Unwanted Gifts

Apart from the odd goldfish that I won at a fair we never had a pet when we were children.  I was neither fussed nor afraid.  But Little M since we can remember has always been totally petrified of anything that had a tail and was furry. We decided then for her sake that maybe getting a pet would be a good idea to take the fear away.  Mr Jones, our ginger cat was three months when we adopted him from the animal shelter and was terrified to find himself in new surroundings.  For two weeks Little M ran from room to room in fear of her life in case this little tiny kitten was in any way going to attack her.  He didn’t and thankfully she relaxed and both she and Mr Jones became buddies. He was pampered and fussed over and became quite the little prince. Mr H, the head of the house  also welcomed the male cat to a house as it was "already far too full of female hormones" in his opinion.  It helped balance things out, so he said.

Mr Jones and his Buddy

Around six months later, Mr Jones found a stray in the bushes nearby our house.  It had been there for days, tiny, scared and very hungry.  Big M tried to feed it and get near to it, but no matter its size it hissed and growled.  After a few days, she gave up only for Mr Jones to come trotting in one day with this tiny kitten at his heels.  It was quite remarkable to see him share his feeding bowl and potty train her in the litter box.  Both children were adamant that we should keep her.  We weren’t so sure, she seemed too wild and whilst we knew she was afraid, even after a few days we still couldn’t get near to her. Even the vet said she was extremely feral and it was unlikely that she would change much.  However, we decided to keep her in the hope that things may get better.  It didn’t, but by now we knew that we were to take her away Mr Jones would be totally heartbroken as they were inseparable.  We named her Jini-Mei after Big M’s favourite welsh TV character  Jini-Mei Jones (Jones also inkeeping with her friend).

It’s been 18 months since and Jini-Mei moved in.  Nothing has changed.  She’s very comfortable in our home but nobody but Mr Jones can get anywhere near her.  Cats show their affection they say by bringing gifts home.  There have been plenty of very generous ‘gifts’ from both.  Oh there have been dozens of half dead cockroaches and small gecko’s.  We were even presented with a larger outdoor lizard, that was thankfully dead!

just like our 'gift'

 Then just before Christmas and I was rushing out of the house there was a small snake on the porch.  I was amazed that although snakes are very common in Singapore in the 12 plus years I’ve been here I’ve only ever seen one before, and that was squashed by the side of the road.  Mr Jones and Jini-mei were clearly upping their Christmas gifts this year and had brought it to our front porch in time for the festive season no doubt.  Thankfully, (very thankfully), Marilou, (who lives with us) picked it up by its tail and threw it over the fence, (yes, she actually did that!!). 

Our gift

 Only for both cats a few days later, probably miffed or peeved, brought home another. This this time however, they meant business. They didn’t leave it on the porch but brought it right inside and put it down IN OUR LOUNGE!  Again, Marilou to the rescue. 

Whilst we are all very pleased that Jini-Mei must like us,  we would  much rather do without the gifts, thank you very much!

Until the next time

 Beth x