Wednesday, October 8, 2008

RIP Flora

Those dark blue eyes drew me closer to her as I bent to take a look. Ohh…she was such a beauty. But what alarmed me most was her tiny boned body. She was tired, probably too weak to figure out what had happened to her. She made loud cries, an indication that she was scared, I think. But, she had me at hello, that was for sure. And with that, I had finally soften my NO PETS AT HOME ruling.

Flora - day 1

Those blue eyes belonged to Flora, an abandoned cat which was brought home by Farah. She had found the little kitty left in a box by the garbage dump on her way back from tuition class. Initially I thought it was Nissa who had taken in the kitty. Bibik later clarified that two days back, Kakak Farah came home, panting and panicking, carrying this big box in her hand.

Ohh…how could someone be so cruel to have done that?? To just leave the little kitten all by herself, a new born separated from its Mommy. Kalau iyer pun tak mau, give it away properly, send it to PAWS… Ohh…I don’t know, do something but don’t just abandon it.

Cats….ummppp…how shall I start?? To say that I don’t like cats, well, that’s not quite correct. I like them, as long as they don’t roam in my home. As long as they don’t suddenly jump at me and as long as they don’t gesel-gesel at my feet, I’m OK with them. But, apa nama nya nak bela cats if I don’t even dare stroke them. I think all my life I have never carried a cat (mintak maaf banyak-banyak to all the cat lovers here). I can’t imagine having to feel its spine, its limbs, all so warm underneath those thick fur. To sum it up, I am DEAD PENAKUT of cats!!!

I don’t really know what made me feel this way. Perhaps I had bad experiences with cats earlier on in my life, I don’t know and I can’t quite recall.

Anyway, two days back when I saw Flora, I said to myself, “OK, let’s give this little one a try.” Plus at that time ABE was feeding it with milk with a syringe. Memang tak sampai hati sangat-sangat nak say NO. Both Nissa and Farah were crowding the little one and Bibik was going like, “Kak Nissa, tengok tu, dia minum.”

Ok, ok….even though Nissa never actually asked me if she could keep the little kitty, I knew I couldn’t possibly say NO, couldn’t break her heart. And with that, Flora became a member of the family. After all she had me at hello, didn’t she?

Feeding time

Nissa was not well yesterday. ABE , who was still on Raya leave (punyer la lama choti Raya daaa) took her to see the doctor and she was given some antibiotics for her tonsillitis. However, she was more than happy to be home coz there was Flora to care for. When I came back from work last night, Bibik said both Nissa and Bapak had been tendering and nursing the kitty together. Before Nissa went off to bed, I told her she could keep Flora, provided Flora doesn’t come into the house. She renegotiated with me and said Flora has to stay out when I’m in the house. “Ok lah…ok lah,” I told her and that made her so happy.

I wouldn’t say I was not excited about Flora. Being new at this feline thingy, I text both Muni and Jupe enquiring tips on how to care for an abandoned kitty. Both of them are pros at cats, unlike me, a meek rookie. A to-do list was already in my mind, well, you know like to go check out the nearest pet shop, the kind of food for kitties etc, etc. The weekend would have been good to get things done, I thought to myself, plus Nissa could come along.

But ini lah yang dikatakan, kita hanya merancang, ALLAH yang menentukan. When I woke up this morning, Bibik with shivers in her voice, passed this message to me. “Ibuk, Flora tu, Flora udah meninggal.”

My immediate response was, “Nissa sudah tau?”

Bibik said, “Udah, itu lagi menangis di atas.”

Ohh..dear, Nissa must have been so broken hearted!! I then went to see her in her room and all I could see was this sad face. She told me her eyes were watery and she didn’t know why. She said, “Masuk dust kot mata Nissa ni.”

I told her it’s OK to cry. It’s OK to feel sad. Flora is gone now, but at least she was with us, not mati kelaparan ker by the rubbish dump. At least Flora was loved before she left. I saw her take out her diary and I left her to be on her own.

Bye, bye Flora

I stayed on to accompany Nissa burry Flora (yess…I was late to work againnnn!!!). Bibik dug a whole by the fence under the mango tree. OK lah I thought, kinda serene gak that place. Flora will be at ease for she’d be in her own heaven.

Still mourning


Masam, bakal jadi pengganti

I know Nissa will be mourning the passing of Flora. Luckily, there is still Manis, the visiting cat. And there is also Masam, the other visiting, randy male. By the end of today, I know Manis will be upgraded to the resident cat, no longer holding the visitor status. I don’t know where Masam is, but he’ll come back when it’s meal time, for sure.

Manis, the expecting one

Incidently, Manis is also pregnant. So diharapkan apa yang hilang akan berganti. I am so very keeping my fingers crossed that Manis will have a good delivery and she’d tender to her kitties. At least till they are slightly stronger, thus making their survival rate better.

Nissa & Manis

I guess I will proceed with my preparation on receiving the new felines. Setidak-tidak nya Nissa’s sadness akan terubat and for me, I’d have just a little more time to work on my inhibitions.

Rest in Peace, Flora. You were very much loved by all of us. You had me at hello, you had me at hello.

13 comments:

Ezza Aziz said...

