Ripley Weston, 10, is thankful to the previous owners of his house, who said they could keep their pet cat if they could find it

A quick note to say thank you… to Fluffy, who I loved so much

My mum says Fluffy came with the house. When my parents bought it, the owner said the cat had disappeared and they couldn’t find her anywhere. The woman selling the house said: ‘If she comes back, can you look after her?’

And once we had moved in, she did come back – and then she was ours. It was soon after that that I was born, so Fluffy was the first pet I ever had.

She was really cute. She always played with the string I used to dangle over her. I really loved her. And by getting to know her, she made me love cats so much. But she was always the most special, of course.

When I was seven, we had to say goodbye to Fluffy. I remember being really sad. But her death taught me something important, which is that things in life do come to an end and you have to make the most of them while they’re still here.

Now we have two new cats, Olive and Pip. I love them, too. Pets give you so much warmth and happiness.

It’s like my mum looks after me and my brother, and we look after the cats. I really like that in our family.

Ripley Weston, 10, lives in east London

Is there someone you’d like to say thank you to? Write to us at magazine@observer.co.uk