Something always on the cards

When I moved to Bangalore, and when I was staying on my own, one of the first things I did was to go to CUPA and adopt a cat. I have always been a dog person, and even today, I am one. I just didn't think I would have the time and dedication or discipline required to have a dog. And I did not want to put a dog through the troubles, because of my indiscipline.

Named her Whisky and she was with me for over 2 years. And then marriage happened, and then I knew that I would not be able to be for her as I wanted to be, and I thought about how I would be able to give her that place she was so used to in my life. And, somewhere deep inside, I knew I would not be able to do it. And it was a decision which I believe was one of the most difficult for me, to give her back to CUPA. I didn't know anyone who would be willing to take her in, and letting her be was not something I believed was an option.

Today, for some reason I felt like going back to CUPA just to see whether she is there, or has she been adopted. How is she doing? This is not the first time I have ever thought of it, but the guilt which was ridden me when I think of going back and seeing her, I just can't get myself to do it. I rather just live in the belief, a wishful one, that she is doing fine.

There are many other days when I think I should now get a dog, but I doubt that will ever happen. I am not sure I will be that dedicated a person with T & V also in tow. Which makes me think maybe another 5 years down, I shall be able to manage. It would be like taking another baby on, but the love and affection a dog shows is just something which I have never seen any other animal shower a human with. Makes me crave for it. A little selfish maybe, but I can surely return a portion of that in some form, or so I believe.

All said, I don't see it feasible before 5 years...  so shall rethink and hope at that time.

Day 31 - A Lady

I miss her so much 

Formations

Here is an image which I came across on the web and having had whisky with me for 2 years... I can totally relate to how they tend to curl and get themselves into the weirdest of poses! 


You should check out the many snaps which I have put on the blog of her... just click on the pet tag and that should get you there :) 

I'm sorry Whisky

This is something which I wrote the day I went to drop Whisky back at CUPA. I just never ended up posting it, for reason unknown; but now that I read it, all these feelings came back and a helplessness envelops...


How I wished the sun would not rise today! How I wished I had a choice..Yesterday was one of the longest nights and I don't think I was this upset in the near future over anything.


I decided that this is the best option, and maybe she does need more space to move about than I am able to provide her, or I choose to console myself so. She won't be at home, waiting for the doorkeys to jingle and come running, she won't be there to play random feet snapping games, she won't be there to explore every new item which enters the house. I do not know whether she will like her new place, I do not know whether she will be happy with others like her, but that is where she came from, and that is where she has gone to. 


It was a decision based after a lot of thought, I thought, as  I watched her sleep yesterday night. I have packed and given along her toys and feeding bowls... I hope she wil remember me by them.. or maybe as they say... cats don't remmeber too much. I left her glow in the dark collar with the bell... the bell which I have become most accustomed to hearing. I don't know how it shall feel when I come back to this house with her not there anymore. 


I am already thinking whether I can go to meet her there, but even before that, I hope she will adjust and not miss the petting and cooing which I have always done. She is one spoilt cat... many have told me... but I did not mind that. I love her ... love her alot. The last time she was there, she was so distraight... well, she was in pain too. I pray that this time she shall adjust, coz I do not know what happens if she doesn't. She is quite scared of strangers, and takes her own time to come to you... but once she does she is playful. I do not want her to wait hopefully for me to come back for her, I already feel horrible, but if she does hope that... that would be it. I don't think I shall be able to forgive myself for the loving home which I have given her, and then taken it away from her.

Akuri !!

Yesterday I read the Akuri recipe and saw mouth watering pictures on Hitchy's blog, so I knew I had to make some for Sunday brunch! And, thats exactly what I did. It came out yummy and I had it with a plain paratha!

And, since no photo post is complete for me without Whisky... here she comes!

What have I been upto?

Another whirlwind of shopping is what has happened over the past week... and as I see I am going to be in all probability decked in gold such that on wearing a saree the only skin visible would be on my face! I guess as my mom says, gold is an investment and do not see it as gold and jewellery, then I wonder why am I made to wear all of it! Anyways, there is nothing that can be done about it, so I shall not fret! Breathe in... breathe out ...

In between all this, to keep my sanity, I have been reading Wolf Hall. I thought why not, when its based ona very different setting and with a fair amount of history also embedded within. In fact I ordered this book a day before she got the Booker and since then I have been very thrilled and been wanting to start with it, and being at home just provides the perfect opportnity to do so. I must admit that I have really liked the hundred odd pages which I have read. I think I shall do small review on this once I am done with it.

To end this post, a snap of Whisky

Whisky Bhisky

Salon trip

Odd positions are very good for sleeping

A yawn and a stretch!

Cleaning and preening

Ready to mingle

Siesta

There she was sitting peacefully perched... and then she decided she needs a nap.

Peering eyes

Those sleepy peering eyes!

Assorted

My first attempt at making a Dhokla (was quite happy with the result)

Spicy Macroni with cheese: Thats  something which I make quite often, and thought I should take a pic (as an after-thought, after I had started eating it!)

There is Your Highness, on her royal couch!

For the women, by the women, of the women! 

