Feelings (Toward Cats) Change
9:42:00 PMI once said I hate cats before. But I surely did not know what I was saying. I did not hate them. I was afraid of them. I am terrified of their sharp claws and killing stares. More than that, their pee and poop smell really bad.
The truth is our family are animal-lovers since birth. But we never had cats in our home. We owned parrots, love birds, parakeets, kois, angel fishes, gold fishes, janitor fishes, seawater fishes, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pig, Shih Tzus, Dachshund, Labrador, Akitas, Askal, but no cats. Stray cats surely roamed around our backyard and were owned by our neighbors. But they never became our pets and they never stepped inside the house except when they barged in without permission.
My view of cats almost changed in 2012. I once carried a cat owned by a family friend in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her name was Cuddles. However, I scared her when I accidentally fell from the hammock and she scampered away from my arms and scratched my thighs. Even though I was already wearing leggings, the scratches burned red and hurt. Luckily, there were just scratches and did not leave deep permanent marks. And so I still continued to dislike cats after that.
My dislike ended three years after when my Ninong Hemie and Tita Nancy gave me and my family a kitten. They were passionate breeders of Scottish Folds. Though my mother initially wanted a gray kitten, I chose a black kitten instead.
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| Somerset was her first name. |
I named her Jiji after Kiki's black cat in the Studio Ghibli film entitled Majo no takkyûbin (Kiki's Delivery Service). Aside from being black, the anime Jiji was the first cat I was fond of. Although Jiji in the film is a male while my Jiji is a female, I still chose the name to represent my love for the film and its characters. Besides I consider Kiki as a childhood depiction of myself: Easily laughs, friendly, stubborn, and proud (My past is burried. Ha ha ha). Kiki is also attached to Jiji and considers her as her best friend. Now, I have my own version of a cat best friend. :3
I gradually prepared myself by reading articles about cats and their different breeds until I met Jiji for the first time in my uncle's house. Like all of my uncle and aunt's cats, Jiji was well-cared for. Bringing her home, I made a promise to myself to take good care of her too. It did not take long for me to love her.
My Jiji resembles Jiji in the film. The most obvious similarity is the color. In terms of personality, they are both very playful! Jiji is like a ninja that hides behind furniture and jumps at anyone who passes by. Because of her sudden leaps and jumps, I get a lot of scratches. Thank God, these disappear after a few weeks.
Jiji loooves playing with boxes!
Jiji's favorite hobby is to e-x-p-l-o-r-e.
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| Even the bird that visits every now and then makes her go "cah-cah-cah!" Creepy. ((: |
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| "Dining table is mine." |
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| "The house is my playground." |
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| "I'm the boss." |
Despite the playfulness and domineering attitude, she is very sweet and friendly to people that makes it scary because she does not mind mingling with strangers. She is not that talkative like most Scottish Folds but she happily receives hugs and kisses. But too much hugging irritates her. Usually she meows in order to say, "Please stop" and "Put me down, please." I learned that putting her down with both feet on the ground helps to gain her trust.I like Jiji's soft meow that shows she wants to eat or go out of the room. Her purr, a low continuous vibratory sound, was disturbing to me at first. HAHA! But I got used to it. Purring means a cat is happy. She usually walks around my ankles and slides her body and tail around my legs. So sweet!
When she looks at me with those big round golden eyes (Just like Puss and Boots in Shrek!) and slowly blinks, I melt. I learned that it is cat's way of showing affection to another creature, whether a person or animal, and that they are very comfortable around the person or animal they blinked at. It is the cutest thing! :3
On Jiji's first night, she slept in my bedroom. She allowed me to sleep at 2 AM. And so, she was sent to the library. However, the library became too lonesome. She cried all the time. So she slept in my bedroom for a week. But she was transferred to the library again. Sometimes she sleeps at my parent's bedroom. The dander's effect on our skin is too much too handle at times. Mahirap maging hypoallergenic!
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| Under the sheets |
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| On my bed |
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| On my parent's bed |
During nap times, she sleeps everywhere.
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| At mommy's office |
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| On the floor beside a pair of slippers |
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| Beside a stuff toy |
Whenever Yuki, our female Akita dog, gets close to her, I panic. I even scream. After a month, I mellowed down and realized that Yuki meant no harm. Si Jiji lang pala ang mapangasar! Hahaha. They have their "lambingan" moments now. As for Sachi, our male Akita dog, he does not really care if we love them all or not. Just because Jiji is a smaller animal, he will attack her without hesitation.
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| After two months, here they are. <3 |
Amazingly, a part of my salary (and Mom's haha) goes to Jiji's basic needs: Cage, bed, food, milk, accessories, medical checkups, shampoo, and medicine now. I even have a greater reason to go home early in order to feed her or keep her company (as if she needs one!). I am like a Mom of a baby cat, a furmom or a mommy cat.
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| At UP Vetmed |
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| Cage and toys. So spoiled! |
So let me restate what I said about cats. I like cats.
Cats taught me a life lesson. I learned that we should never really say something cruel or bad about something. Usually, we do not know what we're talking about until we experience it ourselves.
Purrr (I'm happy). :3
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