Tell us what your pets mean to you - for a chance to win a Fitbit Alta plus a copy of Finding Gobi. Now closed.

[SorchaMumsnet]

Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard is the heart-warming tale of how a dog and man changed each others' lives forever.

In 2016, Dion Leonard, a seasoned ultramarathon runner, unexpectedly stumbled across a little stray dog while competing in a gruelling 155-mile race across the Gobi Desert. The lovable pup, who earned the name ‘Gobi’, proved that what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in heart, as she went step for step with Dion over the treacherous Tian Shan Mountains, managing to keep pace with him for nearly 80 miles.

As Dion witnessed the incredible determination of this small animal, he felt something change within himself. In the past he had always focused on winning and being the best, but his goal now was simply to make sure that his new friend was safe, nourished and hydrated. Although Dion did not finish first, he felt he had won something far greater and promised to bring Gobi back to the UK for good to become a new addition to his family. This was the start of an unforgettable journey for the both of them, consisting of drama, grief, heartbreak, joy and love.

Finding Gobi is the ultimate story of hope, of resilience and of friendship; proving that dogs can really be 'man's best friend.' It is essential reading for all animal lovers and fans of A Streetcat Named Bob.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the book plus a Fitbit Alta, just tell us: what do your pets mean to you?

This discussion is sponsored by HarperCollins and will end on Wednesday 5 July

Books T&Cs apply

My dog nacho means the world to me. I got him from dogs trust 5yrs ago and he saved my life after i spiralled into bad depression after my ex walked out when i was pregnant as i didnt want to live anymorw. He gave me purpose to get up in the morning and go outside as he needed a walk. 2yrs on and i am in a much better place mentally and i owe it all to nacho. I will forever be grateful to him for being there when nobody else was. He is a dog in a million

We have two cats. Catarina is named after Edgar Alan Poe's cat who used to sit on his shoulder...Our Catarina does the same!
Our daughter is obsessed with cats and dogs, Catarina greets her each morning, waits for her to get breakfast, then snuggles with her, when our daughter was ill for months, Catarina stood guard/layer next to her as she was in and out of sleep. Catarina waits in the window if daughter goes out and joins in dressing up, adventures and ball games! They are best friends who do care for each other, they are growing up together, from that tiny baby and tiny kitten...to them now running around chasing each other...lovely to see!

Tommy came to live with us on Christmas Day, his previous owners had said due to personal circumstances they needed him rehoused that day. We did not tell the children until he was dropped off...they thought Father Christmas had surprised them! Total opposite to Catarina. I was ill and unable to get up and down stairs, Tommy would walk up and down with me slowly, waiting for me at each step, when I was resigned to bed, he came up and snuggled. At first he was afraid of my husband/males...we gently reassured him, spent time with him and now he is my husbands cooking buddy, anything that falls on floor...he grabs!
After working in a highly emotional/sensitive job all day, coming home to a snuggle and meow/purr melts everything else away! The families at my funeral home love seeing the cats, snuggled on sofas or playing with toys. They are part of our family and bring all of us happiness in their different ways.

Pets mean everything to our family. My youngest son is 10 and has Autism we bought a puppy to keep him calm. Rio is a springer spaniel and really helps keep him calm. He loves walks in the woods with him and jumping in muddy puddles

Pets mean the world to us - they are so much a part of the family. My son has behavioural problems and they are the only thing to calm him down. He will sit there with his guinea pig George, who he us so gentle with and play with him. He likes to help with feeding and cleaning George too - he says that George is his brother and we sent George a postcard when we were on holiday 😙😙😙😙

My two cats are my security blankets! I had to have them fostered for 9 months while I was in temporary accommodation following a very difficult split, and not that I'm afraid singke Mum without much time off, they are company for me in the evening when DD is in bed and the house is quiet. They cuddle up together on my lap, 'talk' to me, and follow me around the house to make sure I don't get lost. My life would be far poorer without them in it.

My cats mean the world to me. I got them before I had DS and I call them my cat babies.

They know when I'm ill, and last weekend they slept next to me and licked away my stray tears.

The worst thing is knowing that one day I will have to say goodbye to them. They clearly are one of the best things to happen to me.

I have two naughty little rescue tortie kittens and a baby wolfhound. I have waited over 20 years for a dog of my own. She is my baby puppy and my heart hound. I suffer from anxiety and depression and my pets lift my mood and relieve stress. Walking the dog makes me get out and get exercise. We also do training which allows me to learn new things and meet people (a big thing for me!)

My dog had to be put down yesterday, she was my heart. I am truly devastated, I always said I would never have a pet cleverer than me but she was. She loved my children and my Dh, the feral cats we have who were scared of everything loved and trusted her. But she loved me almost as much as I loved her. She saw me through my children growing up, nursing my mother through g h terminal cancer

Pets are great company , they seem to sense when you are sad and need attention . They are truly one of the family

I waited years before getting a dog because of the responsibility. Now I can't imagine life without him and he fits in perfectly into our family. They give so much love back and always seem to know when you need that extra cuddle.

