Childhood Memories: Our Cats (part 1)

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!

We haven't done a Childhood Memories post in a while so we thought we would do one today. This post is going to be about the cats we have had in our lives so far. Just to clarify, we have only ever 'owned' one cat - our currant one, Cata. However, we have adopted and cared for several stray cats that we have always considered our own. Now let's get started!

Lily

(2007... we think)

The first cat we ever had was a stray we named Lily. This was such a long time ago and we don't have any photos of her, unfortunately. She was white mostly, with dark patches. We eventually had to shoo her away because we kept chickens and suspected that she was stealing their babies. She was a good hunter and was healthy and clean - not skinny and weak like most strays. We knew she would be able to take care of herself and that she was not dependent on us.

Katniss
(2011 - 2013)

Katniss was Lily's kitten. Although Lily had been banned from entering our garden(on account of the chick-napping!), one evening she brought her kittens to our home - as if she was telling them that they could trust us. We know it sounds crazy but that's really how it felt! One kitten looked exactly like Lily and she was the only one who returned. We named her Katniss, and as she didn't bother the chickens, we allowed her to stay.

She resembled her mother but was skinnier and not as good-looking. She was an excellent fighter and was always getting into fights - and winning them! But as a result, she was not always a very 'pretty' cat. She had many scars and was very tatty, but that didn't matter because we loved her. It's hard to explain just how brilliant she was. We have not come across a cat like her - and we've known a lot of cats, masha'Allah!

She was so gentle and good-natured; she never scratched us, not once. She would lie in the way when we were zooming around on our bikes and wouldn't even flinch. She wouldn't even move when our dad drove his car right up to her and honked the horn. She knew we would never run over her! She trusted and loved us, alhamdulillah. If we were to choose our all time favourite cat, it would be Katniss.

Kitty

(2013)

Kitty was Katniss's daughter. Her mother brought her to live in our garden during our last year in UAE. Before then, Katniss use to only visit our garden and didn't actually live with us full-time.

Street life was dangerous, however, and Katniss was pregnant and so she brought Kitty to us. She could then go out hunting knowing her baby was safe.

Kitty was quite a shy little kitten and didn't like being around us without her mother. She was playful though, and loved bouncy rubber balls and play fighting with her mum.

You may be wondering what happened to them? Well, sadly we left them and moved to Qatar. It was the hardest thing we had to do when we moved, even harder than leaving the home we had lived in all our lives.

Cata

(December 2013 - present day)

You probably already know Cata as she has appeared in some of our previous posts. She is a Persian Angora and the only cat we have ever really 'owned'. She was abandoned by her previous owners and we adopted her as she was in need of a home. She lives in our garden but is allowed indoors too. She use to be a very bad-tempered, feisty cat but she is much nicer now, alhamdulillah. Masha'Allah, she hardly ever scratches and is clearly happier and more loving. However, she is still not a cuddly cat yet. Maybe someday, insha'Allah! Click here to see our more in-depth post on Cata.

Edelweiss

(2014 - present day)

Meet our other cat, Edelweiss(a-dill-vice), whose name means 'noble white' in German. The edelweiss flower represents adventure and notoriety which perfectly suits this strong, naughty, friendly and lovable cat! Unfortunately, he and Cata do not get along, so he sticks to the front of the house and Cata keeps to the back garden. He also isn't allowed indoors. He is a stray and visits every lunchtime for food and love. We believe he must have been abandoned because he looks too handsome to have always been a street cat. Some day we want to do a more in-depth post on him like we did for Cata, insha'Allah.

Mina

(October 2013 - June 2018)

Mina was a cat we met at the tuition centre we use to attend. She had owners and lived nearby, and she would visit regularly.

She was calm and friendly, but was secretly a little trouble-maker, stirring up fights with the other cats at the centre. We stopped attending the centre last year and haven't seen her since then. We have been told, however, that she is still around and doing fine, alhamdulillah, which is nice to know.

Well, that's all we have time for today. Insha'Allah, we will do a second part to this post later on. We hope you enjoyed it and we will see you next Friday.

Wassalam,