Tell me about the best animal you’ve ever known

[WheelieBinPrincess]

Doesn’t matter if it’s a pet or a bird in the garden you made friends with or what.

I’m missing my rescue bunnies today, Joan Collins and Tommy Cooper.

Joan Collins was a beautiful black lop who belonged to a little girl who lived next door. She was called Rosie and kept in a hutch outside and only peeked in at once a day or so to feed. One day when the girl was trying to cuddle her she bit her, and she got hysterical, and the dad came out and said he’d let her loose for the foxes.

So I took her, and she became Joan Collins and a very pampered house rabbit, and then I took on a retired magic show rabbit I called Tommy Cooper, who worked all his life in children’s magic shows only be left at Pets at Home for adoption. They had a fab life together, and would curl up in a velvet cat bed at night. Both toilet trained too.

I’ve only ever had rescue pets, bearded dragons, hamsters, a rat, guinea pigs, budgie that have lived out the rest of their lives with me but not practical at the moment as don’t have the proper time for them and we don’t have space and we’ve had a baby, but definitely will have them again at some point.

So now I make friends with the squirrels and birds outside, and a fox that lives under the ivy at the end of the shared garden. I’m on maternity leave now but when I was at work I had a pigeon friend I’d share my lunch with.

Anyone got any lovely animal friend stories to share?

I mean the girl got hysterical not the rabbit and tempting as I’m sure it was I don’t think the dad intended his kid to be left for the foxes 😂

My two cats (now deceased) - a black one and a ginger one. Next door's cat.

Can you tell I love cats

Aww I love cats too.

Actually there’s not an animal I don’t like

Phil the Squirrel, who regularly runs along my back fence carrying slices of pizza, an ice cream cone and other delights. The guy is a legend.

Squirrels are such characters!! Love them

Two wonderful cats, Spice my beloved companion for 16 years and Bruno, the most delightful cat ever tragically killed on the road age eleven months
My heart horses Karma and Zephyr
My dog Vegas
All incredible animals

My dog ruby (a small poodle) is my life, she is such a character, she has me and my mum in her life as we are very close, both have health problems.
If I’ve not done something for ruby that she wanted like give her a biscuit because she’s had one or something she will go to my mum and look back and forth at my mum and me as if to say so what are you going to do about it mamma? She tells on me lol! She worked out that I was deaf when I got her and she doesn’t bark unless she’s playing or there’s a cat in the garden, she wakes me up by standing on my chest and pawing my face! (She isn’t a dog for the deaf she just knew!)

When I was just-turned 4 years old I was attacked by a neighbour's Doberman and bitten quite badly. Not the dog's fault, he was tied up in their garden 12 hours a day and I stupidly went to pet him.

I was terrified of dogs for months afterwards and started crying and hyperventilating in the street if I saw one. Until one day my step dad brought home a Jack Russell puppy that I could fit curled up in two hands. She was so tiny and helpless that there was no way I could be frightened of her. From that day she was my constant companion and side kick until the day she passed away. Thanks to her I love all dogs and am never happier than diving across a busy street in order to pet a passing doggo.

I'll always hold a special place in my heart for her. ❤️

One of our chickens had a special place in my heart. Her name was Edwina and she knew her name. A very special lady.
She loved a cuddle.

Trying to pick the best one is hard. I think the best house pet I had was a ferret called Otis. I couldn't believe how much personality could fit inside a small animal but he was such a dude. Used to have free run of the house (until he tried to eat the cat) and would come running if you opened the fridge because he wanted a piece of chocolate. He was also a terrible thief and had a whole collection of socks and scarves under my mum's bed 😅
Then my first pony, Milly. She was in our family for 15 years and she taught me so much. I honestly wouldn't be the same person if we had never had her. She was so wonderfully kind, wise but not shy about knocking anyone down a peg if they needed it.
Last, our current dog, Penny the beagle. She is very much her own person and not everyone's cup of tea because of that. Does as she pleases, sleeps where she wants and comes back when it suits her but gives so much love and affection.

What a nice idea for a thread.

These animals all sound beautiful 🥰

Yeah it’s hard to pick one! Absolutely. I just realised I didn’t and talk about two in my OP.

My childhood dog, rascal. He was a scruffy lurcher with the biggest, softest brown eyes. He used to jump out of the garden and go hunting at night then come back in the morning and sleep all morning. He just knew when you were upset, he would come find you and shove his nose under your arm until before you knew it you were cuddling him.

Also my current dog. She's a lhasa apso cross called bonnie (as in bonnie tyler. She has loads of blonde hair). She's the most affectionate, calmest dog I've ever known. I do pets as therapy with her, we go to a local care home once a month or so and the residents just love her.

