Some of the most valuable lessons in life can come from our little friends, discovers ninotaziz
PETS prepare us for life. French author, Anatole France once said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
Perhaps this is why very early in life, many of us begin to yearn for a pet. There must be a time clock inside us that says: “The time has come to learn about some of the most important facts of life.” Compassion. Caring for another being. Unconditional love. Time to shed that sense of self.
My first ever pet was Citam, a feisty black rooster. I remember having a pair of Taiwanese tortoises before Citam but they “ran away” after I put them in the garden! I was in Standard Two and week after week I kept begging my mother for a pet.
She finally agreed to Citam. We were living in Kuantan and there was a store that sold chicks. Yellow ones. Black ones. Even multi-coloured chicks. I never really liked the idea of the coloured ones. What on earth had been done to them to make them purple and blue, I remember thinking.
So I bought one each on the little yellow and black ones. I called them Citam and Cining for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, a few days later, Cining died! I felt so guilty and was devastated. I was terrified that Citam would follow suit.
That was my first lesson on life from Citam. Caring for another. A month later, we moved to my kampung (village) in Chenor. My grandmother told me not to handle the young chick too much, and to keep his area clean and dry. In Chenor, Citam grew into a young and strong rooster. Our lovely kampung house back then was in the midst of a one-acre garden and it was the perfect home for him. I fed him rice, but he really loved the rambutan from our tree that I would share with him.
We got into a routine. When I was to leave for school in the morning, Citam would send me off, standing by the staircase. And he would wait for me at the same spot when I came back from school. In the afternoon, Citam would stay close when I was studying on the verandah, or when I was on the swing or climbing trees! I enjoyed his company and I guess Citam introduced concepts of loyalty and unconditional love in my life.
BRINGING MEANING TO LIFE
I grew up. Life became hectic and one day, before I knew it, I was a mother to daughters who asked for pets. The whole idea of cleaning up after a pet did not sit well with me. I resisted.
That was until Cruikshanks came into our lives.
Cruikshanks was the cat that changed the meaning of family for me. After a tumultuous divorce (which divorce isn’t), remarriage, change in career and moving into our new home, I suddenly realised that the girls were going through tough times adjusting to this new life and were unsure of how to react to all the pent-up feelings.
One day, daughter Inas came home from school with a scrawny kitten in her bag. At first, I did not allow the cat in the house. So Inas cleaned it up and fed it. Soon, Cruikshanks took his place in our home. The sofa was where he slept. The girls treated Cruikshanks like the brother they never had. Life was peaceful and calmer — no more teenage angst, no more quarrelsome squabbles. Cruikshanks “listened” to each girl’s problems as they stroked him while he sat on their lap.
I took care of Cruikshanks when the older girls left home to further their studies. He was closest to me during this period. Then Cruikshanks began to get sick. He started taking long walks in the neighbourhood. We sent him to the vet and he got better. He preferred sitting on the cushioned chair under the porch. He lost weight, but the vet said he was fine. Then one day, Cruikshanks did not come back. We searched for him everywhere for ages. In my heart I felt Cruikshanks had left us to die. I could not think of having another pet after Cruikshanks.
I promised myself no more pets. But without a pet in the home, the spirit felt empty. So we got a pair of Taiwanese tortoises for daughter Ikesha and guess what? They too disappeared from the garden lotus pots.
Today, I have Kaloi. She is legendary, the same type of fish from the story Bawang Puteh Bawang Merah. She used to be 5cm long. Now she is 20cm from the tip of her mouth to the end of her tail. She lives in water pots and I have had to change to bigger water pots thrice already. We might have to build a pond for her soon!
My youngest girls, Ilena and Ikesha, call Kaloi my sixth daughter. In the morning, she’s fed fish food for breakfast. When I come home from work, I feed her her favourite treat, kangkung! She will come out of her “house” at the bottom of the pot, the half of an upside down claypot, to the surface just to linger. She would also come up if we call her name. She’s surely the most beautiful kaloi in the world. To me.
Pets prepare us for many big challenges and milestones in life. Love. Loyalty. Death.
What would we do without them?
