I remember when Kitty cat had her kittens the day before Christmas. She lay next to me on my bed and just started pushing at me with her paws. She didn't even make a sound. I woke up my daughter (at 6:30am) so she could see the babies being born and she was fine with it - very non-squeamish. As soon as all six were out, we relocated kitty to her baby-bath bed with all her new babies.

We called them the Stripey Family as they were dark-grey striped and pale grey.

They were very popular with my daughter and a visiting friend who kept popping in every few minutes to check on kittens' progress. But there was a sign on the bedroom door - "no dogs allowed" - since bouncy puppy was an irritation to kitty and got his nose swiped for his impertinence at peeping in at her.

Max - the Jack Russell-cross-Maltese puppy - is also known as Mad Max, Max-Attacks, Maximillian Mouse or the Marshmallow (when he is asleep). He was very nearly turned into a handbag-dog when the girls were visiting as they tended to carry him around like a handbag. He somehow managed to tolerate all the attention and lick everyone democratically.

I managed to keep my head above poop level - puppy poop and kitty poop.

When my daughter went to bed Kitty regarded her with lemony eyes and all you could hear was quiet suckling of her babies and purring.