Our budgie was the sweetest, more affectionate friend ever; he loved hopping into his travel cage and coming on the school run and would dance. He played constantly with the DC and would move monopoly pieces which wasn’t always helpful or sit on their heads, and followed us all over the house. At night I’d put him in his cage for safety but he’d get a bit annoyed as really preferred to sleep perched on the bed next to DD who he adored.
We all still miss him hugely .

My wonderful lurcher who died last year of old age. I miss her every single day and its absolutely broken my heart. Losing her hurt more than anything that's ever happened in my life. Her pawprints are in a frame on my side table where she used to like to lay.

We rescued a miserable , grumpy tabby when she was 3.

She remained a miserable, grumpy tabby until she had to be pts when she was 20.

Unaffectionate, couldn't care less about us, swipey with her paws and generally nonchalant.

If ever she got scared , eg fireworks or the vets, she became the friendliest , kindest puss on the planet.

However , every single time any of us walked down the stairs , in the morning, she put an arm out , through the bannisters, so that we'd shake her paw. Our stairs double backed. There were four of us.
Once one of us did this, she'd follow us downstairs for a minute or two , then she'd run back upstairs to do the same for the next person, and the next, and the last.

Miss her dreadfully.

My mums cat Daisy. I got her from The Cats Protection - I had been looking for a house cat for her as she had dementia and whilst being able to manage in her own home she was alone and I thought she could do with some company and someone who relied on her. They were a great double act. My mum loved her so much.

Mum became ill and had to go into hospital for a while. Me and my sibling took turns to go over to mums house to feed Daisy and give her a cuddle. Mum asked after her everyday. Sadly mum reached the point where she wasn't going to get better so she returned home. We had a bed set up in the lounge so she could look out at the bird feeder and into her garden. From the moment mum was settled Daisy stayed in the crook of her arm, only leaving to eat or to use the litter box. When the carers came they had to lift Daisy off mum - but she would watch from the armchair and when they had finished she would jump back and settle in her spot with mum.
Sadly mum died a couple of days later. I had popped home to sleep for a couple of hours - I didn't even make it into bed before we had the call to go back. We didn't get there in time but Daisy was there. Mum was cuddling her as she passed away.
Daisy lives with us now - and while we have always considered ourselves more dog people (we have one) Daisy is a very special cat. And here comes a very true and silly story which give me so much comfort - on the first anniversary of mums death I was sitting in the kitchen stroking Daisy and singing Daisy, Daisy to her when there was a noise which startled my son and me and a thank you card that had been tucked into a notice board and a white feather that I had tucked in too popped out and landed on the floor in front of us. Whatever the reason - gravity, my mum it was excellent timing!

Our Bella, a rescue Staffy. They said she was about six, our vet thought she was closer to nine.

She (unlike any other staffy we've had) was frightened of everything and everyone. Except the three of us. She used to, literally, sleep with one eye open, in case one of us left the room.. She didn't seem to suffer separation anxiety (though She was rarley left alone) but she greeted you like the only person in the universe who could save her, when we did.

She never, ever had too much fuss or ear rubbing. You could ear rub all evening and she's still prompt you if you moved your hand away. She had my heart. When she died of heart failure after two years, I was devastated.

We, as a family, decided we just couldn't go through that again. Our next dog we got just after the first lockdown. There were no dogs to be had at local re homing centres,so for the first time ever, we paid top dollar for a Jack Russell puppy.

She's nearly two now, frightenly intelligent and we'll behaved ( for a two year old dog) and I love her.

But, Bella still has my heart.

My rescue rabbit. He lives the life of Riley, free roam indoors 24/7. He gets free roam of the garden in the summer when we can stay out there all day to keep him safe from predators.

Litter trained, my friends can’t believe it, he’s like a cat. He gives lots of kisses and loves any human. Infact he thinks he is human, we’ve tried to bond him several times but he hates all other rabbits and won’t come near me if there’s another rabbit in the house, he gets so offended.

He’s the love of our lives and we are all grateful to have him.

Our current little dog, a maltipoo, is a complete joy. He is sensitive and intelligent. He truly loves his humans and is always delighted to see everyone in the family.

He is generous with his affection and will jump up to sit on the lap of a visitor, such as my nephew who is delighted.

He is very cuddly and loving. He absolutely adores children.

He is no problem in an apartment, and loves to move around finding the patches of sunlight to lie in

He is very smart. Yesterday he was sitting on "his" chair. I pointed at the window where he often sits and said to him, look, it is sunny. He followed my pointing and jumped down and went to the window.