My cat Spooks was a bit of an accidental find really. He came to stay when a friend was looking for a temporary foster home for a few months and two years later he's still here.
He's a Hemingway cat, so he has thumbs and looks like he's wearing mittens.
He has been with me through some really rocky times, especially when my legs started breaking for no reason, he instinctively moved from sitting on my lap to sitting over my shoulder so he didn't hurt me.
Now that I am able to get out of the house, he waits next to the front door until I return and as soon as he sees me walking down the road he runs to meet me.
He is a pain sometimes, he's constantly badgering me for food and he has a terrible habit of bringing me 'gifts' that I don't really want but I love him like an extra child and I am so pleased that he is here. He has totally completed our family.
PS. I read an article about this guy and his dog, it made me cry in a really good way. If you haven't read about them then I really encourage you to Google them, inspiring and brilliant.

My cat Purdy had been with my husband and I for about 9 years when he became ill with cancer. She sat with him on his hospital bed in the living room and hardly left the house until he died (she had been very much an outdoor cat before). Then she stayed at my side, sleeping with me and seeing me through some very lonely and difficult times. She soon developed a heart condition and I had to give her a tablet twice a day. Two years later she had a bad heart attack and died.

My whole life since I was born I have had pets and when my dc was born I made certain that we continued to have pets as a family. Many times I have adopted unwanted pets from rescue homes. Pets bring peace and calm, they bring fun and laughter and they give us something to focus on other than our everyday worries. I think it's so important for children especially to learn how to care for another living thing and it helps give them a sense of responsibility that is rewarded everyday by their pet. This is our rescue cat Billy that my dc has dressed in his pj's !

My dog Larkin is my best friend she is always their for me and my family. She's very loving dog and has become a brilliant friend for my daughter Eva they go everywhere together. Larkin is teaching Eva to become more confident , helping her to enjoy the outdoors and giving her a passion for animals. We have just got a puppy I'm hoping he will take lessons for from his sister in how to be such a brilliant family dog

I'd always had a dog growing up but when I left home to live with my DP he was too house proud to have one, even though I loved them. Anyway we split up and I kept the house. One lunch time I'd come back to work and in our reception was a colleague with a dog on a bit of rope. I asked her what she was doing whilst making a fuss of him and she said she was taking him to our local RSPCA as whilst out on a travellers site there were rumours that he was going to be dumped on the M25 so she took him (with their agreement). Well, we carried on talking whilst I was still making a fuss of the dog when I made the snap decision that I would take him as I had no one else to consider.

I trundled into the office with this dog on a rope and announced that I had acquired a dog and needed to book the afternoon off to get all the stuff a dog needs.

I took him to the vets and he reckoned he was about 6 months old and was a Fox terrier cross, completely fit and healthy.

That ginger bundle of fun was so friendly he loved meeting all my friends and family and went absolutely everywhere with me. In the car he loved nothing more that laying on the front passenger seat with his chin on my hand as I rested it on the gear stick, or hanging his head out of the window with his tongue out and ears back. He was my best friend and I was never lonely with him by my side.

Eight years later I met my DH and we had our DS and that didn't even faze him. He would greet his friends in his own unruly fashion then take himself off to his bed out of the way.

Sadly we lost him when he was 15 but he really was the king of my and then our household, even having his own settee in the front room. He truly was an amazing friend and adapted to living indoors without any problems. I didn't even need to toilet train him which I couldn't believe. Even now, seven years on he is still sorely missed.

Two years ago our beloved 16yr old Border Collie passed away, of course we were all devastated but it really hit our youngest son hard. He is on the Autistic spectrum and to cut a long story short, we ended up re-homing another beautiful Border Collie, Buster. He is the perfect dog for a family and he is so gentle with our boys and seems to understand the difficulties that our five year old son has. They are the best of friends and has turned out to be a real therapy dog for our boy. He means the world to all of us.

Our pets have been our family. We have had dogs for over thirty years but the heartbreak when they go to the bridge is something I can't bear anymore. Our last dog passed a year ago at the age of twelve, our oldest was 17yrs. We now look after our daughters dogs and that's how I get my doggy fix.

We have a little cat called Dotty. My son took her from a littler of feral farm kittens in September 2015. My son has mental health issues and has spent long periods in hospital. Throughout his stays, we have updated him about Dotty's antics: how she nips the head off flowers and carries them around in her mouth like a demented Diva; how she entices the two new kittens to play with her tail and then launches them off the sofa with her paw and how she brings her toy lion downstairs and trills at us until we help her play with it. The little stories make my son smile, even when he is unwell.

When my son comes home, Dotty fusses over him and makes him feel special. She is a very very special cat.

