For those readers who had read my earlier blog post on "Being Adopted" the mention of Cute and Smart and the One Eyed Beauty aka the mother cat would make sense. For those who haven't read it earlier...the One Eyed Beauty or the mother cat came to our house almost 4 months ago with two kittens whom we named Smart and Cute.
Cute and Smart and the mother cat kept our hands full. Playing with the kittens and feeding them once in a while and watching their activities kept us fully occupied. During this time our family had another feline visit. This time it was a cat that looked like the smaller version of the mother cat.
We named it Yowlie. Yowlie kept trying to ingratiate itself at home. It had a terrible habit of constantly mewling and howling the entire time. And that is how it got its name. Yowlie also had another terrible habit. If you would pet it, it would try to nuzzle you and then give you a nip. Though it did not mean to hurt, Yowlie could never understand the difference between giving a playful nip and a painful one. On most days it seemed as though it only wanted to enter the house and walk around. But entry into the house was barred for all excepting the kittens.
The first few days after Yowlie arrived, the mother cat watched warily. Once the kittens began frequenting downstairs, she turned more aggressive. Woe betide Yowlie if we happened to dish out food when all four where present. The mother cat would fly off the tangent and hiss and strike at Yowlie. Yowle would cower and try to hide as unobtrusively as possible.
As I look back, most of our time seemed to have been spent separating the mother and the kittens from Yowlie. Some days we had to rush forward to stop the mother cat from murdering Yowlie. The mother cat had become territorial and did not like to see Yolwie around especially if it was food time or if the kittens were around.
One fine day, the mother went gallivanting with a few tomcats. The kittens not very used to the mother being away kept coming frequently inside our home. The kittens realized that the mother was paying only scant attention to them. When a few days had gone by the kittens began spending time with Yowlie. Yowlie, the enemy, had turned their friend and playmate. When the mother returned, Yowlie retreated to the background. But now the scenario had changed. Cute went places with the mother whereas Smart roamed around with Yowlie...
But all good things come to an end....
There was torrential rain almost a week ago after which the incessant yowling by Yowlie gradually ceased. Yowle became quieter as the days went by. It seemed to sit quietly just watching and gazing everything. We wondered...
A few nights ago we discovered that Yowlie had passed on. We never knew what had hit it. The next morning we saw that Smart was very sick. It sounded very feeble and did not seem its usual self. Filled with apprehension, we took Smart to the vet. Smart seemed to have been suffering from some sort of viral infection that was infecting many animals. We administered around five injections over the course of two days and hoped that Smart would get better. Despite the vets assurance that Smart was improving we felt that ts health was deteriorating.
Smart refused to eat or drink. Its voice had become very feeble. It could barely take a few steps without stopping for rest. It seemed to breathe with difficulty. The madcap kitten that we all had known had disappeared and in ts place had come a scrawny and ill kitten. We all kept an eye on Smart hoping that it would get better and also praying that Cute would not fall ill.
Cute and the mother cat kept vigil near Smart. They did not go too far from Smart neither did they go too near. That evening, in a burst of energy, Smart climbed on the wall and went next door. The next day we waited for Smart and Cute to come for their food. We waited and waited....and then after a long time had passed, Cute came in for food.
It's been more than a week now that we have not seen any sign of Smart.
To add icing to the cake, Cute too went missing. Four nights ago it came for food after which we haven't seen even a glimpse of it.
With Smart and Cute missing, things seem very different. The past one week has been torturous as we look high and low for any signs of our kittens. We seem to keep an eye open where ever we go. A glimpse of black and hope rises up only to be dashed. It is not just us searching for the kittens. The mother cat too seems to be frantically looking for them.
We have almost given up hope on Smart being alive but somewhere the heart still hopes that when we turn around we would see both Cute and Smart scampering up the stairs. I do wish our missing kittens would come back home.
Cute and Smart and the mother cat kept our hands full. Playing with the kittens and feeding them once in a while and watching their activities kept us fully occupied. During this time our family had another feline visit. This time it was a cat that looked like the smaller version of the mother cat.
We named it Yowlie. Yowlie kept trying to ingratiate itself at home. It had a terrible habit of constantly mewling and howling the entire time. And that is how it got its name. Yowlie also had another terrible habit. If you would pet it, it would try to nuzzle you and then give you a nip. Though it did not mean to hurt, Yowlie could never understand the difference between giving a playful nip and a painful one. On most days it seemed as though it only wanted to enter the house and walk around. But entry into the house was barred for all excepting the kittens.
The first few days after Yowlie arrived, the mother cat watched warily. Once the kittens began frequenting downstairs, she turned more aggressive. Woe betide Yowlie if we happened to dish out food when all four where present. The mother cat would fly off the tangent and hiss and strike at Yowlie. Yowle would cower and try to hide as unobtrusively as possible.
As I look back, most of our time seemed to have been spent separating the mother and the kittens from Yowlie. Some days we had to rush forward to stop the mother cat from murdering Yowlie. The mother cat had become territorial and did not like to see Yolwie around especially if it was food time or if the kittens were around.
One fine day, the mother went gallivanting with a few tomcats. The kittens not very used to the mother being away kept coming frequently inside our home. The kittens realized that the mother was paying only scant attention to them. When a few days had gone by the kittens began spending time with Yowlie. Yowlie, the enemy, had turned their friend and playmate. When the mother returned, Yowlie retreated to the background. But now the scenario had changed. Cute went places with the mother whereas Smart roamed around with Yowlie...
But all good things come to an end....
There was torrential rain almost a week ago after which the incessant yowling by Yowlie gradually ceased. Yowle became quieter as the days went by. It seemed to sit quietly just watching and gazing everything. We wondered...
A few nights ago we discovered that Yowlie had passed on. We never knew what had hit it. The next morning we saw that Smart was very sick. It sounded very feeble and did not seem its usual self. Filled with apprehension, we took Smart to the vet. Smart seemed to have been suffering from some sort of viral infection that was infecting many animals. We administered around five injections over the course of two days and hoped that Smart would get better. Despite the vets assurance that Smart was improving we felt that ts health was deteriorating.
Smart refused to eat or drink. Its voice had become very feeble. It could barely take a few steps without stopping for rest. It seemed to breathe with difficulty. The madcap kitten that we all had known had disappeared and in ts place had come a scrawny and ill kitten. We all kept an eye on Smart hoping that it would get better and also praying that Cute would not fall ill.
Cute and the mother cat kept vigil near Smart. They did not go too far from Smart neither did they go too near. That evening, in a burst of energy, Smart climbed on the wall and went next door. The next day we waited for Smart and Cute to come for their food. We waited and waited....and then after a long time had passed, Cute came in for food.
It's been more than a week now that we have not seen any sign of Smart.
To add icing to the cake, Cute too went missing. Four nights ago it came for food after which we haven't seen even a glimpse of it.
With Smart and Cute missing, things seem very different. The past one week has been torturous as we look high and low for any signs of our kittens. We seem to keep an eye open where ever we go. A glimpse of black and hope rises up only to be dashed. It is not just us searching for the kittens. The mother cat too seems to be frantically looking for them.
We have almost given up hope on Smart being alive but somewhere the heart still hopes that when we turn around we would see both Cute and Smart scampering up the stairs. I do wish our missing kittens would come back home.
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| My Kitten from the good old days! |
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