Esther

My wife and I had gone down to SPCA yesterday. We were actually hoping to locate Ah Meow and maybe Orange which has been MIA for a very long time. However we were unsuccessful. Thus we decided to look at other cats, hopefully able to find the One.

It was a difficult choice as we tend to compare them with the likes of Ah Meow and Orange (in terms of their behaviours). It was 11.15am or so and the cats are already quite lethargic or napping. None really made us come to an unreserved confirmation.

Then we chanced upon Momo, a 2 year old female local breed. She has a smart black and white coat but she was a little hesitant to socialise. Even when we carried her out of the cage, she was uncomfortable and wanted to break free.

Before we gave up hope, one of the napping kittens woke up. She was Esther, a 4.5 month old local tri-colour kitty with a cute pink nose.

Esther started to walk around her tiny cage, meowing as I meowed at her. She went close to the cage door and was attempting to 'rub' my fingers. As I caress her neck, she stopped momentarily and started to purr. The SPCA volunteer then allowed us to take her out to 'play'.

She is thin and boney and I was not confident of carrying her as I'm worried that I may break her bones. After some 'guidance' from my wife and the volunteer, I managed to give Esther a firm hold, or maybe it was a hug.

We sort of got 'connected'. She started to look at me intensely and purr for as long as she is in my embrace. This is the first time I felt such a long purr from any cat. It felt nice, knowing that she felt safe and secured with me. :)

However when I transferred her over to my wife, they didn't really click. Esther appeared restless and did not look at my wife. After a few moments of deliberation, we decided to sign the paper to adopt her. However there is a 3-day 'cool-off' period for would-be adopters. Thus the earliest date we can collect her would be this coming Wednesday.

We then had a discussion with the SPCA volunteer on the responsibilities of having cat. One point of discussion is that the kitten needs to be oriented to the new environment and hence somebody needs to be at home to orientate her during the first few days or even weeks. As a result, we changed our minds as at this moment we can't really take time off from work to orientate her. Thus Esther is available for adoption again.

Up till now, I do regret a little. She was so comfortable with me. However our house isn't really ready yet in terms of a foolproof cat-proofing. The biggest obstacle is time. We need time to orientate her and this means the earliest time when we can have a kitty would be during the December holidays.

I guess by then she would have been adopted. Sigh... ;(