A year ago, I was so sceptical to take care of A CAT, let alone 8 of them. I was more nervous not knowing what to do with them. It is definitely different from ogling at other peoples' cats than actually have the responsibility to yourself. I thought I couldn't do it. Growing up, we always had cats in our house only I had not been living at home for a while...so, having cats were always my mother's responsibility. Dad couldn't give a crap about cats until he met "Billy". But that's another heart warming cat story ;-)
Let me start from the very beginning;
Once upon a time, approximately 2 years back, I heard a loud kitty cry coming from the vicinity of my office. It was quite late in the evening. I told the office caretaker to look out for the kitty before I left the office. The next day when I started work, the voice was still there, only a little "coarse". I told the caretaker to look for this kitty and bring it some food and water. He finally managed to rescue the kitty from the drain in front of our office. He named her "Lily". When he found her, she was probably a little more than a month old. Very frail. We had to hide Lily from the bosses afraid that they might want us to send Lily away.
Lily was adorable, she plays with only the caretaker and not anyone else. We somehow managed to hide her from everyone else except from the neighbour's cat. She was pregnant and a couple of months later, she gave birth to 3 bouncy babies. 2 females and 1 male. We couldn't hide them any more and the caretaker suddenly had his handful of chores. The D day happened when we had to give them away. For some reasons, I went soft that day. I told the caretaker to pack Lily and the 3 stooges in a box and brought them to my home. It was raining heavily and we had to go through massive traffic jam to get home. Lily and the babies were so quiet and as Lily peeked out of the box, I saw her shaking with fearful eyes. I burst into tears. I honestly did not know what to do or didn't know what I was doing.
It went haywire that evening when Lily were trying to get her kids settled in my house but the 3 children were running all over the area and refused to go into the house. As it was raining and the surrounding area was quite dark, I had no idea where they all went. The next day I left some food in front of the house but no sign of Lily and kids. I left for work and when I was back home I saw them hiding in the drain. I tried to retrieve them but they moved further into the drain so I stopped "harassing". An hour later I saw Lily went into the house and went straight up the staircase while the little munchkins hopping happily following their mom upstairs. I was like, duh.. aren't they a smart bunch.
I went to the stores and started to get some supplies; Kitty litter box, kitty litters and heaps of food. That was all I knew what to do. When I got home, they were crapping all over the place. I looked at Lily in anger and Lily looked at my face in sheer fear.
I rolled up all the carpets and started to make space for them. A few weeks went by and they knew what to do. I breathed a little easier.
One day, I came back from work, I found the entire curtain rails fell off and you could see my interior from outside. Hmm, they been awfully busy.
Their faces were totally innocent. That was really testing my patience.
They started to hunt around my house for lizards, cockroaches and small snakes. Everyday I had different gifts from them.
I had been stalling bringing them to the vet because I didn't think that was necessary at the time. Procrastination was biting me in the back when Lily was pregnant again.
The 3 children were growing up so fast so I scheduled for them to be neutered and a month after they all fell ill. They were hospitalised for a week of viral infection. I went home early every day that week to visit them at the vet. He charged me arms and legs so I was determined to find a different vet but only to find the more expensive ones.
Then Lily gave birth to 4 beautiful babies right in front of me. I felt like a midwife. I think I did just that. The moment they were born I knew who their father was; that big fat garfield who been hanging out my house a few times. God must love me cause a new veterinary was opened right smack near my house. I paid this new vet a visit and he was an amazing vet with a lot to teach me. We discussed a lot of things and made plans for Lily and 7 babies. Yes, he was very reasonably priced and did not hesitate to give amazing "tips". Lily loves him. You could see Lily's big eyes looking at him and obeyed everything he said.
We had Lily spayed and Lily became a happy momma and no more a grumpy old lady attitude. The 4 babies were de-wormed, vaccinated and soon all are scheduled to be neutered.
I get great tips from friends who have experience with small animals/pets.
I don't post any pictures of them here. The privilege is only for my FB friends.
This is what you should do if you are planning on having cat(s):
1. get them to the nearby vet. do not procrastinate
2. get sound advice from friends/family/vets who have REAL experience taking proper care for their pets.
3. surf internet for background readings in caring for them. learn about their breed and diseases.
4.pledge to take care of them for life. so that if you bump into few hurdles you be determined to overcome them.
5. love them. they love you back for sure.
Since having them around, I am truly happy even when there were moments I wanted to give up. They have brought out my good qualities. They made me a diligent and patience individual. At least I think so. They have made me see things in different perspectives. I only have God to thank for sending them into my life.
I now believe in spaying/neutering and against pet breeding. There are too many strays and human beings abuse them. If you want to have pets, adopt. You can have mine if you can't find any suitable pets. HA HA I am just kidding.
HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE
YOU MUST LOVE CATS!