My dog is the extra piece missing in our family. We have one daughter who is now 12 and after asking for a dog for many years we didnt think we wanted one. For Christmas 2015 we eventually got her one even thinking I was not an animal lover. She is now part of the family and is sometimes treated better than every one of us. Would not be without her now x

We are definitely s pet loving family. We currently have two dogs, thomas who is a black Labrador 10 years old and a 18 month old springer spaniel. We also have a tortoise, Gertrude who is just over 6 years old (still a youngster for tortoises!) we also have a marine tank. Our pets mean the world to us. When the dogs aren't there the house is quiet and not the same. They come on all family adventures with us from picking the kids up from school to weekends away on the south coast. I don't know what I'd do without them. Thomas was actually a little miracle. My eldest daughter was frightened to death of dogs where she would rather jump into a road than see one, when tom arrived it took her a while to get used to him and now on the evening they sit together watching tv, she isn't scared at all of any dogs anymore because of the caring nature tom showed her and was patient even as a puppy. And Gertrude constantly keeps us entertained, she has such a little exciting personality and often pops her head over her table to say hello. We are building her a huge 2x4 metre outdoor area so she can bask in the sun on the hopefully hot summer days. My daughter is even planning a tortoise themed waterfall! Life without my pets would be boring and I never want to experience that

The pictures below are our two dogs chilling in the car on a pit stop on the way to studlands for a beach and my daughters horse riding experience. The second one is a 'tortoise shrine' my daughter created at the tortoise table (it's her tortoise but works as a family pet) and the third is of our tortoise in her Christmas hat

My dog gives me a purpose and a social life, he is my respite and get away dog- I'm a carer for my newly disabled daughter. Without him I would have spiralled into depression and he has provided an ear to talk my fears away about my daughter. He's also brilliant with my daughter- he's very gentle with her and again has provided an ear for her to talk her own fears away which I think she finds easier than talking to an adult. Love the bones of him, even if he infuriates me at times!

My cat was bought after getting out of an abisive relationship where he told me I wasn't allowed to have a cat- in my own house (!)

In those dark dark days after leaving him, she honestly gave me a reason to wake up each day. She was my saviour, my darling, my little fire ball of joy, and I (and my lovely DH) will spend the rest of her days (she's now 8) making sure she knows just how loved and appreciated she is

My 2 Cats ARE my babies! My first babies anyway!

Freddy is now 5 yrs old, he is sensitive, thoughtful, mostly black with a white moustache and 3 white socks, he is always by my side( if nobody else is in the house) getting in some quality belly rubs! He gets depressed if I don't mention his brother at least once a day (Pickle, went over the rainbow bridge on his 2nd birthday, forever missed) He is a proper cat and only likes fish, nothing else, just fish and only fish flavoured treats as well actually. He sleeps for a minimum 18hrs a day, everyday, all year round.

Rodney is 3, and he walks into tables, is mainly white with some black patches and a smudge on his face. He is the scamp of the family. He is boisterous, very fluffy and a complete baby. He answers to Rodney Wigglebutt Jones, Rodney Dangerfield Jones, Rodds, Wodd wodds, fluffy boy, munchkin, smudgy face and baby boy!
He will get your ankles on the stairs if your not careful, walks into EVERYTHING with a bang on his head and wiggles his butt when he walks away....catwalk style, and we have a conversation every morning for a good 10 mins because he likes to tell me stories of his nightly adventures!
Both have unique and wonderful personalities and our house would be empty without them! oh.....and they both hate each other until humans are out of the way, then they snuggle together!

My cat went missing for a year and he was returned to us all because of his micro chip at the beginning of this year. He was 13 years old when he miaowed at me by the front door. When he didn't come home that night, or the next, we thought he may have found a safe place to rest forever due to his age. We all missed him so much, especially the kids who have grown up with him. I don't know how he survived for so long but we are so happy he's back with us to enjoy his final years. If only cats could talk, I would love to know his story.

I love how when I wake up she is there wagging her tail enthusiastically at me, in the evening she goes to sleep staring at me adoringly.

I love that she is devoted to each member of the family - play mate, confidant, companion, enthusiastic exercise partner. And when we are all busy she will happily throw a tennis ball for herself or lie in the garden smelling bees.

I love that she enthusiastically chases squirrels and rabbits just slow enough that they always get away. So she can then trot up and down huffing at their impertinence.

I love that she is kind and gentle, sweet and wise, loyal and smart and she is only nine months.

I love that at meal times she stares meaningfully at the fridge and her bowel fully expecting that the fridge will open any moment and fill her bowel (which it always does!) but then she will wait patiently to be told that she can eat her tea and finally proceed to check it carefully incase something untoward has been added .

I love how her nose twitches when she thinks something is going on without her and if a stranger turns up she will fling herself at them like a demented loon as she takes her role as love ambassador very seriously.

Quite simply I love my sweet little pup and cannot imagine life without her.