Your Cat, My Cat & Our Dog: My Cat

 
I have always been a dog person but I could play with cats if they were interested. Bob has always been a cat person. He had 1 domestic cat and other 5 adopted ones that he fed everyday when we first met. He was initiated into being a dog person (as well) when we lived in Thailand. We picked up several puppies from the street with the mother included later on.

I don't know how Pipi has become “my cat”. I was not a cat person before moving to our present home 6 years ago. We had a pack of old and senile dogs that we moved with us from Thailand (when they were young and not senile). They died one after another over the first 3 years in the new home - it was inevitable as they were from 2 litters born in the same year.

Pipi was one of our next door neighbour's two cats. She often sat on the fence and we stroke her and patted her and sometimes gave her small morsels of food. She let us pick her up and at some point she got sticky to our hands and came into the house briefly every night. We still had 3 old dogs left at that stage but they were so old and not in the mood to chase or argue with any cat any more so Pipi bravely came inside our house through the dog flap after observing how the dogs did it for a while. This was on her own volition - we never taught her how to use the dog door.

The first few months she came in at night and left at dawn. Then her departure time was getting later and later….and the rest is history. She can be moody at times but never aggressive – just meows at high mew and walks away if she is not pleased. She plays hard to get with Bob quite often. Funnily enough, she has a soft spot for me – it must be because I feed her and let her curl up on my lap or on my desk. She sleeps with us some nights and on my side of the bed. Bob says she likes my service more than anything else and refers to her as my cat. When I am outside in the garden trimming plants and pulling weeds, she will be out there with me…to supervise I think.

Pipi used to belong to our neighbour’s son and then he went to Australia for a couple of years and later has his own house and family but she will never forget her first love. Everytime he comes home, Pipi will appear on my neighbour’s porch, soliciting a pat and a stroke or two on his way in and out. Time flies, she has been stolen and lived with us for about 4 years now.