A CAT TO REMEMBER

When I was a child we had a few cats, and despite loving them all as members of the family we weren’t keen on getting any more after they passed away naturally. It’s true that we shed a good few tears, though we still remained adamant that we would never get another cat. Unfortunately we had a cat who piddled on furniture in the house and another who was uncontrollably having litters of kitten constantly, of which were very hard to sell to loving homes. Both of those cats mentioned would also hunt wildlife and we often entered our house to see feathers all over the place!

So things were seemingly set. We decided that we would never have another cat. But we were too stubborn at the time to even think that things would end up changing in a few years time!

When our final cat mentioned passed away in 2004 Dylan (my youngest brother) was two years old. We had then added a few dogs to our family and were determined to make him a canine person. However as he grew a little bit older, despite our efforts, he became a cat person. Thus in 2010 we decided that we would give him a cat for his 9th birthday in late September.

Mum and I went shopping a few weeks before Dylan’s birthday so that I could visit EB Games and buy some games for my Nintendo. While we were already out Mum decided that we should also visit local pet stores to search for our new kitten. Surprisingly there were a shortage of kittens in our local area due to an outbreak of cat flu. However there was one store who had a few kittens for sale.

We walked over to the glass and I saw two tabbies happily playing in their jungle gym. I pointed them out to mum and said “There are two kittens here.”, and mum said “No there are three. See there’s a little grey one asleep under the log over there”. Immediately (before I even noticed this kitten) mum had decided that he was the one for us, and she informed the store manager that Dylan and his dad would collect him that evening after school.

At the end of the day when he had been brought home, we all decided that our new kitten was to be named “Ninja” and he settled himself in straight away.

For the first week or so I firmly believed that I would never bond with a cat. Though Ninja would always sit by my side purring whenever I ate my lunch, and most of the time it was just us two together at home. Mum was amused by this and said “You know what Becky, I think you’re going to be Ninja’s favourite person”. My response at first was “No”. However after 2 weeks it changed to “Well, maybe”. Then another month passed and I had completely fallen under Ninja’s spell!

Ninja was a true family cat, or more rather he was a cat who suited our family. Me and all of my siblings have autism and we each have our special interest areas. As the kitten was gradually growing into a cat, one of my brothers (whose special interest is cars) would describe Ninja as “a cat on the production line”. The development of his meow was compared to his horn being developed and tuned, and when he got his registration tag it was as if he had his number plates put on.

There were many amusing games he played with the dogs, including a time when he had stolen Terror-Misu’s toy chicken and had placed it on the roof, carefully making sure that its feet were dangling over the gutter. We discovered what had happened when we saw the dog barking up at his toy on the roof wondering how to get it down, and there was Ninja stood away in the corner watching with a very proud look on his face. I got reminded of the scene in Garfield where he made a bucket attached to a pulley to lift the dog into the air, while the cat Garfield got to drink the milk that was mechanised to spill down into his direction!

Ninja never outgrew games like this either. When my sister’s cat, Lugosi briefly lived with us a few years later he would tease him as well. Lugosi was trying to pull a large bag of cat litter down to play with, yet as a kitten he didn’t quite have the strength. Though I managed to catch sight of Ninja sneaking onto the scene to pull the bag down for him, and Ninja (thinking I hadn’t seen) quickly scooted over into a corner to watch Lugosi getting told off.

When it comes to food Ninja likes to eat the kind made for humans. He doesn’t favour tinned cat food and absolutely despises fish. If Ninja is given a meal he doesn’t like he will use it as a kitty-litter, or (as I once saw) will pick up his dish with his teeth and throw it across the room! I regret not having a chance to video that moment!

The food Ninja does like is chicken of all kinds (and on special occasions pork). But it has to be the same kind that we ourselves eat. Mum used to cook marinated chicken roasts and Ninja would sit at the oven door crying as it was cooking. However we couldn’t give him any because as a cat it was bad for his body. So mum simply had to stop cooking those roasts because it broke her heart to see the cat so upset. Though after speaking to a local expert in the field of food for cats she began to give Ninja steamed chicken breast fillets. Ninja has never grown bored of that despite having it for breakfast and dinner every single day. His only specific requirements are that it must be cooked and cooled down (or warmed up) to room temperature.

Something that is so unique about Ninja is that people who aren’t normally drawn to cats (including myself) always find him to be an exception. Many carers who visit our home say that after getting to know Ninja it’s made them want to get a pet cat.

Over the course of my lifetime so far I (or my family living at home) have owned many pets. Despite loving every single one of them equally for different reasons, there are a few who will stand out in my memory for being just that little bit more unique. It’s not at all that I love them more, or remember them less. They purely stand out because they’re unique, and Ninja will definitely be a cat to remember for all time.