Maia writes:
“All of my cats have been rescues – while I found them in other countries, I brought one home to Manila with me, and will be bringing two more when I return in a few weeks.
“My first rescue was Mace, who was the one who adopted me. I was working with an international agency then, and was assigned to assist an international representative who was having a meeting with the European Union Police Mission in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were early for the meeting, it was cold (it was winter time), around 6:30 pm at night. As we stood outside the EUPM building, a little kitten, maybe 3 months old, came running up to us. I bent down to greet her, and she climbed right up my legs (luckily I was wearing thick slacks that day!) and snuggled under my coat, just under my scarf. She was purring like crazy. Luckily, the international representative was a cat lover, too, and he immediately told me to take her home with me (and excused me from attending the meeting!). When I left Bosnia, I took Mace with me – and she had many adventures in Manila, before she developed cancer, and I had to let her go across the rainbow bridge.
“My two cats now are Cambodian cats. Padi was found by a friend of mine, who begged me to take him when she had to leave the country. He’s a big ginger monster, and was semi-feral when I got him. He lived with me in a hotel, until I found my apartment. He was about 8 months old when I got him, and had several bad habits — he was a little too rough, and he hated being left alone. After a year, a friend of mine who helps out with the Cambodian Animal Protection Association, told me that she was going to a pagoda (called Wat Koh) to help feed cats and kittens that had been dumped there. I went with her, not really expecting to get a second cat, but when we arrived there, she put a tiny (one month old) dirty grey kitten in my arms, and that was it. After a bath, Ella turned out to be a pure white kitten, with beautiful blue eyes. As tiny as she was, she showed Padi who was boss, and would smack him when he got too rough. Padi mellowed a lot after Ella joined our household. She and Padi now rule my apartment, and will be coming home with me to Manila very soon.
“I really believe that people should adopt street cats. My cats have been the joy of my life – they are beautiful animals who deserved a chance to live in a comfortable house and live a good life.”
Words and images by Maia Diokno.
About the contributor: Maia is a human rights lawyer who’s been working abroad (mostly Cambodia) on and off from 1997. She has always liked cats and dogs, and have had cats wherever she lived since 1990. Her biggest challenge is how Padi and Ella will get along with her sister’s two cats when she comes home to Manila – but there’s no way she would leave them behind!