Tuesday, October 11, 2005

A cat story

I never had a pet in my life. Not a dog, or a cat or even a little hamster. So, you see, I don't know how to react to animals. At best, I can view them from afar but hold them close? Never.

I never thought any of my kids would have a liking to pets. Sure, they have asked me for some but I told them about the responsibilities of keeping one. Feeding it is the easiest part. Maintaining it, as in cleaning after it, managing its poop, washing it to prevent fleas, etc... That is big work. Besides, putting a dog on a leash or just plain keeping it inside a tiny enclosure is not my idea of having a pet. To me, what's the use of having one if you can't play with it? And how can we afford having a playful dog inside a tiny house with so many breakable things? It;s just impossible. So, we never kept pets!

However, when our present neighbor moved in, more than ten years ago, they introduced cats in the area. They would let their cats loiter around knowing that these cats would survive on their own. One of these cats sneaked into the house one day and I told my mother-in-law and my wife not to feed it so that it would go away. Unbeknownst to me, they did. At least my mother-in-law did. "You;ll never know when this cat can become handy. It is good for catching mice." And so, that cat stayed. And it gave birth, and soon enough, we got to have cats around our little fence. I remained adamant not to let any of these cats inside the house as it might defecate anywhere. And so the story goes. Cats became old and went probably to oblivion.

Until this new liter of white ones. The white cat produced three kittens which were just as white as their mom. Now from among these three, two caught my attention. The first one has blue-eyes while the other has green on one side and blue at the other. Neither their white color or the specialness of their eyes was remarkable to me, though. Remember, I don't like having pets. They're just plain responsibility!
Well, it turns out that these two cats are different after all. I began to notice that these cats would approach me everytime I went outside for a cig. They would go around my legs, purr silently keep on rubbing themselves. Now, I've seen how lions behave when they socialize. This is some form of bonding or so I thought. None of the former cats did that.

Then one day, while I was sitting on a chair outside the house, the two colored eyes cat jumped and stayed on my lap and purred as if pleading for me to pet it. I did. And that started it all. Every night, these two cats would take turns sitting on my lap asking to be petted. It's beginning to recognize my gestures and learning to come and go away on cue. Something happened which I thought would never do. I now call them my own. I even eagerly await my smoking time to spend some time with these cats. Sometimes, I feel like they were the ones who trained me, rather than I training them. Nevertheless, I never thought two innocent cats would soften my heart. At any rate, I plan to have them neutered.

15 comments:

tintin said...

wow! that is so adorable.

poppycock said...

Hi Tito Rolly,

Ako, i didn't grow up to be a pet lover, may asthma pa ako, but since my husband is, i have no choice but to live with them and i have for a long time now. dogs, birds, fish, roosters, dati nga may crocodile pa. not all in the same place of course but animals are truly a part of our lives. Masaya :)

Misispi

boy crazy said...

goodness, that is just so sweet! i've always had a "thing" for pets, they tug at my heartstrings. i can't even remember exactly how many pets (dogs/cats/birds)i've had throughout my life but this i gotta say, they helped shape my understanding of [animal] life -- it's such an esoteric subj that most ppl prefer to leave it alone. u were right, of course, a pet can certainly be a handful but it's just so darn sweet that you've finally formed a bond with a couple of 'em. thumbs up :)

cathy said...

titorolly,
I got a cat as a twin. No, it was not born the same time. Kung hindi, marami yon.

Sabay daw sa panganganak sa akin ay nakita nila ang kuting sa pinto.

It was my first pet. But when we moved, it stayed with my grandmom. Before it died, I saw it again.

Then came other cats. Tuwing mawawala, I become sad. Kaya ayaw ko na.

rolly said...

Naomi That's precisely the reason why I don't like taking care of pets. I don't want to clean up after them. I remember one of Seinfeld's jokes about a dog owner walking his dog, having to carry a plastic bag for dog poop. he said if there was an extraterrestrial being watching him, the latter would think the dog owner must be the slave while the dog the master. haha

Congrats! That's no easy task. Ako din nang grumadweyt, magna cum laude - magna-nine years nang makatapos. hehehe

tintin You were referring to me? Thanks ha.

mayamaya hey long time no see! Musta ka na? None in my side of the family has asthma. (Thanks God there's no one in my family, too) I don't know why but we're not just into having pets. Tamad siguro kasi kaming maglinis.

