“You cannot share your life with a dog … or a cat … and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.”
– English zoologist and primatologist, Jane Goodall
MY friends, if you have a choice, how many dogs and cats would you rear at home?
I have only two dogs, Cookie and Bailey, and a cat, Mimi, and sometimes, I feel three pets are more than enough.
One person who is not pleased with the number of pets I have is my son.
“Rear, rear, rear, lah,” he would sometimes say out loud. “Why do you keep so many pets? They shed their fur all over the house and make it so dirty.”
While life often presents us with choices, there are times when circumstances influence the choices we make.
Cookie, a male cross-breed, is the oldest of my three pets. It is around 13 years old, roughly equivalent to a 74-year-old human, based on the most common dog age calculation methods.
Cookie was given to me by one of my nephews’ daughter. She was helping her classmate sell her puppies. But no buyer wanted Cookie. Was it because it liked to sleep a lot and did not look as handsome as the other puppies?
One day, this grandniece just came to my house and left a big fat brown and white puppy in my house.
The puppy had no name and my niece, Ah Hong, named it Cookie after doing some research on the Internet.
At that time, my house was still a family house. Many family members, including Ah Hong and her cousins, lived in it because they were still in school.
Since then, Cookie has grown into a big and handsome cross-breed.
Strangers and gas delivery men are scared of its huge size and deep bark. When the gas delivery men come, I have to tie Cookie to the gate.
I also warn them not to go near it. Although the dog has never bitten anyone, I think prevention is better than cure.
Besides Cookie, we used to have a small, smart white female dog named Buddy, a black and white male cat named Alvin, and a white and orange male cat named Mimi.
There was also a big male brown crossbreed named Lucky. Like Alvin, Lucky was left at my house by one of my nephews, Ah Lai; he stayed at an apartment and the landlord banned his tenants from keeping dogs and cats.
As the years went by, Buddy, Alvin, Lucky and Mimi died either of old age or after falling sick.
One day, I woke up to find Cookie alone, huddling in a corner. It refused to eat or drink and was apparently broken-hearted after the death of Lucky.
I quickly asked another nephew, Ah Kiong, to look for a dog to keep Cookie happy. He eventually got a brown female puppy from a mechanic friend. The puppy was among a litter of canines left outside the mechanic’s shop.
My niece, Ah Hong, again did her research on the Internet before naming the puppy Bailey.
Bringing Bailey home helped Cookie cope with its grief of losing Lucky. It began eating and drinking again.
Lucky was good in catching rats in my house and garden. With its hunting instincts, it had also kept rats away from the house by its presence, scent and predation. After it died, the rats entered the house and garden again.
I asked Lai to help me look for a cat. After a while, he came with a white male adult cat. I named it Mimi because it reminded me of my former white and yellow cat, Mimi.
Like Lucky, the new Mimi is a good hunter. It hunts rats, birds and lizards.
Because it was new to the house and neighbourhood, I initially confined it to a cage. Gradually, I allowed it to roam my house and garden.
Now, Mimi goes out to my backyard garden and comes back through my front door.
Mimi initially used to poop in a litter box. Apparently, it was trained to do so when young.
I had to get used to the litter box and the litter box scoop. I also discovered that Mimi loved lavender-scented litter and would not poop without it.
Since Mimi does not use the litter box anymore, life has become so much easier for me. I do not have to scoop the poop from the litter box and clean the mess everyday.
Recently, after bathing my two dogs, Cookie and Bailey, and cat, Mimi, I tied them to the gate.
“Your dogs and cat are very disciplined,” commented my younger sister, Ah Lan. She also told me her colleagues were surprised that my dogs and cat could be tied so near to each other without any problems.
Actually, Bailey and Mimi are like kids. I think Bailey is about two years old while Mimi is around three years old. They like to chase each other around the house.
Although dogs chasing cats is a common behaviour, I have seen Mimi chasing Bailey, too. In their haste to get away from each other, they have stepped on my feet a few times.
“Ouch!” I cry out in pain. But Bailey and Mimi do not stop.
Cookie, however, does not play with Bailey or Mimi. It just looks at them and walks past them. Cookie reminds me of a dignified grandfather looking at his naughty grand kids.
Looking after two dogs and a cat is not easy. They are like children. They need to be fed and patted daily.
Every day, before leaving for the office, I feed them well with rice and meat or rice and fish. The meat can be from a can or fresh chicken meat or livers. The fish can be canned sardines or fresh from the market.
Mimi eats what the dogs eat. The dogs will eat whatever food is left in Mimi’s plate, including the dry kibble.
Before leaving home, I tell them loudly I am off to work. I tell them to be good. My dogs and cat understand Hokkien and English.
When I reach home, I feed them rice with meat or rice with fish again. Before bed, the dogs have a light supper in the form of biscuits or tidbits.
Cookie, Bailey and Mimi also enjoy being patted before sleep
Where do they sleep? Inside the house but at different spots.
Cookie guards my bedroom door, Bailey sleeps under the dining table while Mimi sleeps either on the sofa, on a chair or on top of the refrigerator.
My two dogs and cat bring me companionship, joy and a feeling of family, making my house feel more like a home.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at adelinel888@gmail.com.
