Sometime last week, my cat was sick. The whole thing was over within seconds: she came into the kitchen, sat down, made a rippling movement and brought up all her food like toothpaste coming out of a tube. It was almost graceful.

My mother then insisted on cleaning up this sick herself, much to my consternation, since the dog is always more than willing to eat anything my cat brings up without so much as a whisper of complaint.

Her refusal to let the dog clean up after the cat is even more puzzling when you consider the current state of affairs with the dog’s oestrus cycle. She is, at present, on heat, and it is not uncommon to find a little spot of blood on the floor as you walk around our house. Instead of cleaning these up herself, my mother chooses to point at them until Nelly finds them and does the job for her.

Now, I ask you: where is the reasoning there? How is one acceptable, but the other not? I say, if the dog is willing to clear up something you’d rather not, then more power to the dog. It’s the circle of life.