Who's the Baby of the House?

Who's the baby of the house?

It's Lola, our cat!

Two years ago, he was just a stray kitten

which we unwittingly took over from our

neighbour's boy. He found it straying at

the Novena MRT station and brought it

home. Much to his chagrin, he was

forbidden to keep it because they already

had a dog.

Seeing us, he pleaded us to take him in.

We were in two minds. I never wanted

to keep a pet. But Vince and Jayne were

clearly for it.

Then the boy used the formula:

"If no one takes it, then I have to leave

it in the drain."

And we were sure he just might because

he was driven to a corner; he had no choice.

So we took the little thing off his hand.

We tried to get it off ours by bringing him

to church. Surely the kids would fall in

love with this little cute thing.

They did. But their mothers didn't.

They knew better.

"Cute. But not enough for the troubles

that would follow. And kittens would

grow into cat, right? . And keep a pet cat?"

As Adibah Amin (pseudomym Sri Delima)

in her book "As I was Passing II" wrote

about people's perception of cats:

"Cats are often misunderstood because of

their aloof, unfeeling look.

"It is true that they do not have the

uncritical, undying devotion of dogs.

"Once disillusioned they can walk out

on you with their tails in the air, never

letting the world know their heartbreak."

"But if they are sure of your love, how

beautifully they open up!

They perch on your shoulders,

curl up on your lap,

lie on their backs for you to tickle them,

hide behind doors to pounce playfully

on you. "

"They recognize not only your smell,
voice and footsteps but also the sound
of your car, and it is really something
to come home and find twelve loving
cats waiting for you at the gate."

The writer then recounts how they took in a stray cat too.

" I remember particularly my cat Serah, now long dead of

ripe old age. Someone had tied a wire tight around her neck

and she came to me, thin and wretched out of the rain, to untie

it. I was so touched by her faith after having been so ill-used

by human beings that I spent all my time nursing her back to

health. We called her Serah because of her sweet trusting ways."

As for us, we took in "Lola" because tried as we might, we couldn't

'get rid' of him.

Nobody wanted a kitten, even though he looked cute and pitiful.

The pet shops rejected him the moment they heard he came from

parents who were alley cats.

So Lola stayed.

Jayne presumptously named him "Lola" thinking it was a 'she'.

But as it turned out, Lola was a boy!

And poor boy, we had him splayed/ neutered.

And he stayed and grew..... right into

our hearts.

Today, two years later, he is no

longer 'the little thing.'

But he is still cute in that 5 kg frame.

And his mew as gentle, childlike and

endearing. Used sparingly, he would

usually end up getting what he wanted.

Today, we can't imagine not having our sweet Lola around.
He is the baby of the house and we love him!