My Cats - The Bitch and the Tuxedo

This is in response to KaryLam's note in Italki.com, to share our loves.

http://www.italki.com/notebook/entry/144212.htm

 

The Blue Kitty

She was there before the house was built. She was there when the house was built. She was there before we moved in. She was there at the main entrance to the house when we moved in! Yes, right smack in front of the entrance. She did not run away but looked at us and give us a pitiful meow as if telling us, “You may stay and live with me”. With that she ran off.

By now you know who I was referring to. It’s a bluish grey neighbourhood kitty. As we settled in the house, she was always around, giving us a meow as if asking if we find her domain accommodating. Soon we fed her and she began to come into the house as well. We do not know if she has another person to scrounge off since she seems to a master unto herself. Finally she decided that it will be us that she shall choose to live with.

We do not know what to call her. Our next door neighbour told us they call her “Squeak” because her meowing sounded like a squeak. We did not like the name and unsure if she is a Russian Blue even though she looks like one. In the end, “Blue Kitty” became her name. Later from the internet, we thought that she may be a Korat but her eyes are not orange. Didn't care if she is a Russian Blue or a Korat we still love her. She seemed rather be indignant if  being called “Blue”.

She is standoffish, aloof and regal. She will not come when trying to call her... She simply stares and looks at you as if an idiot is shouting. Nonetheless, the moment the sound of the can is opened, no matter where she may be, she will come pounding in!  What a remarkable sense of hearing. 

She is the queen of the jungle backyard we have. You see, I like to have a tropical garden with over twenty different species of bamboo and broad leaf plants. She rules her domains with iron fangs.

One morning upon, opening the door, one of us screamed! She had brought a gift for us to show us that we are welcomed – mind you, just a bloody head of a half eaten mouse. Our reaction seemed to offend her - “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you like my gift?” From that time onwards, she no longer shares her dainty morsels with us unappreciative blokes! Such imperial temper. For one thing, she does keep the rodent population down.

We loved her even though she is finicky and comes to you at her convenience. Still, one of us even spoils her by buying a blanket with cat paw pattern for her to sleep in her bed during cold nights.  Guess who has to let her out of the house when she feels that she needs to survey her kingdom at 3am! Yes, moi! Why we tolerate her nonsense is beyond our feeble minds!

This is the Blue Kitty for you. I shall talk more of her when the arrival of the Tuxedo into our lives.

The Tuxedo

A year later, we discovered that the Blue Kitty was eating her food more than usual. This is because we have to fill her bowl with dry food all the time. Then one day, I noticed a black and white kitten eating from her bowl. It ran away when I tried to approach it. It was scrawny to the point of being bony. It had a lip defect that it made it looks like one of those old cartoon black and white cat characters with a sneering smile.

Each time, when I fill up the food bowl,  I would call out “meow meow”. About a month later, it began to warm up to me. Cats are not stupid. They know when there is free food.  I guess humans are just the same and began to hang around the place more often. Sometimes when I saw it lying on the garden furniture, I would approach slowly with the dry cat food in my hand and calling my now familiar, “meow meow”.  At first, it approach cautiously and then ate from my hand. After a few times, it was complete at ease with me and allowed to be patted.

Soon I was cuddling it and scrounge its ears which it loves.  We started calling him "Tuxedo" after discovering that it was a he.  Finally,  he became a fixture of the house. I never believe my cats to be indoor cats. I have a big garden and with its tropical theme, they adored the environment. However a great change came over the Blue Kitty. She was no longer friendly, even more aloof than usual. I guessed she felt hurt as if we were taking in a second wife or concubine into the house. She would only come in to eat and then leave. The Tuxedo on the other was adorable like any favoured concubine. He comes to you when called and often just comes settling down with you. He would knead you on your stomach when we lie on the couch. Whenever you feed it, it would give you a meow first, as if to thank you. He will not eat the moment the food is poured into his bowl but to wait for awhile, as if to show appreciation and gratitude. Perhaps cats are better than some humans! 

The Blue Kitty is acting like the scorned first wife! She knew she is the rightful owner of the place.  And to give her credit, she refuses to eat from the same bowl as that homebreaker - no choice but to fork over our hard earned cash to buy a different bowl for her. Whenever Tux approaches the Blue Kitty, she would angrily swipe at him for its usurpation of the throne. The Blue Kitty will no longer let us touch her at all. She just comes in, eats and then bounces off. What a bitch!

Tuxedo loves to come to sleep with me and keeps purring away just to keep me awake. What can I do? I am just a sucker. Besides Tux he understands “Moo-Moo”, “Momo”, “Mochi” and “Mucho-mucho” are his nicknames as well. I adored him while the Blue Kitty seemed like an ingrate. 

Later I conjectured that he was from a family of tuxedo cats living in the upper hillock of our neighbour’s house. He must have wandered down from the slope and got lost. 

Whenever I had a broom in hand, the Blue Kitty would rocket away in fear. I supposed she was abused as a kitten. However,  Tux showed no such thing. Perhaps too naive and trusting.  Being too innocent and not streetwise like the Blue Kitty, is not a good thing.  In one case, it breeds pleasure. Once I used a giant broom to brush his body, he became addicted. So, each time whenever he sees a broom in my hands, he would come over and plop down in front of me, expecting a body massage! 

Eventually I had to put him inside the house before I do any outdoor cleaning. What a mochi that he is.
Whatever the case may be, he must be my previous life debtor for I have to spend extra money on him like getting neutered. The Blue Kitty on the other hand did not cost us a single penny even to this day of writing. Her neutering was paid by my neighbors for she disappeared for a day and the next thing we knew,  the deed was done. 

Because of his naivety, Tux was always being bullied by other cats, getting into fights and received wounds while gallanting away in the neighborhood.  Each time we have to take him to the vet. So often that he became the Money God to the vet! We tried to keep him the house in the night but still, such incidents happened.

Then one day, after a particularly nasty wound, the vet told us that he had developed some kind of kidney problem because of some feline form of AIDs - most probably caught from wounds of raccoons in the neighbourhood. This is totally different from the human type. We did not have the heart to put it to sleep even though I was for it.  On the outside he looks very healthy. To cut the sad story short of seeing him wasting away with injections or whatever not, in the end we have no choice but to go through the inevitable process. Everyone in the household was sad except for one -  You guessed it! Her Imperial Highness – the Blue Kitty.

Whether you believe it or not, the moment the Queen found out that the Tuxedo is no longer around, her demeanor abruptly changed. More friendly now and reverted partially to her former self. At least she no longer runs away when seeing us. It is as though the first wife had forgiven the husband. Once in a while, when she feels like it, she comes to you, purring and knead your stomach too. Perhaps she learnt a trick or two from the Tuxedo. Still, we were not entirely forgiven for she refused to come into our room to sleep with us.  She would rather sleep with our other housemate! 

She is imperious as ever and this morning she is scratching on the staircase carpet to let you know that she is tired of staying inside the house and is out on an inspection tour of her realm.

As I am loading the pictures of the Tux, a tear is welling in my eyes.

After note: It had been almost 14 years later when I wrote this.  It is because today, someone left a comment which led me to re-read my piece.  I found many typos and had to correct them.  Might as well an update.  The Blue Kitty had left us suddenly about eight years ago while we were out of the country.  At least we don't have to face such emotional stress. It would surely break our hearts.  Even so, twinged in such sadness that we swore off pets entirely from our lives onwards... Once in awhile, we would have some kind of cat-panic attack, wishing to have another furry companion but with support from each other, we came to our senses and not to give in to our yearnings - better to play with our friend's cats on the excuse of visiting them.

Thursday, November 21, 2025