Reilina writes:
Hazel
“On a very rainy day of August 2011, my niece sent an SMS to my dad about a kitten getting soaked under the rain. My dad, who is not an animal person in general, went out and took the kitten in. I found out about it when I woke up and wondered why our front door was open. Following the trail and thinking our house got broken in, I almost grabbed a knife when I saw my dad drying something on top of the washing machine. It was a calico kitten, barely a month old. I freaked because I had no experience in taking care of extremely young cats. Thankfully, I was already a member of Cat Care Philippines and had an idea on how to take care of really young kittens (plus, Google can be handy at times). I fed the kitten (whom we called Hazel) every 2-3 hours for a week until it dawned to me that one of our neighbors gave birth to kittens and I wondered if it was okay for them to foster Hazel. Coincidentally my dad was talking to said neighbor and when I brought up the topic, they agreed, so I ran back to the house and grabbed Hazel. Thankfully, the mama cat accepted her.
“Three months later, we got her back. Hazel has been with me since then, getting her spayed after all her kittens died. She’s a bit fierce and cranky but she’s also sweet and has always mesmerized people. My best friend spoils her rotten whenever she visits me and squeals via Skype when I send her pictures of Hazel. She’s also the only cat who never bites when I rub her belly. In fact, she will even expose her belly to me some more. Hazel is an inspiration to me as she has a strong will to survive despite of everything.”
Camilla
“There are memes on the internet about cat people talking to cats instead of people during a party, but I didn’t realize I would be in that exact situation in real life. Camilla was a kitten I saw at a birthday party and I immediately went to her to keep myself occupied as the party was a bit dull. I took her in my arms and held her, fed her and kept an eye on her. My dad joked to the birthday celebrant (who was our former parish priest) that if the kitten turned out missing, they knew who took her.
“I was aware that I couldn’t keep her but I was surprised when my dad approached me and said to take her home. It turned out that he asked the permission of Fr. Camilo Ongsit to bring her home. He relented and told us to take care of her.
“Camilla is home, safe with me. A year later, she grew into a very sweet, clingy and beautiful cat who never fails to cheer me up or keeps me company on days I am alone. She also uses me as a bed whenever I take a nap or whenever I turn in for the night. ”
Words and images by Reilina Villacarlos.
About the contributor: Reilina is an online English tutor under the control of two female cats, Hazel and Camilla. She has two more cats, Solibao and Albergo (whose stories she will share another time), feeds an occasional stray or two and will definitely not tolerate anyone who tries to hurt her cats.
nice story!