Arf. Dd1 has swapped half of her dog for dd2's cat.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Only half because her dog is bigger than dd2's cat so it is not fair if dd2 gets a whole dog in return for one cat

It recently came to dd2's attention that dd1 has a dog (Whippy) DH has a dog (the grund) and I have a dog and a cat. Dd2 has nothing. Some quick thinking lead me to tell her "Oh but the cat is yours, dd2. We knew you would like cats before you were even born so we bought one ready for you coming" This helped to explain why dd2's cat has been with us for 11 years and dd2 is only 5

She was very happy with this and relished the role of cat mother, brushing him daily and always making sure he had fresh water and laying his food down for him. She has even assisted with de-fleaing and de-worming him (he is a very biddable, non scratchy cat)

Dd1 has noticed that dd2 is able to have a much more active role in looking after her cat than she does with her dog. She must have come to the conclusion that this is because cats are somehow to easier care for than dogs and not because when we tell her "dd1, your dog could do with a brush" her reply is always "In a minute" so we stopped asking her to care for her and we took over.

The realisation that dd2 takes a more active part in caring for her pets because she enjoys it came to her when dd2 told her "Your cat has not been brushed today and his water isn't cold still, you need to do something about that or I will tell mammy and she will give me the cat back, you can't have him if you won't look after him properly and I need to know which half of the dog is mine because she needs brushing and if I own the head end her water is not cold either"

Dd1's reply to this was of course "I'll do it in a minute. I'm just doing this game first".

Dd2 has now asked if she can have both the cat and the whole of the dog. She doesn't think dd1 will even notice

Sounds fair enough! dd1 and 2 are both quite good with ours, but dd3 (5) has recently announced that she 'doesn't like dogs' and is allergic to them (she's not) and won't feed them - but she will snuggle up in the dogs' bed (which is a big futon-y thing) when she fancies

Well dd2's half of the dog is currently munching down on a whole, raw pig's trotter. She's not that impressed anymore and thinks she will stick to her cat who doesn't eat bits of raw animals. I'm not entirely sure what she thinks the chicken wings she feeds him every Sunday are

Dooin!

Our cat belongs to DD2. She is very good with him, particularly when he wants feeding or to be let out at 6am and I tell her the cat is her responsibility.

Our old boy sheltie belongs to DD1.

When we got Poppy, our young JRTx, she was £200 and I was struggling that month to find it so DD1 paid £50. So we always say Poppy is 3/4 mine and 1/4 hers. There is continued debate about which quarter she owns. Mostly she insists she owns the head, a clever dodge on her part which means I have to pick up the poo, as the bum is mine. I thought I was in luck yesterday when Poppy vomited copiously over the floor (had been thieving stuff but another story!), as the head end is hers, therefore she has to clean up sick. However, she insisted it came out of the stomach, so was, once again, my responsibility.

Your DD needs to establish which half she owns. It makes a big difference.