THE CAT'S PYJAMAS

I love animals. Well, MOST animals. I prefer the ones that can be allowed to walk around freely without us having to worry about how our family will survive after we're eaten up by them. My family are a pet-lovers. Everyone, from my grandmothers to my neices and nephews is fond of pets. And my immediate family has had many species as pets. Lovebirds, pigeons, cocks, hens, white mice, tortise, cats, dogs, we've taken care of everything. And VERY well, I must say.We now have a 7-yr old pet dog. He's a pomerian( or pomeranian..or WATEVER). Actually no, he's a Spitz, not a pure Pom. And he's definitely one of da most sensitive, understanding n close to "human-natured" dog I've EVER come across. He knows when dad's angry, he knows when it's time for his bath, he knows when his vaccination shot is coming, he knows when it's time for his walk, he knows whom to go to if he's hungry and he DEFINITELY knows (and HATES it) when there's another animal in the house.

I was on my way to office(20 minutes late, as usual) when I stopped, hearing the meowing of a cat...a kitten actually, I could make out by the pitch of the screams. I searched in the direction of the sound and found a TINY little kitten (barely 3 weeks old) with the most BEAUTIFUL eyes EVER, screaming her lungs out. I looked around to see if her mother was anywhere in sight. She wasn't.

It's difficult to find out the sex of a cat. My colleagues and I realised it wen we got that kitten up to office. We tried finding out and concluded it was male. So what do we name it?? "Pankazzz!!" (Courtesy: "bhai, ask da pankazzzz!!" of Simpoo, Channel [V] Character fame) So Pankaz it was... Pankaz meowed uncontrollably (and SURPRISINGLY too loudly for her size) every two hours. It was later that we learnt that kittens need to be fed with milk every hour. We started doing that, and slowly he turned playful and instantly fell asleep on my lap (and my colleagues'). We adored it.

Boss came to office in the evening and saw Pankaz sleeping on my lap "Kahaan kahaan se kya kya uthaake lekar aa jati hai!!" ..Things were OK till she was in deep slumber. The problem began when she was stuck with her regular hunger pang. We gave her some milk but she was still restless. The office boy misinterpreted our instructions of takin it out and gettin it back for takin it out and NOT getting it back and left it in some garden. We looked for it but couldn't find it and went back home sulking and kinda cursing the office boy for his negligence.

Guess who I find in office next morning... PANKAZ!! The office boy had found her again that morning, in the same place we found he the previous morning, doing her usual thing; Screaming louder than her size would suggest. She was our guest for another day, I could see the displeasure on my boss' face increasing, but frankly, I couldnt do much. Pankaz was too small (and TOO cute) to leave her somewhere. I HAD to take care of it until it was big enough to take care of itself. I took it home that evening much to the surprise of my mom, disgust of my dad and disappointment of my dog, Rocky . Couldn't help it. And then, there was a revelation. My mom told me, Pankaz was FEMALE. So now, she cudnt b called pankaz. I called her anything then..."Kitty", "kitten", "aye", "hey you", "catty","Billo".... She kept giving 'hul' to my dog and I could see Rocky didn't like her ONE BIT. Very normal. Cats are WEIRD. and SCARY when you see ( and then feel ) their claws.

I didn't sleep that night. Billo kept meowing throughout. She was Fuss personified. She had to be fed every hour, she didn't want to sleep where I wanted her to sleep, she was too loud, she wanted to pee and poop at the wrong times (and in the wrong places), she wanted to walk all over my bed, she wanted to walk all over me, she wanted to get out of the room, she wanted to cuddle when I wanted her away from me. Yeah, I LOVED her. She FINALLY got tired and went to sleep at around 5 a.m. and that's when i got my 40 winks of sleep.

I brought Billo back to office the next morning. One of my colleagues had promised to take her home in case we dint find her a home close by. She'd give it to one of her neighbors, in case her parents didn't agree to keep her, she said. I tried all my contacts. Spoke to my dog's vet, spoke to friends who are pet lovers, spoke to people around office, put her picture up on a pet adoption site. No results. I knew I couldn't keep her home. I had a dog back at home, who had stopped eating and drinking coz of the presence of another animal, that too a CAT, in the house. Dad wasn't liking the fact that I kept bringing stray animals home JUST coz they were lying unattended. He felt i was behaving too sensitive.

My shift at office was over. I didn't kno what to do with Billo. My colleague lived at Ambernath, so taking her by train was out of the question. NO one else had agreed to keep her. I called mom and got a firm NO from her too. Namrata (another colleague) and I went to the garden to leave Billo. She didn't want to go. I didn't want her to go. She ran around, scared, confused and a little paranoid. The garden watchman asked us to take her away. I jus couldnt bear the sight of that small little thing trying to find some warm corner to keep herself alive. I carried her and without another thought, took her home.

Billo was a little disciplined that night. I made her a cardboard house and she accepted it as her own (after a LOT of coaxing & cajoling, though). She looked like the CUTEST thing in the universe sleeping inside it. I kept some milk for her jus outside her home and she drank whenever she felt hungry and went back to sleep. Towards early morning, she wanted to cuddle, so she climbed up on her house onto my bed and slept close to me. NO worries, no troubles. Rocky had also grown to like her, I guess. He went around after her supervising her moves and taking care of her.
The next morning, my colleague went back on her words. She said it would be difficult taking care of Billo since they had then moved to a flat from a bungalow. I didn't want to argue.

I had da hardest time finding billo a house. No one keeps cats. Don't really know why. I mean, OK, they're unfaithful, matlabi and you're just a food and warmth-provider to them. They dont come running to you when you're home after a hard day's work. They dont lick your face to cheer you up when you're down. They dont wag their tails and look happy when you talk to them , they dont do tricks, they dont care if you're happy or sad, dead or alive. But this is MY opinion. Dont kno whr OTHERS dont keep cats!

I prayed I'd find her a good home. And I prayed HARD. I finally spoke to my college friend , Leon and he in turn, spoke to his friend, Vivek and I finally got a nod from someone. Vivek agreed to take Billo on Sunday.

All of us in the house had begun liking that cat. My bro adored her. He played with her, took care of her while I was at office, let her sleep on his lap, fed her whenever she did what she does best (screaming).It was time to let her go. I could see no1 at home was liking it. I HATED it. She had grown comfy at home. I had grown comfy wit her. I wrapped her in a warm towel and left the house. She didnt make a sound. It was raining cats & dogs that evening and all she did was look at me with those LOVELY eyes. MAybe she knew I was giving her away. Or Maybe not, she's a cat, after all! She stayed steady and was deep in sleep after a while. Vivek took her and I bid her goodbye. Cant forget those eyes and they way they looked at me when Vivek took her away.

Billo's in Vivek's friend's house now. He has a big house with a compoud with 2-3 more kittens there. So I'm guessing (and praying) she's fine.
What's the point of this post, u ask? Well, I dont know. It's jus that, I never thought I'd do so much for a cat. Never thought I'd take da trouble of going househunting for a CAT. NEVER thought I'd grow fond of a CAT. Never thought I'd MISS a cat SOO much.

I feel like going and visiting her sometimes, but I'd rather not do that. I don't think she'd remember me. Dont think I'd like it to be PROVEN to me that cats aren't faithful and don't really have emotions or whatever...basically, they're NOT dogs...I wish I hadn't sidelined that thought while getting her home...But it's alright, I'm hoping she's being taken care of well...and I'd rather let her be where she is telling myself that she probably misses me sometimes too.