Hiiii, long time no see yah!
I've been quite preoccupied with college and other... uh... struggles. Writing has not been on my mind for a while now, and I have yet to find the actual explanation as to why that happens, as much as I'd like to know it myself :/ Perhaps it's a post for another day, perhaps I will never find the answer... But right now I want to write something about a light and easy topic.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen (and probably my non-binary friends), today we're talking about my CATS! Well, technically I will be the one talking... or rather, more technically, I will be writing... Anyway!
I've been home for... well, can't say holiday, because it's supposed to be the final year of my masters' study, and I need to work on my thesis alongside assisting research projects. I was feeling cramped up all alone in my dorm room because I can't even go to campus yet, since... you know, the pandemic. So I thought I'd go home for a change in atmosphere, and perhaps I can work better since basic food necessity will be practically taken care of. Heh.
One thing (among many others, of course) that I miss about my home is the cats. Okay, so maybe four things. Or not things- creatures- anyway... It's kinda a bummer that I can't keep a cat pet in my dorm room, since I get really high dose of dopamine by petting them and being around them. But then again, I wonder about the feasibility of actually keeping one, since I like to go on a spontaneous walk on my own every so often, and sometimes there's no telling when I'd be home. That's why I was feeling pretty comfortable with the non-committal arrangement of my previous feline companion in my previous dorm house: I feed him in front of my room, he stays to hang out for a short nap or play with my drum sticks or listen to my ramblings, then he goes back out for whatever business a wild stray cat needs to attend. And that's why Devira and I called him bujines (representative of the word 'business').
So, anyway, the cats at home. Currently we have four cats co-existing in the household, each with their own quirky character and personalities.
1) Joan de Arc
Actually, we only named her Joan, albeit getting inspiration from the character. She's a... senior cat, I think? We found her, I think about 7 years ago, hanging around in front of our previous house. She is a tricolor female mixed breed, and we thought she got lost from her actual owner, since we never saw a cat like her in the neighborhood, and she seemed to be too pretty to be a mere stray. We waited for days, though, all the while feeding her and letting her sleep and hang in our front porch. Then it was basically a non-verbal cue that she was our cat ever since. She was already a teenage (?) cat when we found her, so now she's really old for a cat.
Joan is the most well-behaved cat in our pack, at least according to my mother's judgement. When she first joined our household, she already knew how to pee in the toilet without us teaching her (actually supporting our hypothesis that she had an owner, but by then mom had grown fond of her). Even now, she's the only cat we let inside for the night because we know she can take care of herself.
She's a picky eater, though. She only likes certain kinds of cat foods, and sometimes we had to guess. At first we bought our cats Friskies and she seemed to like it, but then one day she just didn't feel like eating then we figured out that it's only supposed to be Friskies Seafood. The one she didn't like had chicken in it, so we settled with the seafood. Then, we tried out a cheaper food like Me-o, but she only liked the salmon flavor. Now we have Bolt, but she only likes the round-shaped pellet ones :')
She really loves grooming, and I think she spends 80% of her life (besides sleeping and eating) cleaning herself, or cleaning our other cats (if she likes them). The other 20%? Neck scratches, back scritches, and flirting with male cats. We had her neutered, but somehow she still likes to beg attention of male stray cats (and somehow they're always the ugliest or the wildest kind of stray) when we let her outside. Most of the time she runs outside when we accidentally leave the door open, but she always runs back home with her skippy steps and jangling bell of her cat collar.
The sweetest part is she seems to acknowledge if I come home after leaving for quite a long time for college. When I open the front door with my luggage she would run to me for neck scratches and back pet :)
2) Nestor
A domestic shorthaired cat (or kucing kampung) with jetblack fur all over his body except the feet part, so it looks like he wears white socks. We named him after the butler character in Tintin since the black-white fur color combination resembles tuxedo. The second oldest cat in our household, we got him from my mother's friend when he was but a small lass who loved to play.
I could never bond well with Nestor, because he doesn't really like to be touched. When I try to pet him, he would always try to claw my hands. We all know that he is just playing when he's like that, but I still got scared because he's never got his nails clipped. So our interaction is kinda limited to just playing with cat toys or rope and me hoping he doesn't accidentally claw my hand.
He's the only cat that we constantly let outside, because 'no one's gonna take him anyway' says mother. That sounded a little harsh if you consider cat feelings as similar to human emotion, but mom's spitting facts. We already spayed him, but he still likes to go out and pick fights with other cats in the neighborhood (although he always lost lol). He would often come home bruised with claw mark spots on his fur. I don't know if it's a territorial thing or personality thing, but he barely stops doing this habit.
Right now he's on probation where he can't stay inside the house for more than 10 minutes without supervision, because he somehow keeps peeing in unexpected places, like beside the dining table, in our library room, or corner of TV room. They're always only small puddles of pees, but scattered all over the house :( We don't know what makes him do this, because he barely acts up (well there's the fights but he never bothers us otherwise). I don't know if this is his rebellious midlife crisis phase or he has a bladder problem (if you probably have an explanation for this pls let me know!).
