Purring joy…

What would you do if you find an injured cat on the street? Probably you would feel sorry for the cat and wish she gets well. Would you try and take the cat to safety?

One evening, I was taking a walk with one of my friends when suddenly a streak of black ran near our legs. I looked down to see a really thin cat looking up at me and mewing. Before I could think how to reach, the cat started rubbing herself against my legs and purring. I, very cautiously, started petting her and she started purring even more. I picked her up against my friend’s warning that cats can be very dangerous. I took her to the park and sat down on the grass next to her. She climbed onto my lap and I could feel that she felt secure.

Since I have two dogs at home, I was little apprehensive and called my mother outside. My mother also instantly liked the cat. She brought her some milk to drink, which she lapped away hungrily. It was then that I discovered that she was hurt on her hind leg. We took her to the vet, who treated her wounds and gave her an injection. We told him that the kitty couldn’t be left in the streets because we were sure she won’t survive and we couldn’t keep her in the house because we have dogs.

We decided to get one of our dogs and see the kitty’s reaction. But when we got my dog out (I was holding her by collar so that she wouldn’t frighten the kitty too much), the kitty started hissing and struggling to get out of my mother’s arms. The plan failed, but we knew that we couldn’t just leave the kitty on the streets because she looked like a domesticated cat who was abandoned. Since we could not risk the life of this kitty, we decided to leave her at an animal shelter, where she would be cared and may even find a good, loving home. We found a good animal shelter and left our kitty in caring hands.

I only spent three and a half hours with the cat but I feel I have developed a strong bond with her. When I grow up, I would love to work at an animal shelter and spread awareness about animals. I also request all pet parents never to abandon their pets as this is extremely cruel to them. That kitty was lucky to be rescued and sheltered …let’s all make this world a better place for all!

Chaki the Zen

Chaki, short for Charcoal, was born one cold February mid morning on my favourite T shirt inside my cupboard. Her eyes were tight shut and her miniscule tail stuck between her legs. Minutes before, her brother had taken his place in the world and had already found the source of the milk. Mimi, the mother was tired and she slept as her two precious offsprings snuggled against her belly and drank.

Of the two kittens, the brother was more handsome. He had bright beady eyes, a pert little nose and perfect tabby stripes. He had personality and suaveness. Chaki, on the other hand, had a strange, undecided hair colouring and also was ill mannered and screamed all the time, scrambling up the sides of her cardboard box, falling on her back, then clawing up noisily, then falling again. I knew then that it would be easier for me to find a home for the handsome, well behaved brother. Soon, some close friends of mine adopted him and named him Baichung after the famous footballer.

Today, Chaki is a feisty eleven-year-old cat who loves to push open her cat door and loiter around the colony. She sometimes returns with a string of cobwebs from ear to ear and some hanging from her whiskers indicating that she has explored some dusty, dank basement. She has a way of announcing her arrival home - a long deep meow begins at the foot of the stairs, then there are shorter meows for every step and then a blood curdling yell outside her cat door just before she pushes her head in. As soon as she is in, there are a few more loud yells demanding that we notice her arrival and with one final loud cry she leaps up on the table and is the queen of all she surveys.

Chaki is my closest friend. We share a bond that I cannot describe. It is deep and mystical. When she looks with her yellow eyes straight into mine, I feel the primordial closeness of two creatures of the jungle, human and cat. When she snuggles into the crook of my arm and I hear her purr, I know there is no sound sweeter than this. She shares my moods and my bed in winter. She smells of baby - milk and vitamin syrup after I have syringed some into her mouth. She is my queen and queen of the territory over which she presides, letting no dog or other cat come anywhere near. Chaki is Tao, she is Zen and embodies the mystery of cat as she sits up, paws under her, tail swishing gently and eyes far away into another dimension altogether.

(Rukmini Sekhar lives in Delhi with Chaki. She runs an NGO called Viveka Foundation and is part of a group called Citizens for Animals.)

Kalpaka: the amazing survivor

Our heart bleeds when we witness the life of our loved ones slip away from us. I also stared at the startling reality when my little white kitty Kalpaka fought with the messenger of death. But I was fortunate to get this bundle of joy back and fill my life again with happiness.

I met Kalpaka accidentally on the pavement when I was a volunteer with a local cat shelter three years ago. He was breathing hard from a severe upper respiratory infection and looked half starved. A man at the pavement teashop told us that he survived mainly on biscuits thrown to him. I picked him and brought him home and fed him. Slowly he started responding to medications and seemed to do fine. But soon, I noticed that his stomach looked enlarged, and his breathing laboured.

I rushed him to the vet and further investigations revealed that he had an enlarged liver and ascites. He had to be given small doses of lasex every second day to clear the fluids in his system. Since he needed personalized care, I didn’t have the heart to leave him at the shelter and so Kalpaka stayed with us.

With the help of my vet and a senior homeopath, Kalpaka returned to life like nothing had happened. What is more interesting, he did not seem to need the lasex anymore. From a heavy cat who puffed and panted every step of the way, he became more active (although he still prefers the lift to the stairs and is known as the lift cat!). We are quite sure it was the diet of biscuits (rich butter biscuits!) that made him ill, and the cat food that restored the balance gradually!

Today Kalpaka still purrs like a busy engine, loves to bully the younger cats, and has the softest corner in my heart!!

Well! I ain't regular kitty

Muffin, my pet kitty is different...for all the good reasons, for sure. She is our loving furry friend. She came as a small ball of fur to us, when she was just one and half month old. One look at her, and we all fell for her and her cuddly cute antics further made us go crazy about her. We have two pet dogs also and they all share a wonderful rapport, in fact they all are inseparable. Cleo - my pet dog is Muffin’s better buddy and they roam, crawl and glide pawing each other from one room to another. She takes all the pride in drinking water from the dog’s bowl...their camaraderie is unmatched... true partners in mischief. Muffin, like a shadow follows him everywhere...even in the bathroom and they both have developed a habit of sleeping in the bathroom.

Muffin loves water; she skips our eyes and sits under running water, bathing to her heart’s content. Once, she just left us with fits of laughter, when she rushed to the bathroom and got herself completely drenched. Her curiosity is so strong that once she ended up in the toilet pot, luckily it was recently flushed and my brother saw and rescued her. Jokes apart! Our fun loving feline is a well-mannered cat, she sleeps in her basket, knows where the litter basket is and meows when she wants attention...she is a wonderful darling. We are glad to have her in our life.

Dont hate but love me as i love you

If the cats can... they would have whispered these words to everyone. The mindset of people is different from one another. Some may love cats, some may be indifferent to them, while a few may be scared or even hate them. Most of the fear and hate, that cats have to face from humans, come from baseless superstitions that associate them with bad luck and evil. Your heart breaks when you witness your beloved ones to be chased, shouted at or abused by somebody. So it is important for the cat lovers to take the responsibility for spreading good things about cats - their love, companionship and cat-human relationship. They are independent but unobtrusive. They should not be discriminated but be loved.

As a cat owner, I have realized that when confronted by negative behaviour towards my pets, getting on the defensive does not help. One needs to gently change attitudes and get more people converted into the catfold! I have eight felines and I try and allow as many people, especially children to interact with them. The children learn that if they are gentle and still, the cats come up to them to make friends. Even their mothers treat them with respect and dignity. Sure, love dilutes hatred!