Happy Women's Day!

A Valentine for Whisky

My Valentine gift to Whisky was a nice new collar. It was not pink, well she was already wearing a pink one for such a long time so, I thought I shall get a blue one. 

This is the pink collar which she had on for the past year.

And, here is the new collar which is her Valentine gift ! :)

Little Miss Sunshine

Here she is in her favourite spot on the balcony. Lazing away in the afternoon sun.

1.5 Years

When I said that I will save a special post for Whisky, I thought I would maybe have a video of her and her antics. Her antics are usually pertaining to trying to catch a small fly to wasps and bees which come into the room for the sheer warmth as compared to the chill of Bangalore nights. But pictures are something I have posted before also, so a more apt post would be if I write about all that she is, and all the problems that she creates about the house (usually when no one is at home). Else she is a very docile cat. She loves to welcome you when you get back from work. She will come to greet you at the door, she will rub herself (as all cats love to do), and even just plop herself right on your feet rooting you to the spot. She loves to be picked up, and she will lick your face, hand and will rub her head under your chin.

Her favourite spot during the day is lazing at the balcony in the sun, or else she will be on the rug with some piece of wrapper playing catch all by herself. Let evening come, and she will crawl under the blanket with anyone who has done the job of opening up any blanket. She will either sleep on top or under, as the person who is tucked in bed is willing to accept it. She is very flexible in these matters, a true well bred cat!

I have always brought her up on a mix of dry and wet food. I five her fresh meat and fish only in very small portions and she gorges on them. But even on these cases, she will not over eat. She will leave meat aside if she is done, and then when she comes back for them, in most cases they would be covered with ants and there she would lose her precious food to someone so small and tiny in front of the mighty cat!

She has her share of outdoor fun too, and at these times are those when I fret and worry about her. One day, she decided that she will just go for a stroll, and jumped out of the window on the balcony and from there she further found a ledge and then the stairs all the way down to the ground floor. Once she reached there, she realized that there is no way she remembers which floor she lives on (It’s the 6th). There are far too many stray dogs also down there, and with her bell ringing as she moves even an inch, I was quite sure that she is in much more danger than she can fathom. But she is not that bad a cat; she climbed up to the ground floor balcony, and tucked her self between some plants and old furniture for the night. She pulled through for the first time, all by herself outside in the cold. She has always been indoors with a warm blanket since the age of 2 months. And now at 1 year she wants an adventure, the teenage rebel spirit in her has awaken I believe.

I searched, I called, I whistled but she was I believe too scared to meow or else she really was not ready to come back home, or even better she was not hungry yet. The next whole day, I have no clue what she did, and where she roamed about. She was hungry and did not eat anything that was one thing I was sure by evening. I came back from work, looked all through the stairs, lift lobbies and even through the car park but she was no where to be seen. One I was up at my balcony, standing and making an aerial look out for her, there she is sitting on the hood of a car and looking up at me! I ran down and I think she was quite taken aback from the noise person running towards her. She jumped and ran, but under the car, not towards me or into my arms! Tsk tsk.... When she was sure it was just me, she came out meowing and pushing her way towards my legs. I picked Miss. Dirty Self up and took her upstairs and first thing fed her. She had in one sitting; I believe food that she would have else had in a span of a day! After that she was so tired I believe, she went right back to her spot and decided to sleep peacefully in the warmth.

This incident has been a good 3 months back and till date she has never tried to do that again, or rush to the door when the door is to be opened. So I think maybe my baby girl has grown up a little now.

She still loves to use all pieces of cardboard available in the house as her scratch pads, but I guess that is better and easier to clean up too rather than have all the footwear and other vaguely possible scratchable items being succumbed to her mercy.

Whisked Away

I have noticed that in the past few weeks, I have not been giving due importance to Whisky, and she has been very irritated too lately.

Here goes a string of her latest pics!

Love the Confusion !

It is so easy to get confused.

I am sure many of you would agree with me. Yesterday, I was shopping for crockery and I needed to pick up just two bowls for morning breakfast, and that was such a disaster. There are far too many choices which one is faced with I feel on one side, and then I am also so grateful for all the choices that are there which will only make the whole household shopping more fun. (I love colours, plain pastel coloured bowls, deep coloured dinner plates and serve-ware to my list).

On reaching the store, I also realized that there are Oh so many designs available in dinner plates too. I wanted something in ceramic and not melamine. That sort of helped In deciding whether I should be looking on the right aisle or the left one. But then I was just not prepared for the variety available. And the fact still was I did not find what I wanted, I just saw so many designs, in fact I saw them many a times too but nothing really struck! I have this ideology that I pick up stuff which I really like on the first look of sorts, else those which you just pick up after a lot of thought are just compromises.

Anyhow, by the end of almost an hour, I walked out with no dinner plates nor breakfast bowls but I did find some nice cute small yellow bowls… not for breakfast but just for Whisky, for her breakfast!

A Picture

I think this is positively the best picture which I have got of Whisky. Maybe this can also be attributed to the fact that she totally refuses to be still in most cases, as seen here unless she is fast asleep.