3) Puyo
An orange, long-haired mixed breed (I don't know what breed but he's (?) long-haired lol) that we got from (also) a friend of mother's almost exactly one year ago in the form of a little orange cottonball. Naming him was quite the discussion, but we settled with a name originated from Puyol the captain of Barca but turn it into Puyo a local pudding brand for more cutesy pet feel to it, and it seemed like a more gender-neutral name.
Although, until now, I still can never be sure whether Puyo is a male or female cat. We keep checking Puyo's rear side but his furs are really long and obstructed our empirical investigation, and I don't want to get a criminal record for violating an animal, much more our own pet. So why do I keep referring to Puyo as a 'he'? Because he has a tendency to mate with some other stray (male) cats, he's an extremely active cat, and... it's kinda hard to explain, but over time the scruffs around his neck got bigger and he looks rather like a male lion, so eventually I just settled with identifying Puyo as male.
Puyo is a cold-blooded killer. When he was smaller (yeah, one year ago), he loved to play and would react to cat toys or simple cables, or finger wiggles, but now he doesn't settle less than actual, moving creatures. His checklist probably contains: gecko, dragonfly, hornets, fly, mice, roaches, birds, and other insects I can't identify. He doesn't eat them, he doesn't kill them. He just plays with them. Bits and pieces of gecko or roaches would be tattered on the floor before he got bored of the unmoving parts and leaves the crime scene, unfazed. He whines when he sees a gecko on the wall up real high and he can't reach it. He once jumped on dining table to catch a dragonfly, where he immediately got down after I yelled at him (although he eventually managed to munch the poor insect that its wings were torn out, its body slowly limping to lifelessness under Puyo's adorably irresistible paw).
Puyo's favorite pastime is hanging out in the backyard to hunt for small insects or just watch the birds fly low above his head (which he tries to hunt of course). Mom said we can't really grow herbs anymore since the insects and birds that used to help with pollination are all hunted down by this little killing machine. Wooden sticks that support the small papaya trees trying to grow are being used by this shithead to play or become a scratching post.
Puyo likes to join us in the dining table. Not that we put his food bowl on the table or anything, but rather he'd react to the sound of plates and spoons clinking when we eat. Two spoons into our dinner, and he would stride with his tails up to the side of dining table. We usually eat facing each other, and there's an empty seat beside either side of us, and Puyo would jump up on the chair beside whoever's eating, with his ultimate begging expression. We'd let him smell whatever we're having, and if he likes it we spare a little for him. But if we're eating fish, we'd better just shoo him outside to the backyard temporarily because he goes crazy for fish. Yesterday I had flame-grilled fish and both his right and left front claw just eagerly dig into my thigh seeing me chewing.
But, like all cats, he also likes to nap. He's the only cat mom lets inside the master bedroom to sleep in the corner beside the TV shelf. Mom likes to carry him around while scritching his neck, and he seems to love this too, and sometimes flutter his eyes closed in comfort. I, too, apply this technique every so often when I have the chance, because he's just so darn cute. He's the cat I like to cuddle the most because he's so soft and furry and cuddly and precious with those big black eyes and constant curious look on his face. He never resists pets and never tries to claw anyone even though he's very active, so he's a safe company to keep. Well... maybe not according to the insects.
4) Welu?
Okay, this one's a bit... new? Similar to Joan's case, he was found outside our house, but he already wore a cat collar, indicating there's definitely an owner. Originally, mom only wanted to let him stay temporarily while we look for the owner, but it's been a few months and still no clue? Because he's supposed to be just a temporary guest, we didn't really name him correctly. Welu was just a nickname mom put together without thinking, because he is really loud and talkative, so welu was just a short of the reprimand "bawel, lu".
Welu is the youngest of the pack. He looks still in his teenage cat year and hasn't yet lost the excitement to play. Little Welu has grey tabby coat and seems to be also a mixed breed like Puyo or Joan. His tail is bushy, he constantly has this curious look to everything that moves. He reacts playfully to cables, ropes, cat toys, and finger wiggles. Welu is the only one who often joins Puyo in his insect and mice conquest, although now he takes the kitchen night shift by himself for his rodent-hunt chance.
Little Welu also likes scritches on the neck and back, and doesn't mind to be cuddled. I tried a few times but surprisingly he's heavier than Puyo even when he's smaller?? Perhaps it's his big rounded chonk belly that prevents for more comfortable carry.
I still feel like I have to spend more time with Welu. He is friendly, doesn't resist scratches and cuddles, but he is still distant because he never asks for my attention directly. Joan would meow and enter my room for attention. Puyo would just look at me with those boba eyes or jump to my lap immediately. But Welu? He only makes questioning eye contacts and I don't know if that means attention or he just haven't familiarize himself with my presence (since when he first joined our house I wasn't here yet).
Well, there you have it the tale of four of my cats. Not even a tale, eh? Just like an introduction. Or tour. I don't know. The cats have been a huge emotional support for this house left by its two only children, going away for college in faraway cities. Thanks to them the house gets more cheerful and colorful, because there's always new antics done by the bunch. Joan with her princess-like manner, Nestor with his aspiring leader fights, Puyo with his kill counts hidden by innocent furballs, and Welu with his childlike personality :)
