LEIA - the first day!
While others are getting married, having babies, ... i decided to adopt a cat. It was not very planned.
Two weeks ago, when I was arranging to send ice-cream to my friend, he asked whether i wanted a cat... my immediate response was "no"... i cannot take care of another living thing... not my current lifestyle. But I still asked what cat it was... (i remembered blackie, the stray that usually came to my house.... it stopped coming when my neighbour decided to send it to another part of Changi.....). When he responded "Persian cat"... well, I had to look.
When I looked, I fell in love with Leia... she is black and orange...with an attitude... she bosses other cats around. She could not live in a household where there are other cats.... so my friend, who had Timmy and Leia... has a very stressed Timmy who gets sick easily...
I definitely wanted Leia... but I was flying to Seoul that night, and I really needed more time to think of the responsibility....
So yesterday I came back from Seoul, today I adopted Leia.
She was definitely scared in her new surrounding... she hid under the cupboard and refused to come out...It has been 8 and half hours now and one meal served... she is purring like a motorboat. I was initially worried... such loud purr... is she alright? I called my friend.... don't worry if she purrs like a motorboat... it means that she loves you.
Confident that she is learning to love me... I scrutnise her ever move...It is amazing how she is reacting to me... I think it is sinking in to her that she will be staying here.
My first commitment to a living thing... my lifestyle will change...
LEIA - one week after
It has been a week that Leia is with me. She has progressed to let me hold her without jumping from my arms. She has also taken to following me around. I guess it takes a little longer for her to jump into my lap.
It has proven to be an expensive affair - $100 was spent on her vitamins yesterday. Today I have sent her for grooming and vaccination.... a few hundreds more!!!
It has proven to be a smelly affair - her pooh and pee....
But notwithstanding it all, she is so adorable. Here are some photos of her before she was taken for her grooming!
Must Love Cats
The night before was one of the dreaded days when I had to break fast whilst in the midst of a meeting - orange juice and keropok! I got home only at about 9 p.m. to feed Leia. Still hungry, notwithstanding chomping the 2 bars of chocolate whilst driving, I went over to my parents for food and some pampering. With my mother's encouragement, I fell asleep... and did not wake up until it was the time to eat before dawn. I came home only at 5ish a.m. this morning, to find Leia waiting forlornly at the door. I felt guilty. I had not spent much time with her.
I fed her and did my prayers. Then I lay on my bed, this time deliberately not closing my bedroom door too tightly, and waited. Within minutes, Leia was inside and up on the bed. I pretended to ignore her... as she moved closer to me. I felt her purr and breath on my shoulders. Her breath was not sweet smelling... but alas what love can do... I turned to welcome her with open arms. For the longest time I resisted allowing Leia to sleep on the bed with me, but this morning, it was such a delight. My little cat, using the palm of my hand as her pillow... Licking my fingers, brushing her teeth on my fore arm. I guess, this was the quality time we needed, Leia and I. I decided that the gym could wait till tonight....
On the back of my mind, i have added another criteria in the search for the love of my life... He must love cats!
Lessons Learnt from Leia
One of the things I discovered was that Leia drinks milk... but, only a particular brand of milk. She drinks the japanese brand milk but not the australian one.
Before this I could not tell any difference between the different brands of milk... both fresh milk, the best available in the supermarket. But when Leia made the distinction, I made a conscious effort to taste and identify the difference. True enough...the Japanese one was the creamier and tastier of the two... and the Australian one has a fishy smell about it, thin and comparatively tasteless...
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