People who rare pets are a peculiar bunch. During the days of creation God gave Adam power over all the creatures this world. Yet, for people who have cats or dogs living under the same roof, these creatures definitely have great power over us. We feed them, we take care of them, we bathe them, we send them to the vets to give them vaccines and for cure when they're ill, we cuddle them, we hug them, we talk to them, and some of us even sleep with them. As for my family, the phrase 'treating our pets like members of the family' is an understatement. We treat our pets like kings.
My family have several cats as pets. It was never our intention to rare animals. A female stray cat wandered into our home and my siblings gave her food. (Notice that I didn't use 'it'. I used 'her'.) The cat never left the house since, and the cat family expanded. We have several in our care. One of the kitten was given the name 'Chien Po'. The name is from the Walt Disney cartoon Mulan. In the cartoon, Chien Po is an extremely large man with a bouncy stomach, a hearty appetite and a soft, good-mannered personality. However, the cat Chien Po in our family is nothing of that sort. Although he does have a huge appetite, he's a fit kitten with no extra fat and he's the noisiest of the lot. He loves attention and from the tone of his 'meow', he demands it all the time. Whenever one of us open the front door he will immediately run towards the door of his cage and start pressing his face against the wired door of his cage. This is an indication that he wants to get out and he wants to be hugged. He has a really loud purring noise and he has an extremely short tail compared to other cats. He has beautiful black and grey stripes over his body and really large, piercing eyes. He may be the most irratating of the lot but he loves his human masters and we loved him greatly. He loves to eat and often times, he would crawl through the open window in the kitchen and start meowing in a loud, irritating voice until we give him what he wants: food or carry him like a baby. Only then will he shut up.
He died this evening. Unexpected. His nose was smashed. It may be human's doing but we're not sure. When we found his body, it was still warm, but a bit hard.
Most would think that this is not a big deal. Even humans die unexpected deaths. Accidents happen. People die. What more animals who have shorter lifespans and are exposed to greater dangers? But this is not just a normal cat. We've cared for him since the day he was born. We watched him grow. We named him. We saw him play with his siblings, catch snakes, trying to catch the birds and the butterflies, running around on the field opposite the house, making friends with the neighbours (the neigbours' kids also treat Chien Po like a pet) etc. Chien Po is family.
My family have learned a lot by having pets. When you watch animals grow, you'll notice that they go through the same phase every human does. They play together when they're young. When they're of age they start to mate. They guard their territories from outsiders. They know who are good to them and who aren't. They know where their loyalties lie. Even if you beat them, scold them or shout at them, they won't fight back (but they might run away for a while). Animals find it easy to develop an affinity towards humans because they don't know what is deceit or greed or vengence or hatred. We may one day conquer the stars, travel faster than the speed of light and find the cure for the common cold, but we can't be rid of deceit, greed, and hatred. I doubt it if animals experience that. Everything they do is based on instincts and most of what we do is based on choice. When we see stray animals on the streets or dead animals on the road, we feel sad. They're not suppose to be this way. I wish Malaysia can improve their systems when it comes to handling animals, particularly strays. Highways and cities are no place for dogs and cats, animals that are supposed to be pets. Most people only want animals with pedigree, but not the strays that roam in the streets. Even animals have been broken down into groups and some groups have higher preferances than others.
The cage is a lot quiet tonight. And I don't like it one bit.
