Felines are fabulous!

captivating cat

I found these soulful eyes on this website . There are some other fabulous felines featured there.

What is it about cats? Some people love them, others can't stand them. Occasionally I have people in my house who, on seeing my cats, react with horror almost as if they had seen a gargoyle come to life and it was hell-bent on draining the life and soul out of them. Actually, that's pretty much how some people do think of them! Or it might be something to do with the superstition that it has some sort of connection with the spirit world (Chinese belief, I think). Must do a bit of research on that.

I grew up with both a dog and a cat, and surprisingly they absolutely adored each other, often curling up in a little embrace to sleep. The dachsund sort of wound herself around my little black and white cat and a loud purring emanated from the furry bundle. Her name was Whisky, so named because I brought her home in a Black & White Whisky box. I begged to be allowed to keep her and so began our long association with the feline. I don't know what happened to Whisky when we packed our bags and left our home in Uganda. Most probably one of the Africans would have taken care of her or she probably could have fended for herself.

As a reminder of our East African days, our first cat in Australia was named Paka, swahili for 'cat'. How original! The first cat I had in Singapore was also a streetwise tabby, and I just called him Mao, Chinese for 'cat'. Another stroke of originality! He ran off when we moved house, obviously miffed at the idea of living in a flat instead of on the ground floor. All the other cats we've had since then have been more sensible - and all have come to us by accident rather than by design.

Cromerty, named after a witch in a picturebook who turns herself into a cat, fancied herself as the Queen of All She Surveyed. A picky eater (aren't they all?), but a loyal companion. Her favourite perch was on top of my computer monitor or on the topmost piece of furniture she could conspire to jump on to. She loved playing pool (I have the picture to prove it!) but mostly she perfected the art of doing absolutely nothing while looking absolutely gorgeous.

When Lucky the jumpy Burmese/Siamese joined the household, Cromerty was most put out and they kept a wary distance from each other. It was quite harmonious until Nikki came along. She was supposed to be a temporary boarder while other owners were found, but somehow she stayed and proceeded to make poor Cromerty's life a misery. Despite her old age, Cromerty was still pretty nimble and Nikki rarely succeeded in catching her when they played chase.

After a good 14 years, Cromerty died and so three became two. And a very uneasy alliance that is with Lucky assuming the dominant role and hissing and carrying on when Nikki tries to get too close. Lucky tends to stay indoors and hides on the edge of the balcony on the other side of a towel hoping nobody will see her and put her out. She hates thunderstorms and begs to be let into one of the rooms that has a really dark cupboard where she likes to go and wait till all the clashes and flashes are over.

Nikki is the opposite and comes in mostly only to eat and then sits by the front door willing it to open so she can go out and catch birds and lizards. That's despite her wearing a bell with a collar, so I can only assume she operates by stealth to catch her prey. She has an odd habit of sitting in a big puddle of water after a rain storm - I thought cats hated the water! So far, though, she has not jumped in the pool when I have a swim, but she does sit right on the edge at one end while I do my few laps. Perhaps she is a cat pretending to be a tiger - she is ginger, after all.

Now that both my kids are off doing a period of overseas voluntary service, my conversations tend to be directed towards my cats. They do talk back, but I don't have to bother about curfews or preparing elaborate meals!