Pussy Magnet

Ever since I was a tiny kid, my house deemed as a stray cat shelter for those poor felines which were dumped anonymously. Due to the kind and loving nature of Mak, every cat which dropped by and stayed will be given food and, unwillingly, shelter.

As kampung folks, the menu on the cats could consist of leftover foods mixed with nasi. Nasi gaul ikan goreng was a frequent dish. I was well aware of the lack of proper meals for them, but with us living to make end’s meet, we could not afford proper cat food. The cat seemed understanding, and not picky. Good for them.

It was tedious, I tell ya. Constant poop removal, pissed-fumed air, vomits, foul mating sounds, the list is endless. Sometimes, when things went beyond control, we would do as the anonymous dumpers did, dumped the cats. Some stayed away, a handful came back. It made me thinking, of why these cats kept on coming. When voicing concerns to Mak, she always mentioned about, events and purposes. Of how everything that occured happened for some reasons that mortals will never anticipate.

It ticked me. Maybe this is the door to opportunity. To make some good out of this cruel,short-lived world. We’re not blessed with riches to shower people with money. If that is the least that I could do, so be it.

Those cats were seldom named. Only a few chosen ones would be named. I remember Casper, with her snowy white fur. Blacky, with figuratively, black. And Owen too (pronounced oh-wayne), her name given by my niece. These lots are close to my family. Blacky, which treated my house like a hotel, would sometimes surprised Mak when she came back from the usual morning shopping. Blacky would sometimes out of nowhere, greeted mak with her unique meowing: intermitten.Putus2 meow dia, hahaha. Blacky was labeled as gila betina by Mak , for it would only appeared before us when the mating season kicked in.

Those three is gone now. Mak pointed out it maybe the Vietnamese who are renting a flat nearby were the culprit. Though they were rumours that those lot practised cat eating, I chose not to believe of what seemed to be proofless accusations. New batch came in, and we treated those poor creature just as we did the previous. It is calming actually, watching they eat and licking the water/milk which I gave. Better still, once in a while they get to taste proper catfood if I had extra money.

My house will ever be dubbed “pussy magnet” and I think me and the rest of the family can live with it.