Note: Here too, she is on the Bean Bag which she has very easily conquered !! :(

Sleepy Cat !

Thats her recently in a very groggy state when the afternoon sun started to pour in through the drawn curtains!

She has started to climb up onto chairs... though when she tries to jump down... I can see that her hind leg doesn't do too well. :(

Now we're going to move places, and the new place has a balcony, I seriously do hope that she will be careful with her play and not hurt herself !




Now thats her favourite spot: The brand new bean bag !

And she certainly does know how to find her comfortable nook in it too :)

The Fateful day ...

A month back Whisky (my adopted cat) fell/jumped from the fifth floor, from where I call home. For the past 5 months, I had always left her at home when I go to work, and I used to leave the balcony door open as her litter box, food and water were kept next to her bedding in the covered balcony. The window would be open so that the place wouldn’t become stuffy. So, as I was saying, I was away for the weekend and I got a frantic call that she is nowhere to be seen in the house. Every nook and corner was searched ( she usually has a immense liking to hide under/behind/inside small places and not utter even a faint sound until she is discovered. Initially everyone thought she would be around somewhere but then when it was noticed that her food was not touched, it was an alarm sign. The whole night went by without any trace of her.

The next day morning on a hunt around the building, she was found right vertically below the balcony window, all huddled up and with a swollen body. There were so many who were there watching her in pain but no one was there to pick her up or to even inform the security! I guess she must have been relieved to see someone she could recognize; I don’t even know whether she could recognize anyone. She was rushed to the nearest vet and all he could say was take her to the vet hospital as that’s the only place in the entire city (Bangalore) where a X-ray for an animal could be done. And then they also say we will give you a pain relief gel for you to rub for her and then once the swelling reduced, it can be determined whether it’s a fracture. I was always under the impression that docs can say when there is a fracture by feeling the spot and a fall from 5 floors in my opinion would certainly account for some major problem.

After a week of showing to at least 4 vets, they finally determined that it’s a fracture and that she needs to be taken to the vet hospital for further treatment.

On reaching the govt. run vet hospital on Saturday, we found out that the X-ray works only 5 days a week! Thankful to CUPA we were able to get the X-ray and know the gravity of the situation. The doc on seeing the X-ray was skeptical enough to say that you should take a second opinion. Her hip was broken and so was her shoulder bone. She was in extreme pain and there was no other means than to mildly sedate her if the X-ray was to be taken.

Now to wait for the second opinion would mean that wait till Monday.

On Monday on seeing the X-ray reports, the docs at the vet hospital, like any normal occurring, said that she would need a ‘Thomas Flint’ and following which rest for a week or two. Then they wanted us to get her back for a check up. She writhed in pain as the ‘Thomas Flint’ was put in place. This is a contraption, where there are aluminum rods which are placed, keeping the limb straight to prevent all movement and not to allow her to walk at all. The docs told us that she will walk with after a week and she will take time.

After almost a month now, she has started to walk again but she has a limp and she is not the way she was before. She can not jump onto the chair or onto your lap. She wants to… and she does try but then when it hurts her, or maybe when she is not able to do it, she just lies down on her side and decides to clean herself if nothing else.

However I look at it, I feel maybe it is someway my fault as leaving her at home as she was growing up and moreover during that period she was more alone as I was also having a more hectic time at work and someone was also staying over at my place, who was shriekingly scared of any moving object. She was very alone I believe and maybe she felt bad, or she wanted her freedom and that was her way of showing that she didn’t approve.

I would never know but all I pray is that I will never ever let her go through any more such agony which drives her to such measures. Each time I see that limp, I feel responsible, responsible for her life and having to do with the fact that she can not be the self she was 2 months back.

I bet she misses clinging onto my trousers and being dragged around as I walk, or jumping onto the chairs and hoping from one chair to another, or jumping onto the windowsill to watch the fishes in the aquarium.

I still pray that the calcium syrups and time will heal her and make her jump without thinking onto my lap.

Are cats truly as intelligent as dogs?

I personally do not know when i will stop this comparison, as anyone who i talk to has just one piece of advice for me ( me being the forever dog lover) " Do not compare a cat to a dog!" An in fact thats what i inevitably do almost everyday, maybe not out aloud but i do start to think of the various differences. Cats have a many strange moods i have noticed, something varying from docile to violent. They are times when Whisky just jumps around and happens to target my feet or hands as her enemy. I have no clue why thats true! And many a times, its just the fun in jumping and attacking a moving object, with no true intention of attack in the true sense of the word. Well... i haven't seen many dogs do this routine! But i have noticed that they also do not tend to bite and lash out in the same tone as a dog does when it is angry. Maybe the size would matter in this case to a large extend, which is why they do not make a very strong attempt at attacking.

Eventually one thing i have noticed is that by the end of the day, irrespective of how they have behaved, they still wish to cuddle up on your lap and fal asleep, which is something i haven't seen in dogs. Dogs tend to be fine sleeping by themselves in some corner, but cats on the other hand seem to need a cozy safe place to sleep. This leads me to question whether they do remember what all they did through the day?