He is absolutely fastidious with his toileting habits and has only had an accident when sick. He does not shed, at all, as far as I can tell.

Really his only faults are pacing around growling and woofing if he hears the dog across the lane barking, and being a very picky eater. He also hates the rain.

I know that the "poo" mixes are not well thought of on here. He is adopted so we did not pick him, but honestly he is the best of all the dogs I have had in my life.

A cow called Penny we had growing up.

She always came running over for scratches when she spotted you in her field. The friendliest cow of all time. I have 2 stories about her.

One was when my sister was about 4. She had wavy thick yellow hair. Penny must have thought it was hay. She wrapped her tongue around it and picked my sister up off the ground. Then looked at me with a ‘this isn’t right’ look in her eyes, opened her mouth and dropped my sister. We thought it was hilarious.

Then one morning my dad went out to bring the cows in for milking. They were a couple of deer in the field with the cows. On spotting my dad, the deer took off, jumped the barb wore fence and disappeared. Penny lost her marbles and thought she was a deer in the excitement. So she ran after them. Attempted to jump the fence. Landed on it and lacerated her milk vein. Blood absolutely everywhere. My dad had to try and occlude it while we rushed the vet out to stitch her up. She survived.

When she got old, my dad couldn’t bear to send her for slaughter. So Penny died of old age in our back paddock. Just a wonderful animal, so full of character.

My darling dogs Hollie and Pippin. Both now gone. Both were rescue dogs and so loving, sweet and brilliant.

My childminder’s dog. He was a huge German Shepherd but the most gentle thing. The only place that I would apparently nap as a child was in his bed, with him lying on the floor next to me - my childminder says he would often put a paw on me if I stirred.

One of my current cats. I honestly feel like he’s my soulmate pet. He’s like my little shadow & always appears precisely when I need him to.

What a mean dad to that girl op!! And I love the range of animals! My childhood dog was a retriever and he was the biggest softie. When we were having him put to sleep, and he hadn't even lifted his head in days, he gave me the paw and leaned his head on me. (Bawling here now!)

A pony I used to ride as a kid. He was so old and really slow but would try anything for anyone and followed people around looking to be petted.

Also my sister's first dog, a labrador who just followed everyone around. I think my sister and the family were a bit shocked at how hard that hit me (they obviously were around her all the time and were grateful she passed in her sleep with them there)
Lastly our little lazy lump of a beautiful little grey cat, who died at Christmas. The neighbours rang to say they'd found her and I carried her in sobbing (I think I shocked the neighbour )

I've known a lot of animals but these 4 stood out!

The first was my lovely dog Max. He was a springer spaniel ex-gun dog. He came to me from my Dad, who retired him because he had a cataract in one eye. He was my baby before I had babies IYSWIM. He'd never even been in a house before. He lived in the lap of luxury and used to share the bed with me if now XH was working away. He snored!
He made a habit of raiding the kitchen bin, but I always knew because he would greet me at the door with 'sausages' for those that know it - in other words he'd show me his teeth in some kind of weird grin.
He was 10 and a half when I got him, and Dad had told me he didn't think he had long left, but he lasted another three years, having a fine old time and enjoying things like the gravy left over from liver and onions, cubes of cheese and licorice. I had him put down after struggling through cancer and a truly horrible skin infection that wouldn't go away and made walking and even laying down painful for him.
And then there was Charlie, otherwise known as MOG, short for miserable old git. He was a rescue cat around 12 to 13 when I got him. He was very stand-offish, but eventually got round to sitting on my legs if I was on the floor. He never went to sleep, and although you could feel him purr, it was silent. In his last few years, he found his purr, and we worked out that he loved being held like a baby in my arms. I eventually had to let him go at the grand old age of 21/22, as he was a truly rickety old gentleman who was unhappy and incontinent. I howled the place down at the vets.
I've had other pets too, and loved them, but those two really tore at my heart when I had to let them go. 😢

My horse, she's just wonderful, I am so in love.

She has such a great have a go attitude, she's so cool. Thoroughly up for trying anything and a total swot, always desperate to be teacher's pet. Makes her opinions known, whether that is pulling her rug to tell me which one to put on, trying to take me on her favourite hacking route or just her fuck off your hands are cold face!

She's not necessarily a soppy cuddley horse but when my sister lost her horse and came to spend time with my horse she was soooo affectionate. It was like she knew my sister was sad and she just constantly went in for kisses and cuddles.

I don't know what I would do without her, or how I could ever fill the massive hole she would leave if anything happened to her.

So sorry to hear about your bunnies op.