Five awesome animal cushions (because a grown woman always needs more animal-themed cushions)

Once upon a time I wasn't really bothered about animals. Not that I wished them any harm, it's just that I was capable - somehow, unbelievably - of doing things like walking past dogs without giving them a stroke. Then along came Domestic Sluttery with its undeniable love of the animal kingdom and suddenly I was really into cats. And dogs. And also foxes, badgers, owls and penguins. Especially penguins.

While I spurned cuddly toys as a child, aged 32 there's obviously nothing I want more than this Penguin cushion from BIBU at Selfridges. It's meant for kids of course but what child has £35 to spend on a cushion? It's not just penguins either, as their range also includes a ladybird, fish, frog and, of course, a cat. Everything you need to build a colony of creature cushions on your couch.

Everything except a dinosaur. H&M have blessed us with this awesome rawwwwsome Dinosaur cushion for only £7.99 (yes, I am counting dinosaurs as animals in this list - have you seen how many we write about on the site? They're definitely not extinct round these parts).

Okay, while the top two cushions may have come *cough* from the kids range, there's nothing childlike about Rocky Raccoon. Except his name. He's been lovingly made using a variety of fabric printing techniques by Katie Procter of Katie & the Wolf and he costs £54 from Culture Label. Pleasingly, 'the wolf' also gets his own cushion.

In honour of our resident shark fanatic Kat but again actually marketed at children, here's John Lewis' Walk The Plank shark cushion, only £15. They've gone all out on a marine theme recently: I'm also rather partial to their whale cushion.

But the beast of the bunch? In my eyes, it's this handmade 70s-style Lion cushion from Retro Pigeon's Etsy shop. Lovingly crafted from vintage fabric, he deserves pride of place on your perch. And he's only £22, meaning you could afford to have a couple lion around (sorry...).