Sharing: KITTEN IN OUR BUILDING

I have this craze for cats and just adore them. We used to have a few at home a few years ago. They are the cleanest animals and it is very easy to take care of cats as they are so independent. The main problem might be that they breed voraciously. If you have a female cat at home, you might land up with a dozen or more cats in about a year’s time.

With cats around, especially kittens, you are never short of entertainment. They get into the oddest of places, climb whatever and play with just about anything, especially things that roll on the floor - old batteries, pens, tiny plastic balls - just anything will do. They settle down for a good clean up just about anywhere - window sill or the top of the TV. Our cat used to sit on top of the TV and wag her tail in front of the screen in a lazy fashion. Or she used to bend her head way down, covering half the screen. Don't know quite what she could see there, except maybe light as cats cannot see images on screen or so I have read somewhere.

And what they say about cats not being loyal or attached is just not true. They get quite close to human beings and are an absolute comfort when we are in blue moods.

There was Kitty who lived with us for about a year. Kitty was snooty and did not make friends with everyone very easily. She was a cat with an attitude. She will let us pet her only if she is in the mood. She appeared to understand everything we told her. It was absolutely fascinating. Her babies were Little Ginger and Jilly, the cutest, adorable kittens ever. Sadly, both of them died at different points in time. After a few months, Jupiter, Neptune, Venus and Mars were born. Two were guys and the other two gals. We kept them for a while, but they became too mischievous for words. We just could not manage them and were also worried at the speed at which they multiply. We had to give them all away.

Big Ginger forced himself into our home, literally. However much he was shooed out, slapped with wadded newspapers, whatever – Ginger had come to stay. He was a handsome orange and white cat who loved to be petted. He never found the way down our first floor balcony like how Kitty used to go down. So, every time he wanted to go out, he used to meow loudly. One night, my husband was so disgusted, he told Ginger that he should not meow in the middle of the night. From the next night on, Ginger used to sit there in front of Venkat and stare, so hard, that my husband used to wake up with a jerk. Don't know what kind of mesmerism Ginger used to get his own way. I would not have minded waking up, but Ginger used to trouble only Venkat. Venkat also adored Ginger so much that he used to pander to the cat's ego. He lived with us for more than a year before he just died one day.

I found this little kitten in our building compound and it was just love at first sight. The little guy gave out tiny meows when my son carried him home for a short while. However tempting it was, we kept him for a short while before leaving him back with his young mother. We know with experience that a farm house is the best suited place for cats, unless you get all chauvinistic and have only Tomcats for pets. But then, the females are the smartest and snootiest ever that so tempt you to make them yours.