To Kitty with lots of love...

Kitty the cat

This is how she sleeps

Kitty when we first got her almost two years ago

After almost two years with us, we bid goodbye to Kitty last night. Never have I expected that I would feel extremely sad after she was gone. I actually miss our furry little friend.

Kitty was brought into our home as a gift from my husband to my sons. She was merely a month old when we adopted her. My sons fell in love with her the moment they saw her in the pet shop. I was told that when they stepped into the shop, Kitty was the only kitten who responded to my husband’s call. She stood up on her little feet and tried to touch my husband with one of her feet. That was how they picked Kitty.

My husband knew that I wouldn’t approve of having a cat in the house because Ariana is asthmatic. Any parents would know that having a cat in the house is not a very good idea when you have children suffering from asthma. Furthermore, I am not a cat enthusiast either. Nevertheless, he went ahead and secretly bought the kitten when I had to work on a weekend. Imagine the surprise when I came home from work and saw the kitten in our house. But I have to admit that I too fell in love with Kitty when I first saw her.

She had given birth twice in the last 10 months. Her first batch of three kittens was kidnapped by some unscrupulous neighbours when we were visiting my parents in Kedah. She had given birth again two months ago. We are giving away one of her two surviving kittens today to my friend who is crazy about cats and keeping one as a consolation to the kids. We picked the less furry one to keep, the one we fondly call Aboo.

Kitty was given away to my husband’s friend who eagerly came with his family last night. She is in a better home now being looked after by two little girls who love cats dearly. It is a sad decision indeed. But when you have to choose between pet and your child’s health, you have to do what you have to do. It took us almost two years to finally come to this difficult decision. I hope my sons would understand why we had to do this.

Kitty was not neutered. Hence, her animal instinct would kick in once a while. Being a Persian, she is very pretty indeed, white and furry. At first, the stray cats that live in the neighbourhood were kind of scared of her. They’d run away when she tried to befriend them. Perhaps they have never seen a cat so furry in their lifetime… But in times, she found her soul mate. She would leave quietly at night and early in the morning her mate would walk her home. He would wait at the front gate and waited until Kitty got into our house before he walked away. I saw this act of love with my own eyes twice. Would you have thought that cats would act in such a way? Never huh? But believe me, I have seen it. Who knows that cats could be that romantic…

This month is really a bad month for our family, pet-wise that is. Last week, 9 of our Koi fish died all at once. We actually had 10 of them but somehow one got into the pump filter and died a couple of months ago (it’s still a mystery how he got in there). In case you’re wondering, yes, all our fishes were male, according to the pet shop owner (how they could tell the fish gender still bits me till today). That’s why they never breed during the 17 months we have them, and boy have grown so big and fat. The cause of death is still unknown, unless we hire a fish forensic to do the autopsy. But then again, the fishes were already eaten by a group of Indons my maid gave the fishes to. “Sayang nak dibuang” she said. My guess is either contaminated water or tainted palette, or simply their time has come – nature’s very own way of working its ecological equilibrium perhaps. How long is a fish’s life span anyway?

Speaking of fish, did you know that there is fish psychologist? Oh yeah… My sister’s boss once flew first class next to one. He must be making loads of money, otherwise, he couldn't afford to travel first class overseas, could he? Moi has never even travelled Business Class (except for one rare occasion to Alor Setar). Perhaps I should consider a career change next year eh?

I remember when we first got the fishes Kitty was so scared of them that she would run like she saw a ghost when the fishes moved. She loves to watch the fishes but when the fishes started to move, she would scramble so fast till she banged the glass door and hid behind the curtain. It was fun watching her did that in the first few months we had the fishes. First she watched them from afar (from inside the glass door) and later she graduated to watching them at the courtyard itself but still petrified when the fishes moved regardless. Kitty is scared of any living things that moves like fish, caterpillar and cockroaches. Eats the most expensive cat food (she hates Friskies, Whiskers and the likes, she prefers Japanese made cat food). She is an epitome of a city cat – very much like my children. And she loves my husband the most and Harris second – don’t ask me why.

The fishes are now in fish heaven (if there is such thing). But in all honesty, I will miss Kitty the most. I hope her new owner will care for her far better than we did, provide her with the love she deserves and most importantly provide a home where she could live her life to the fullest.

Kitty we love you so much and we are sorry that we had to give you away… You will always be remembered as part of the family. Adios my little furry friend...