This little kitten was caught eating on the table, which is forbidden. He threw all caution to the wind and indulged in something new. First time to taste maize (corn) and enjoying it immensely. It’s as if he didn’t eat a hearty lunch just a short while ago.

Says the smaller kitten: “My brother, the ginger kitty washing me, loves me so much he acts like my mother. I stay clean all the time! He’s adopted, I’m adopted. We both came from off the streets, months apart. I cried and cried for days, looking for my mother. She didn’t come for me and my brothers. But I love my life now!”

Now it’s Jack’s turn to sleep in the box! This bottom drawer is really a hit with the kitties.

My Mom used to run a foundation and for some time, they held office at home, on the ground floor. When it closed shop, most of the furniture remained here and now that I’m mostly working from home, I requisitioned one of my Mom’s old office desks for my workstation. The bottom drawer was promptly taken by the three little kittens.

These are the ones who were last to be rescued from the churchyard. There were four teeny-tiny kittens, one died. When they were brought here by the parish priests helper, they were feral, spitting and clawing at anyone who came near. But now they are all so sweet, snuggling up to anyone who comes close.

She follows me anywhere I go in the house, watches over me as I sleep and stays beside me when I work. Her voice is as soft as a whisper and you can tell she is a very gentle kitty. This little girl is one of the smartest cats we have had in memory.

A few months ago, I was in the midst of a difficult project and I would spend hours in front of my laptop, reading volumes of documents. Time would pass without me noticing and though I never neglected the cats, I have to admit there were times they’d eat an hour or two later than usual.

Tinkerbell, most probably extremely hungry already, would come to me and in her sweetest voice, look at me with pitiful eyes. I most probably told her that I was coming to feed them shortly. It must have taken me longer than what she could take because a few minutes later, she came back from the kitchen, with the wooden spoon I use for their food clenched in her mouth. She put it by my feet. I was so amazed at what she did but also laughed at her cleverness! Of course that got my attention and she soon had what she wanted.

Gosh, my cats!!!

This afternoon, a little after lunchtime, I was rushing to go out of the house when this kitten tried to give me a present. It was a live, struggling snake! She was about to place it at my feet when I saw her and started shouting for my Mom, who was in another part of the house.

The little kitty Cinderella was most probably frightened with my hollering for my Mom (who wouldn’t if a live, struggling not-so-small snake had been brought home by a feline half its size and was about to be offered to you?) that she ran away and took it in the living room.

The snake was quite long, approximately 90+ cm. (3 ft.) and a little thicker than an adult’s thumb in diametre. When Cinderella ran towards the living room with me and my Mom in hot pursuit, she made it clear that there was no way she was going to drop her prey. The snake was tightly clenched right in the middle while Mom tried to hack its head with a hand plough.

Probably realising her prized quarry wasn’t safe with us, Cinderella ran to the neighbour’s, towards my auntie’s backyard. A small door separates our lots so I was able to open it to find the brave kitten mercilessly munching on the snake, making it seem like it was sashimi while the creature was still struggling violently to get out of the kitty’s jaws. The snake had no chance of surviving such a determined cat. A few minutes later, it was lifeless and Cinderella kept on chewing on it.

By that time, I really had to leave for a meeting and wanted to make sure the snake was properly disposed of, meaning buried where no cat could play with it and stuff it somewhere it could cause it to rot and cause foul odour. So I fed all the kitties their favourite fish. Cinderella followed but seemed so thirsty she drank a lot from their water dish first.

The poor brave kitty! She must’ve been spent by the whole adventure that when I got home tonight, she insisted that she sleep on my lap. Since I had to stand up now and then, she settled herself on top of my books, beside my laptop, where I can watch over her.

Tinee, the basil-munching cat, at rest. She’s my bodyguard, watching over me wherever I go. Well, sleeping on the job at times – like now.

5 January 2009, 4:56 p.m.