Of Cats and Dogs


I've always thought I am a dog person. You know, dogs are such cute lovable creatures. They look at you with their melting eyes, wag their tails non-stop and grin their silliest goofy grin with their slurpy tongue hanging out and dripping saliva all over you. Dogs don't ask for much, just waiting for you to hug and play with them. Besides, my relatives all had dogs once upon a time. My earliest memory I had was the mongrol my grandparents had when I was little. A little black dog (actually she looked quite big at that time)called pui-pui (as in fat-fat). Erm, my memory is mainly assisted by the photos I had and the stories told by my parents. Where we would run around chasing pui-pui or be chased by her. Where my older brother was chased by her once and he got so frightened he climbed (or tried to climb) up a tree. Where she would always get excited when we come and visit and tried to sniff us for drugs .. erm, I mean treats. And that action always annoyed my mom. My mom got a long history with dogs, but that's another story. When pui-pui grew old and passed away, we were all very sad.

Then there were other dogs. Dogs my uncles had - those Pomenarian types, silly creatures actually. I waited my turn to carry one and when one was put in my arms, I promptly dropped the dog. Good thing it wasn't a baby huh. ;) Then there were the occasional dogs I met at friends' places - usually dignified gentlemanly golden retrivers or sheepdogs. I'm not sure about the breeds. And my very close friend got a small greyhound. Very intelligent, smart aleck kinda dog. So intelligent he doesn't want to play with me. humf.

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So as I was saying, I always thought I'm a dog person. Until I met the cat.

Cats - aloof, cool, dignified, intelligent.

But this cat is very special. I mean it is rather ordinary actually. The Singapore Cat. With sharp beautiful feline features, long tail, molted black and reddish fur. Just like any other strays. Only this cat is special.

We call her The CAT.

She was brought up by my mother-in-law. The only one left amongst her siblings. When the mother cat abandoned the litter, she was only a few days old. Wouldn't have survived if not for my mother-in-law. But there's something about this cat which no other cats posessed. She grew up so affectionate and so lovable, so cute and ... oh, I hardly know how to describe!

You can pick her up, turn her upside down and play with her. Cuddle her close to you and squeeze her gently. She simply looks at you and purr and is happy just to be with you. Grab her leg with your toes and she'll immediately flop onto the floor waiting to be stroked. Pull her tail and she'll turn and look at you in puzzlement then flop onto the floor hoping that you'll rub her instead. She'll flop down on her right side so that you can rub her on her left side and when that is done, she'll roll over to her left side(Yes! she rolls over from left to right and back!) and you'd better rub her on her right side too! Sometimes when you're just sitting there, she'll come and flop her little head onto your foot and purr contentedly. She'll follow you anywhere you go, upstairs and downstairs and especially into the kitchen. She'll be so excited to go where you go that she'll walk right bang into your legs and you end up hopping on one foot in order to avoid stepping on her. Not that she minds at all ...

When you're not around, she'll go out and gallivant. But she knows when you are back, so when you open the gate, suddenly from out of the dusk, she'll trot calmly back in and gives you the look which says, "humf, my human, where have you been?" She's so trusting, sometimes we are really worried about her. When she's not back, sometimes it helps by standing in the middle of the street and meow at the top of your voice. :P Okie, maybe not in the middle of the street, but when she's nearby and hears our voice she'll come running home, waiting to be hugged.

She has a very forgiving nature. Once my husband tricked her into giving her a bath. As usual she loves to be picked up and hugged. Only that time, she was brought to the sink to get a shock of her life. But the most amazing thing was that she didn't even struggle or scatch my husband. She got very wet then was rubbed dry. And when he released her, all she did was looked at him with a doubtful and woebegone expression and blinked. After that she avoided him for a couple of days but readily forgave him and forgot the whole incident.

Wonderful cat huh?

After knowing this cat which is intelligent, affectionate, cuddly, lovable and all ... I no longer find dogs that interesting.

So are you a cat or dog person? :)