Readers Digest NZ Dec/Jan 2025

TMB STUDIO Who’s the Trained One? The number of litter boxes in our house has grown to three because our two cats refuse to share, and they enjoy having an extra one. Adding to the drama, we noticed that Gracie, our gray cat, has a certain meow for when she would like us to pick her up like a baby and gently deposit her in her preferred box. Yes—yes, we do. —yvonne harrison Primped and Pawlished My chocolate Labrador, Doc, loved an adventure in the woods around my home. Upon return, I’d run a vacuum with an upholstery attachment all over him to get the ticks off. To my surprise, he loved it—and it worked. He was so relaxed, he’d go into a comfort coma during our “spa session.” If he felt he’d been given a shortened treatment, he’d slap me with his paw. —Donna Anderson Alfresco Dining When we order pizza, our cat cries until we put a slice on a plate near the windowsill and turn on a bird video. She’ll lick the crust while we enjoy the rest of the pie in the next room. She’s 19 years old, so I guess she’s earned the right. —jeremy miller my husband and me in the living room. It provides a much-needed break for our laps. —nancy surette The Swim-Up Suite I wasn’t allowed to bring my two pet turtles on a flight home to Wiscon- sin, so I drove them from California. We took photos at destinations like Route 66, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, and even stopped for turtle sundaes (with toppings that evoke Tur- tles candies: pecans, hot fudge and hot caramel). I set up a plastic kiddie pool in every motel we stayed in, filling it with water from the sink so they could splash around for a bit. One day, I got pulled over for speeding, and the offi- cer said, “You should take your friends’ advice back there and slow down.” —joan starich 110   december 2025/january 2026 reader ’ s digest Your True Stories Sit, Stay, Fetch (Your Dignity) We went to buy our new golden retriever, Jack, a plastic kiddie pool, and didn’t think about how to get it home until after we had checked out. Luckily, we have a pickup truck, so on the drive back I sat in the pool in the truck bed to keep it from blowing away—all so our puppy could have a splash. —mary maddox Your Chariot Awaits Plenty of bicyclists will tote a lapdog in their handlebar bag or train their energetic dog to run alongside them. But my 150-pound Irish wolfhound, Goliath, in his attached trailer really turned heads. The specialized trailer weighed 100 pounds on its own, so we had to stick to flat trails, but it was our crazy idea of fun. —Judy Snyder ON SECOND THOUGHT ... Have you ever changed your mind about something and surprised yourself? Maybe you disliked your daughter’s boyfriend but love the son-in-law he is now. Tried drinking tea and found you didn’t miss your morning coffee as much as you’d expected? Even Sam-I-Am started singing a different tune about green eggs and ham after some relentless badgering. See terms and share your story at letters@readersdigest.com.au . We might publish it in a future issue of Reader’s Digest . No we won’t—wait—maybe we will ... readersdigest.co.nz     111