A dedication to all pet keepers.

Assalamualaikum wbt :)

Animals love you blindly, unchallengingly, stanchly. They know instinctively when you are depressed or tired so they’ll try to comfort you at utmost comfort, unobtrusive ways. For people who have pets, certainly they know the feeling and some regard pets to fellow humans. In my family, there was one time, we had twelve cats staying together with us in one house and it’s an obligation to treat them all like family. So we refer ourselves to them as what all the family members recognize us.

“What’s up Johnny? Rindu Angah?”

And the treatment, however, gives a sort of casual affection yet agitating to them who do not have pets. My cats eat what I eat and find their own warm corners to sleep in around the house, not to mention they assume my belly as pillow and my hair as toys. When they disappear just for a half of day, even sure enough they’ll return with the look of slightly sheepish but happy over the escapade, our paranoia causes us minor heart attack and the shouting goes on and on.

“MOMMAR! BALIK SEKARANG!”

For English people, they feel happier with their dogs than with people. I’ve seen that a lot in movies and series where they show the intimacy while jogging and they send them to veterinary clinic almost every month for a check-up. And the maiden ladies leave their wealth to pet budgerigars or cats rather than to relatives, that is an odd sort of news, eh? But it’s the truth. Keeping pets is not really in the tradition of Malaysian communities. And until today, some maniacs in Malaysia still have the guts to surprise us with their foolishness and violence towards animals. I wonder why they cannot look at animals especially cats like how the pet lovers look at them. If you’ve been a lot with animals, you will know how endearing they can be.

The loving and lovable ways of a dog are well-known. He is wonderfully transparent. When he welcomes you, his whole self with the glowing eyes, caressing paws and furiously waving tail somehow expresses ecstasy. When he is in disgrace, he is one long droop of dejection, whining softly and glancing at you hopefully for signs of forgiveness. CEH! How do I know? I recommend you to watch Hachiko.

And after watching the video about two ‘used to be’ young men who brought up a baby lion, I got yearnings to have one of these big cats as a pet. They called him Christian and had a lovely time playing with him around the house compound and making people gasp when they took him out for a walk. To be fair, the one they got was a tame one. Until Christian was big enough, it was no longer safe to keep him in public; they sent him back to forest. Later, after years, they came back for a visit and called him out. The most attention-grabbing part was that Christian went out to see them and introduced them and the TV crew to his lovely wife. The feeling of watching is so overwhelming. And I read an article about Christian; he even helped earn his keep by modeling for an advertisement to sell a nightie. He was photographed with a pretty girl in the nightie and the caption went, “Nights on the wild side.” Hahaha!

To have cats is one wonderful adventure. There is one quote about keeping cats that saying, “Bela kucing nanti Allah bagi rezeki.” Insya Allah. As long as I know they have a home to live, they have food to eat, they have family to love, I don’t bother how much we spend for them. Because in return, I know how beautifully they open up for me every day. They porch on my shoulder, curl up on my lap, lie on their backs for me to tickle them, hide behind doors to pounce playfully on me. These are parts of how great to be at home! Bye. Assalamualaikum :)