The stuffed meerkat was found abandoned at work ? it was around three feet tall and, knowing Alfie?s  love of knocking the stuffing out of this sort of toy, I took it home for him to play with.

But Alfie hardly turned a hair at the sight of this animal ? in fact he ignored it?..

even when the meerkat fussed him?..

For three whole days the meerkat stayed in one piece filling a big area of my kitchen ? I thought they were going to be friends for life.

On the 4th day, however, Alfie attacked the meerkat?s nose and tore it off?..

from then on it was war,  he ran around the garden throwing the toy in the air

it was really funny to watch ? the meerkat was so huge he nearly tripped over it whilst carrying it around?..

But just as he was heading for serious play ? I noticed that the main stuffing was polystyrene beads?? very small polystyrene beads??

No way was I going through that again ? those beads are not easy to clean up.

The meerkat ended up in the wheelie bin almost in one piece??.. and Alfie??

he just got down to more monkey business with his favourite chimp?..

before some relaxation exercise with his favourite greyhound..

I don?t think he missed the meerkat at all really!!!!