Sleeping in the corner, was our pet with her children, suckling away quietly. Amusingly, she looked uncomfortable for a mother of a litter of just 2. Perhaps it was the hair: we hardly brought her out to haircuts anymore, or perhaps it was the rusted food bowl that made her seem older than ever.

I remember that when we got her, she was still so young: 8, 9 years old? I can’t remember. We didn’t buy her , we got her from a family friend, and we’ve been having good fun with her since. You know that trick on TV where they get pets to learn to speak, in this half-mangled language? Well, my daughter’s trying that right now. Children are just so adorable.

Still, raising a pet is rather difficult because when they have litters, our work is doubled: sometimes, we give them away for adoption or we keep them – yet they can’t seem to keep safe. My daughter cried for days when I had to bury one in the backyard when it got into an accident.

I still wonder how she ever got pregnant.

I mean, we never let her out…