Once every four years human athletes across the nation converge to represent their countries and battle it out for ultimate supremacy in their sport.

And over at the Hallmark Channel, kittens and cats alike have been training hard for glory at the Kitten Summer Games.

If you like sport and you like cats, then I say switch off the fancy 2016 Rio Olympics and add a billion hours worth of fuzzy-wubby-boopy-nosed kitten viewing to your to-do list this Olympiad fortnight.

This has been a heartbreaking couple of days for Orlando, Florida residents and those of us watching, helpless, around the world. The weekend started with the premeditated murder of YouTube singer and The Voice alumni, Christina Grimmie, as she signed autographs and met fans after a concert, continued with the largest mass shooting in US history at Pulse nightclub, also Orlando, followed by - thankfully - the prevention of an attack by a heavily armed gunman on gay pride festivities in Santa Monica, California.

It's been a horrendous year of loss and hate and violence against others with private pain and grief is being shared by millions.

As details emerge there is a lot of negativity and sorrow washing over the internet right now, so here are some cute animals to bring a little sunshine back.

Hate is on the attack but love will win.

When taking your dog for a walk it can always be a bit nerve-wracking to allow your dog to interact with others you meet on the footpath or at the park. Your dog may be the sweetest dog on the planet, but you don't know the personality of the dog your four-legged family member is bounding up to, out of your reach. Just because your dog is friendly and the dog they are desperate to introduce themselves to looks friendly, doesn't mean they will be. It doesn't mean they don't get nervous around other dogs or children and lash out to protect themselves. If your dog is running around off-lead and the dog they are meeting feels at a disadvantage on a lead with nowhere to run, they could be the biggest, friendliest goofball normally but when they tell your dog to get out of their personal space they may do it with some force.

There's never really been any way to tell, has there? I know I can get nervous when my dog starts sniffing at a stranger's dog, as it could either go very well or very badly in an instant.

Some things never fail to make you laugh. Having seen this compilation of animals in the wild with British accents dubbed over the top so you know (the 100% truth of) what these animals are thinking and saying, if you are an animal lover and need a good laugh then stop reading and PRESS PLAY NOW. 

​You're welcome.

Which animal is your fave? I'm partial to a beat boxing chipmunk, myself.

Tumblr is a social network filled with passionate fandoms and users whom have often quirky senses of humour and incredibly niche interests.

Enter Rachel Aslett, Australian blogger, Tumblr user, cat lover and creator of the page Cats That Look Like Pin Up Girls, on which she posts - and encourages users to post - photos of cats in astonishingly accurate 1940s and 50s pin-up girl poses.

Check some of them out below.

We've all heard of guard dogs, narcotics dogs and cadaver dogs. Dogs working in law enforcement is a noble profession that some breeds are very good at. Not to mention goat "lawn mowers", guide dogs and cats and therapy dogs that visit and provide love and comfort to the elderly and ill.

But these are not the only types of jobs available to animals these days. There are a myriad of other professions our four-legged friends take part in, putting their own particular skillsets to good use.
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Please. Have some mercy and cuddle these cats.

We absolutely love feel-good animal videos, and if you're on this page, we know that you do as well.
Pranks often begin with a lot of pain and heartache for the person being pranked, but we're sure Sherry, the victim of this Prank it FWD, and the owner of an overflowing no-kill, not-for-profit shelter called West Coast Animal Rescue, would agree that in this case it was well and truly worth it.

​Enjoy.

If you would also like to make a difference and help the team and animals at West Coast Animal Rescue, they have a donate a bed program as well as easy PayPal donation buttons on their website, or you could make a purchase from their Amazon wishlist.

We tried Henry's Thundershirt on a visiting dog and it worked a charm on her, too. After pacing anxiously at an influx of visitors to the house, within a minute of wrapping her in the Thundershirt, she lay down and curled up for a nap.

We tried it on the exceptionally loud-barking Tessa to stop her deafening the driver, but it didn't work. She still barks in the car, even with the shirt on. The Thundershirt doesn't have the same effect on every dog and cat, but when it works, it really works and I recommend this shirt to every dog parent I know who has an anxious pup or cat. We all want the best for our four-legged family members and I honestly believe the Thundershirt is part of that.
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Beloved four-legged family members go missing far too often, but I had no idea just how often.

​When people see a dog wandering by itself, they assume it's lost and step in to get it safely home again. But when seeing a cat it's easy to assume it's just chillin' near home and will return there when it damn well wants to, which means less lost cat sightings are reported and less cats are returned home.