Our Zoo

OK, Zoo might slightly be overstating it. 

Let's start at the beginning. 

In March 2019, we moved from Barcelona into the countryside. 
While I grew up in a village and studied in a small town, my recent life I spend in London and Barcelona. 
It was also my first house, farmhouse even, having lived in flats most of my life. 

So clearly, I thought about how I could complete my cosplaying of country life.  

"A dog and a cat would be nice at some point" 

A couple of months later…

Cheeky & Foggy - July 2019

I planned to clean out our small barn, and to my surprise discovered a litter of kittens. 

I remembered that I saw a bigger cat going through or garden, which might have been pregnant. 

She picked up most of the litter, but left Cheeky (black one) and Foggy (white one) back. 

They got used to us and the house quickly. Cats are great, they understand potty training on their own. They stay clean on their own. 

We obviously bought all the toys, feeding station, and a cat flap once they got a little bigger. 

When they were small, they climbed on top of me and my shoulders while watching telly. 

Now they are more attached to my partner and just tolerate me. 

I thought: "Two cats, that's great.  At least they can play together. Maybe a dog at some point". 

A couple of months later… 

Hoover - October 2019

I was in Barcelona on a Friday for Future protest when my partner called me. She had found an injured dog in the road and naturally picked him up. It took me a while to get back with train and bicycle. When I arrived, I was greeted by a sad and hurt beagle. 

We found a 24h vet clinic in the next town and got him checked out.

He might have been attacked by other dogs or wild animals. He was in a pretty bad shape.

We got him fixed up and also removed a growth on his leg. 

He was chipped, but the chip was not registered.

I came up with the name Hoover, as he had a cone of shame for a while, and he did look like a vacuum cleaner when doing the sniffing around. He reacted directly to the (new) name. 

After a while, we wanted to register him with the town. That's when we learned about the previous owner. He was known to the town hall, and apparently not great with animals, they would have preferred not to give the dog back. 

In Spain, if you find a dog and then return it to the owner, the owner has to pay for any vet expenses. Since we had paid exceeding 1000 Euro by now, the owner decided that he didn't want Hoover back (his original name was Bruno). 

He got used to us so quickly, and is now the most cuddly dog you can imagine. 

He gets along with the cats well.  

Me: "This is great. A dog and two cats. Pet achievement reached"

Quite a few months later…

Yuki  - February 2021

When we are travelling, we leave our dogs at a local dog hostel. We are friends with the owner, and she thought of us when she came across an abandoned dog. 

The dog was called Mia at the time, which is a very common name. We renamed her Yuki after asking Reddit for suggestions. 

She was super undernourished and needed a good clean.

She didn't really get along with me, or maybe men in general.  She did like Hoover and my partner. The cats, not so much. 

So obviously, we cared for her, fed her well, and made sure she felt at home with us. 

Me: "OK, two dogs, two cats. This is perfect."

A few weeks later… 

Yukitos  - March 2021

She was gaining weight, which was great. At some point on one of our walks, noticing Yuki's size, I said to my partner: "I think she is pregnant". 

A trip to the vet and an X-ray confirmed this. The same vet hadn't noticed anything just two weeks ago. Hidden in Yuki's tummy were eight little puppies. 

We had a home birth in our living room. There were still COVID-19 restrictions in place and we were working from home. 

We had to feed them with bottles, as Yuki was too undernourished to provide for them. 

Sadly, three of them didn't make it. I am sure we did something wrong. 

I now also have a lot more respect for parents. The bottle feeding continued for two months, and I don't think I slept at all during this time.  My brain was not really functioning when at work. 

The five that grew were quite fun, active, and destructive. Our living room didn't survive them.  

One, we gave to my partner's parent: Seven.

One went to a village nearby with lots of space to roam: Lola.  

In what turned out to be a big mistake … which I probably would make again, we kept three of them: Neo, Baty, and Crash. 

And that it is for now. I ended up with four dogs and two cats. They are exhausting and have changed our life. I wouldn't change a thing. 

A few months later… 

I am just kidding. 

We did temporarily take in a cat, which sadly died in our care. I was really fond of Charlie. 

And we sometimes host other dogs for a while.

For all other pets, we encounter, we have found the original owners.

As I said in the beginning, that "zoo" is overstating it a bit, and that is true. We do have constant visits from other animals in our garden: other cats, birds, snakes, badgers, foxes, rabbits, mice, rats, martens, …

If I learned anything from all of this, then it is that I am not good at saying no to an animal in need. Since we have a crowded house already, I have to be better at it.