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A Soft-Toy Called Cat

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By quicksand


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WANTED, CAT

It was my mother who realized that there was a requirement for a cat, when she had suspected mice trespassing in our kitchen area.

She used to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, preparing our meals, of course three times a day.

In between she also used to prepare snacks for tea and a "little bite" before lunch.

Snacks were a very common thing in almost every household and usually consisted of patties, fish rolls, veggie rolls, and sweet pancakes. Strangely enough, fruits were not given much priority when considering dessert.

Always puddings gave way to fruits. Unlike today fruits were taken for granted as they were cheap and available in abundance.

It was the early sixties. In that era, fast food was totally unheard of.

Everything that was eaten at home was home cooked and fresh.

Yes! Three freshly cooked meals every single day. Nothing left over to be re-heated and consumed at a later time!

Due to these reasons the kitchen was the most important part of the house. And so any indication of mice in this sacred area was considered an important issue, meant to be addressed with top priority.

When my mother subsequently announced the need for a cat, my older brother volunteered to get one.

Of course a cat was preferred to a mousetrap due to various reasons.

A few days later, he duly brought one home from the grocery store.

No, the grocery store did not sell cats. My brother had requested the grocery store owner to get us a cat, and he did.

Such requests are usually made from grocers since they come into contact with many people within the area. Thus they are able to pass a message around.


THE ARRIVAL

I remember that day when my brother wheeled his bicycle into the porch. The basket which was mounted on the front part of the bicycle was shut.

Always the basket used to be partly open due to the fact that it is all the time overloaded with groceries when my brother returns from his shopping missions.

This time, I was certain it contained "cat." One hundred percent "cat." How right I was!

THE ASSIGNMENT

Just before my brother mounted the bike on it's stand, he flipped open the lid of the basket and then "cat" puts his head out and withdraws it almost at once.

I recall my mother lifting him out of the basket and taking him straight to the kitchen, placing him on the ground and giving him a little forward-push, saying "go on and catch mice!"

Well, before "cat" could even get his eye in, his task was already assigned to him!

Nature's mousetrap has been installed ... with great expectations!


TWO TALKING CATS

.

TALKING CAT

THE ASSIMILIATION

I was a little kid at that time and I was terrified of cats. He was neither a kitten nor a full grown cat. He was somewhere around the halfway mark. He was light brown in color, with brownish streaks around the neck area.

My brother named him Diki, but my mother stuck to the conventional "puss-puss-puss."

I remember how I used to spring on to the top of the table in terror whenever he comes to the sitting area. He often used to sharpens his claws on the rattan chair which my father used to sit on, when he smoked his cigars and read the newspapers.

I do not recall how I got over the fear as the months progressed, but I do remember incidents which followed the post fear era.

There was an instance when I brought him into the living area in order to introduce him to some visitors.

There were other children present as well, who were not well acquainted with cats. In fact they were terrified of cats like I had been previously.

Their screams frightened him. He, struggling to escape, managed to scrape my arms with the claws on his hind legs, before he sprang away!

My mother always took the cat's side. She said it serves me right for trying to show off to the other kids.


MUM KEEPS WATCH

She always kept a close watch on everything I did which involved the cat.

When a big boy in the neighbourhood explained to me how I could get the cat to "reverse," she had been listening.

He suggested that I pull a sock over the cat's face! My mum immediately cautioned me against trying that out. She said to me, "if you do that, the cat might suffocate." She then stressed, that the wrath of the Manufacturer will be on you!

THE SOFT TOY

"Ngyaew!" ... that was all he said, in different tones, in different pitches and in different degrees of loudness.

A low voiced "ngyaew" modulated with a purr, really means "thanks a lot for the food."

This remark usually is made prior to eating.

I am really certain about this, as I have performed experiments involving many cats before I came to this conclusion.


.

.

WHAT CAT TAUGHT ME

During this period of time, I had formed the habit of putting my tongue out, curving it backwards and moving it clockwise and anti-clockwise alternately, whilst it was in contact with the upper and lower parts of my lips.

I used to do this after meals. It was evident to all around that I had learnt this habit from "cat."

My sister, who was older, never approved of this. She still insisted that I should wipe my mouth with a damp serviette after each meal!

As a little kid, I thought to myself, the good thing about cats is that they don't rust ... and they don't need battery replacements either! I used to wonder what made this soft-toy click.

