Both of us have grown up with a variety of animals in the home. When Sandi was a teenager she kept snakes in her underwear drawers. Later, she bred Siamese cats professionally for many years, and is still besotted with all things feline.

Our kids have had a menagerie of guinea pigs, rats, goldfish and hamsters at different times. We have always had cats in the house and have five at present.

We love dogs too, but when our beloved bull terrier-staffordshire terrier Billy died 2 years ago, we didn’t want to immediately get another dog as we knew we would be travelling now.

One of the things we miss most while travelling is animal contact, and are always on the look-out for a friendly cat or dog to pet.