, but could well get swayed one day courtesy of my better half) I'm determined to call it Deefa. Then when people ask why the dog is called that, I can say, "you know, Deefa... like Deefa Dog..."

...to the following questions:

What's shitting in my garden?

Where have all the birds gone?

And best of all:

What can I shoot today?

and love them both. However, Danny Baker is quite right when he says that dogs are pretty stupid, even when they are doing some pretty incredible things.
Slightly off topic, what's your fave pet related song?
Here's mine...

Izzard has it nailed!

Thought you were more of a Tygers man,Uncle ?
I have 3 cats,bloody hooligans. a few years back i had a dog,5 cats,a hamster and a rat. Pets make a house a Home.

Both rescue cats - 1st one called Smudge, a big silly boy of a cat who we've had 5 years, and two weeks before xmas last year, a small 4 month old boy kitten adopted us so to speak, after being dumped on the street by some heartless b@stard and we didnt have the heart to send him on to the rescue centre - who i've named Elvis, after the king of course!

They both fight tooth and nail as Elvis is just learning the cat-ropes and is seeking out his pecking order in the house, but both are consistently hilariously funny and great characters to boot! Turned me into a right softy they have!

Also little buggers sometimes - no cable is safe from Elvis - and of course with his name he makes for good Facebook comments about ELvis pissing on the floor, or Elvis is still in the building!

And he likes windows and apples. Sorry, was this supposed to be a them/us conflab ? Anyway, he's a lab, so he'd probably eat the glass in the windows if he could. He eats enough wood on a regular basis at the park, and my kitchen cupboards bear the scars of puppydom. He likes the apple pulp from the juicer too. Not too good with mice, obvious problem there.

As for intelligence, will perform almost any trick first or second attempt from new, but only if food is involved. He is a lab after all.

Is there anything funnier than a dog with its ears up waiting for a ball to be thrown?

I have a cat, called Emma.

MrsD wanted them despite being terrified of mice and the like which they regularly bring back. It's my job to get rid of them which is why I found myself beating a rat to death with a coal shovel not so long ago. One of the cats has moved next door but still expects us to feed her.

Has got a song called Cats Versus Dogs on Living Things. Not on Spotify or Youtube, though. I'll hum it as I type.

the cat. Partial to mice of the electronic variety (headbuts it whenever I reach for it) so that's my excuse for any weird "cat enhanced" postings I might make in the future.

as we just got a 6 week old kitten at the weekend. Cute as a .....kitten really, doing all those cute things that kittens do.

The CPL wouldn't let us have a Cat because we apparently live in what is known as a Red Zone!

We've had a number cats that have lived for years and been nursed through illness and old age.
Then we got 2 brothers, Monty and Hamish. They would have been 2 at the end of this month.
Last November a distressed Monty woke us in the early hours. It turned out he had a congenital illness know as Polycystic Kidney Disease. His kidneys were more than 70% destroyed and he had to be put to sleep.
There was a 50% chance Hamish would have it but his test was negative.
A month ago I came home from work to find him with his hind legs paralysed. He too had a congenital illness, in his case Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which meant the heart walls were thicker than they should be, leading to blood pooling within the heart, clotting and part of it breaking off and lodging in the pelvis causing the paralysis. He too had to be given the anaesthetic OD.
So unbelievably we're without any cats, after two apparently completely healthy cats succumb to illnesses they were born with that don't get picked up in routine veterinary check ups.
We'll probably get a couple more later this year.

Anyone who thinks there are 'cat people' and 'dog people' needs to stop thinking in cliches.

Sparky, a 10 year old black and white cat. Costs us a fortune in vets bills as he likes to take on the neighbourhood cats at night and doesn't always win.

He's a complete big girl's blouse around us - soft as anything.

got three of them , all rescue mutts. A 12 year old hunting dog who still has a lot of juice, an 8 year old mutt , recently adopted whom nobody seemed to want. He´s proven to be a gem of a dog and a 3 year old female with trust issues but she´s getting alot better. Plus two vicious Cockatoos.
Nothing as friendly as a wet dog.
I like cats but my hunter would eat them for breakfast

one Bengal, one Somali

Two wabbits
Two pygmy goats
Six chickens
Two llamas
Three fish in the garden pond
A snake who lives under a shed in the back garden
An owl who lives in a tree nearby

although, technically speaking, the last two aren't pets as such.

of tarts

Awww....

But then again...

Awww...

I have neither and I've never had any pets other than four goldfish (on four seperate occassions, all from the fair).

which says that guys like dogs but gals like cats. After all, cats typical habits (staying out all night, only soming to you when THEY want affection, being cold-hearted otherwise, only popping up when they want food etc etc) are all the things frequently complained about men.

Personally, I think of cats as land-based sharks: perfect hunting and killing machines, capable of amazing stillness and turns of speed, astonishing senses etc. Although I appreciate that having impressive skills is not the same as being lovable.

I submit the following as evidence of the dog's superiority as a pet:

Never owned one personally, it's been family pets really. We are on to our 2nd Cavalier King Charles at the moment.

I've never really been fond of cats, but the now ex-FPO had a cat (who sadly died just before New Year) and I can see the attraction, as they are more independent in nature. She also has a Chihuahua (who I'll miss greatly) and this is a breed I'd not really thought I'd be keen to have as a pet, but she is a beatiful little thing...

I had both cat & a dog.

Through the cat I met absolutely no girls.

Through the dog.. well just take a Newfoundland for a walk in a park & watch what happens. Truly mans best friend ever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47425720@N02/4349213916/