The Manufacturer certainly had done a good job with the "wrapping." Even to this day, I feel that way! ... about the "wrapping" of course!

... concluded


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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DOMESTIC PETS?

Given a choice between a cat and a dog, which one would you select as a pet?

  • A cat of course.
  • Cats? No way! I would prefer a dog.
  • I dislike cats immensely.
  • I hate dogs.
  • I like cats as well as dogs
See results without voting

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Comments

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guidebaba profile image

guidebaba  says:
16 months ago

I remember we had a Pet Cat that was loved by all my family members. One day my father decided to leave her to some place from where she could never return to our house again. My Dad let her some 5-6 km away from the house and that too at night. The next morning we found the cat back in our house. Thenonwards my dad started loving this cat. Now she is no longer on earth. It has been 11 years now but we still love our Dear Cat and Miss her. Love You PUSSY.

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
16 months ago

You see, they say if you trim the whiskers a little they will not be able to find their way back. I am glad you did not know that.

countrywomen profile image

countrywomen  says:
15 months ago

Thats a nice info to know but wouldn't trimming whiskers impair the poor cats ability to identify for food/defend itself?

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
15 months ago

Well I guess cats identify food by just sniffing. As for self defence, they use claws, fang, and a high pitched "NGYAEEOW!" ... followed by "KHHHHHHHH!"

countrywomen profile image

countrywomen  says:
15 months ago

I thought the cat uses whiskers as sensors/antennae which then pass on the information to the nose. Hence does cutting the whiskers make them lose that ability to identify its food like rats or figure out imminent danger from larger creatures like dogs or others? Meeooooooooow :-)

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
15 months ago

Well, my mum used to say if you just trim the whiskers a wee bit they will not be able to find their way back to where they were brought from. There is no need for a "clean shave!" The whiskers are supposed to grow back soon. LOL!

newcapo profile image

newcapo  says:
10 months ago

Love that cat history- always enjoy seeing what people write about their pets. Very entertaining.....

We have 3 orange tabby cats and a dog. The pets have enriched our childrens' lives immensely- we are lucky that they respect animals and haven't been mean. When I was a kid I had a nerf bow-and-arrow that I would fire at the cat- I did not hurt of course- but I thought it was funny to see the cat take off running like in the cartoons I watched.

Great hub, quicksand!

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
10 months ago

Three orange cats? WOW! I used to call them butter-cats, ones that are light brown in color. DikiKat too was of that color and used to resemble the cat in the picture above.

Thanks for your comment, Newcapo.

Feline Prophet profile image

Feline Prophet  says:
9 months ago

Love the talking cat videos! It's so amazing, the more I wander through HubPages the more cat people I meet! :)

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
9 months ago

Ah, Feline Prophet, now I know why you selected that avatar!

Thanks for your visit! :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
8 months ago

lol - your mom sounds like a very awesome lady.

My dogs have not taught me any tongue tricks yet. One of them likes to run around with her mouth closed, but with a small bit of tongue hanging out. It is very endearing. Your hub has inspired me to try it out and see if it is endearing on me as well ;)- [ wish I had that tongue emoticon that they have in the Forum]

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
8 months ago

My mum was a good cook too! Shibashake, thanks for reading about dikiKAT! :)

BeatsMe profile image

BeatsMe  says:
5 months ago

lol. You hate dogs but you luv cats? Uhh. I'm confused.

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
5 months ago

Well, BeatsMe, you've got it all wrong. I don't hate dogs at all. I just dislike them immensely. That's all!

As for cats, it is pleasant even to look at pictures of cats, and the sound of a cat's "meow" is most pleasing to one's ears.

Thanks for your visit and I hope you like cats too. Take another look at the brown one at the very top!  :)

Dottie1 profile image

Dottie1  says:
3 months ago

Like your brother, I brought cats home from the grocery store too. Not one but two kittens in a shopping cart outside the grocer door with a poster sign saying 'won't you take us home'? and so I did. My father named them Merle and Miles and always said they were the two dumbest cats he ever met. hmmmmmmm, what did he know?

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
3 months ago

Some cats feign stupidity. There is one such cat in our neighborhood. I have just added a picture of him just below the comments box! :)

Simply Redd profile image

Simply Redd  says:
3 months ago

Nice hub! I especially like the talking cat videos.

:o)

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
3 months ago

You simply read the hub, didn't you, Simply Redd? Thanks for doing so! :)

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