Sophie Yes, they can really be a handful of work. If only I can have maids to do those menial things... but that would be cheating.

Ca t Hindi naman halatang favorite mo ang pusa, no?
Yeah, that's the hard part pag nawala. I also get too attached sometimes. Although I know how to keep my emotions to myself. Which I think is even harder for me. Oh well...

{illyria} said...

somehow, i always believed that you were quite the softie.

rolly said...

Transience Ooops there goes my macho image, or whatever was left of it. HAHAHA

I'm sure that was not what you meant, right? :-)

Anonymous said...

I had a hamster once. We named him Poodle. But, like the relationship I had with my ex, died a gruesome death.

Now I'm back to dogs.

I actually had a similar experience to yours regarding cats; not being a cat person, di ko alam kung pano sila alagaan. Pero nung naghihintay ako sa dorm ng tropa ko, bigla na lang nila akong nilambing. Nung una pa sabi ko, ang landi/kapalmuks naman ng pusang 'to. Pero nang natulog sya sa tyan ko (di pa gaano kalaki non e), na touch ako. Ang cute ng scene na yun.

Anonymous said...

Good morning Rolly! and happy weekend too!
It is nice na you like cats also. For me who grew up with cats as my own Mom is a dog and cat lover, no choice ako but to cuddle them also.and i found out it is really a nice feeling to be with them around.

Anonymous said...

kaya pala lagi kang tambay sa labas e. oo miski ako pag nag gigitara ako sa labas. biglang manlalambing tapos uupo sa lap ko. ayun.. tinitigil ko na rin ang pag gigitara.

batjay said...

mabuti na yung magpatali ng pusa kaysa ilagay ang mga anak sa sako

bing said...

hi, mr rolly!

we have 3 cats in the house - tigra, karen and ursula - mag-iina sila, nanay ni ursula si karen at nanay naman ni karen si tigra.

pet lovers kami, but when our dog Nuggets died, we decided to stop na mag-alaga ng aso, sobrang affected kasi si Kay, parang namatayan ng mahal sa buhay (na tao). sabagay, mahal nya rin sa buhay yun!

this morning nga lang, binasag ni Ursula ang isa sa mga microwavable plates na ikinagalit ni Papsie. takot silang lahat sa hubby ko.

rolly said...

mildred Thanks for inviting me to visit Kaluskos. Lahat ba kayo dun, puro magaganda?

jorge Sorry to hear about your hamster.

O di ba, your heart would just melt when you hear them purr?

Luchie I cannot say I am definitely a cat lover now. Although these particular cats got to a soft spot in my heart siguro.

Ley Aha, I've been to your blog and realized you're an artist, too. Love to see my tribe increase here in bloglandia.

Batjay Oo nga, ganun ang mga solution ng matatanda sa cats, no? inililigaw... Nung bata ako, takang taka yung mga matatanda kung pano nakakabalik ulit yung mga pusa. ngayon siguro hindi na. And dami ng sasakyan sa kalsada e.

Bing Ang gaganda ng pangalan ng mga pusa mo a. That's something I haven't done yet. Give them names.

That is one reason I don't want them around the house. kokonti na nga lang gamit namin, kung mababasag pa, wala ng matitira. haha

auee said...

Ever read "Little Prince"?

Your kittens/cats remind me of the fox (or was it the wolf) who befriended the Little Prince. To-ing and fro-ing, never forcing each other to agree on the relationship. Until finally he established a special bond with the boy.

Di ba swak sa mga pusa mo?

rolly said...

auee aha, the woman batjay fondly calls the name without a consonant has visited me. It's an honor.

Yes, I have read the Little Prince. In fact that episode with the fox is one of my favorite. I learned that if you want to befriend someone, you must work on it. "Be there at the same time everyday and soon enough, you'd be a habit to him/her" or something of that sort.