Kesian Flora,
Manusia ni kekadang lagi zalim dari haiwan tau tak, Sebelum posa hari tu,I tengah online sudenly I dengar bising2 kat pintu dapur.. I ingat citer TV,suruh pelan kan vol tv,mengiaw lagi..anak I pi la cari bunyik tu..rupa2 nya ada kotak kat pintu dapur dan ada 3 ekor anak kucing yang belum bukak mata lagi dalam nya. Eh sapa pulak buang anak kucing niiii..saya sajer kuat kan suara..zalim betul laa.. I pun tak tau nak macam mana,anak2 I bagi la susu Yaya yang dalam kotak untuk di minum,tapi mana anak kucing mana tau minum nya.Saya kata biar kan je laa sebab ibu kucing selalu nya akan mencari anak anak nya. Menjelang tengah malam suara mengiaw pun hilang..mak kucing dah jumpa la tu kot,saya sedap kan hati saya ni,takut jugak kalau di makan anjing..Kan elok dalam kotak tu ada baby,boleh kita bela kan mak..kata anak dara akak yang dah sunyi dengan suara budak kecik. You tau tak dia suruh akak beranak lagi ..Hissh,dah buag tebiat ke kamu ni....tak kuasa mak lagi....

Madam Tai Tai Again said...

Oh poor Flora..got tears in my eyes reading this. I'm such a cat lover so I'm easily touched by this posting.

This posting reminds me of the little kitten that was adopted by my sis last March. We had him for a few days before it died. I was extremely moved by its death and blamed myself for it, for I forced my sis to bring Cooper to the vet for his vaccination. He was just too weak for the dosage.

Rest well little blue-eyed Flora. I'm so glad she felt your family's love before her demise.

kay_leeda said...

Kak Ezza,

Wah...satu request yg sungguh direct!! Saya pun sama lah, bukan anak-anak yg sibuk, si Bibik yg firestone suruh branak lagi. Dia ingat macam anak kucing kot. Bagi susu, bagi freeskies dah ok.

Memang dah tak kuasa...

Ni tgh risau kan si Nissa dah 2 hari demam tak kebah-kebah. Dah bawa jumpa doctor, but still no difference. Kot la sedeh ttg kucing sampai deman teruk segini..

Macam ni lah kita dgn anak-anak kan...bila they sihat, kita kata bdk tak leh duduk diam. Bila tak sihat, kita kata napa muka poyo je...

Habis tu camne kan...

kay_leeda said...

Tai Tai,

I feel bad too coz when I was exchanging SMSes with my two friends, we were talking about pahala from jaga cat and cat heaven. I told her that I don't mind the extra "pahala" from the cat. Tup-tup...Flora left us the very next day. Alamak...I felt so bad, so guilty.

Next time I'll just have to watch my words. No mentioning of such things. Memang ralat sangat..

tireless mom said...

Kay

Innalillah to Flora. Welcome to Manis and Masam babies. Allooo. Tukar nama lah. Not Masam lah ok. Masin maybe?

kay_leeda said...

TM,

How to change name daa? The cat seems to like its "Masam" identification.

We shall see how I cope with the new additions to the family. Look out for upcoming sequels to "RIP Flora".

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Oh dear..
Why do they have to break our hearts so by leaving us, these cats? As the 'mother' to no less than 100 cats over the years, I should be immuned to feline sickness and death by now. Sadly, no... the tears would come, no matter what. Hugs to your little girl..

Kak Teh said...

oh no!!! I cant finish reading this as it reminds me so much of my Jasper. I know how you feel and I am still in mourning. We have 5 left.

Take care.

Waterlily said...

Hi Kay

I used to like cats when I was little. All my siblings liked cats and we named them after colors, ada Putih, Kuning, Hitam, Oren.

But then, everytime a cat died - we were very affected. Sampai kapankan the cats and made our dad baca some ayat2 over the graves. My dad was sporting - I cannot imagine my dear hubby relenting to THAT!

We stopped bela cats after we saw one of our cats being ran over by our neighbor's car - sampai terkeluar mata dia and terkial kial kesakitan sampai habis nyawa. Pedih nya jiwa raga yang masih mentah masa tu Tuhan saja yang tau.

Bila dah lama tak bela cats, sekarang I cannot stand the smell of cats, I become very sensitive to cats smell pulak. My children have been pestering me for cats as pets, but I dont think I'll give in. Dont want them to feel the pain I had should the cat died. Yes, I am a bit selfish in a way I know, but I cant help it.

kay_leeda said...

Kak Puteri,

Nissa is feeling a little better today but she still says, "If only Flora was here.." and "Floral would love this and that.."

I guess this one department I have to start working on - dealing with the emotions and the heart breaks. Uhh...never thought it'd feel this grievous.

kay_leeda said...

Kak Teh,

Jasper was yours, Flora was Nissa's. They all leave behind such fond memories, don't they? Even though, Flora was only days with us. A couple of times in the past two nights, I thought I heard sounds of her cries. The emotional recovery is definitely going to take a while.

kay_leeda said...

Hi Waterlily,

You know Nissa did ask me that day after we put Floral to her final resting place, what prayer should she say for Floral. Ooppsss...I was speechless for a while coz I don't know myself. I told her to baca apa-apa ayat yang she knows coz cats pun mahluk Tuhan.

I can't possibly say no to Nissa's pet pestering now. Many a times I catch her stroking pregnant Manis' fat belly, talking to her about having a safe delivery and how to care for her little kitties later. How lah...how lah...??

MrsNordin said...

I've never experienced death of a cat before, but I can imagine your sadness. We have 5 cats at home. The eldest, Austin, is almost 10 years old. Sometimes I imagine the day he dies and where we're going to bury him, and then I'll cry...

If you decided to take in Masam & Manis, please have them neutered/spayed so dia tak beranak pinak. It's better for the cats and your family as well.

Good luck!