Meet My Cat(s)

(top) Sainen (below) Hachi
Iki



Ena

Iki



Today, I am going to talk about my cat(s) because it's Thursday and you know what that means. It's Mama Kat's Writing Assignment. Kathy is so intelligent - she always comes up with many different prompts every week and I don't even know how she does it.

Anyway, I picked the prompt #1.
"Tell us about a stray animal you took in."

Okay, I love cat. I really do love them. When I had a cat for the first time, I was in fourth grade. My classmate was looking for someone to take in a kitten. I begged my mom and she said, "Ask your father.." She thought my dad would say no, but he said, "Okay." My mom forgot the fact the my dad loves cat - his favortie friend when he was a little boy was a cat. So, we had Tom (it's female cat, by the way). We thought about having another cat, but we never did until one summer night in 1993.

I was back in Tokyo, Japan for the summer vacation. My mother and I went out to dinner and we were walking home. Then I saw a little tiny thing coming out on the street from no where. Then it ran and the little thing was hiding in the little pocket of the wall. I looked and there was a tiny kitten looking at me. The kitty was soooooo cute and so little. I looked around, but I didn't see any adult cats around. So, I told my mom, "Mom, let's bring this kitty home!" My mom was a little shocked and didn't know what to say except, "What do you mean? Take home? Now? How?"

Well, she had a plastic bag that had our leftover food in. I told her to hold the leftover container and give me the bag. My mom was just looking what I was going to do...I said to the kitty, "Hey, you wanna go home with me? We have another cat and you can be her sisiter..." Okay, if I think about it, I totally kidnapped the cat from the mother cat. Sorry! But, I just could not resist because the kitty was super cute. I grabbed the kitten gently and put her in the bag and I walked home with her in my two hands. I still remember my mom's saying, "OMG, you dad is going to be angry. He doesn't want another cat. He thinks Tom is the best. What are you going to do? We can't keep it.." - I said to her, "Then I'll find someone who can take her."

That night, we put the kitty in the box with blanket, water and food. Our plan was to keep her for over night while we discussed how to break the news to dad. When my sister saw the kitty, she was screaming for joy.

My dad came home late at night from work and a dinner meeting and he was kind of happy drunk. Then he heard cat meowing non-stop. Well, what we didn't realize was that the new kitty was missing her mommy or was nervous being in the new enviroment, so she was meowing really loud. I was getting nervous that he'd find out about it.

Dad: I hear Wakaba (another stray cat that comes to our home time to time, but she lives outside) crying.. Oh she's meowing a lot tonight..
Me: Ah huh..
Dad: But.... it sounds kind of different..
Me: I think it's the same.
Dad: No..no.. It's kind of louder than usual. (He starts to walk down the hallway
Me, Mom & Sis: Are you sure? We don't hear anything, but Wakaba's voice.
Dad: Shhhh, I hear it in this house. It's not Tom... (He walks in my room and finds suspicious box). What is that?????

Now, he opened the box and he saw this cute little cat looking up. He shuts it and said, "No. We can't keep it." He went to his bedroom and that was it. When my dad says no, means no. I was crying and begging (and I wasn't 5, I was 18), but he wouldn't listen to me. He said, "Return the kitty where you found her in the morning."

The next morning, I was still asleep when my mom wake me up saying, "Maki-chan, we can keep the kitty." WHAT???? I jumped out of the bed and saw the kitty eating in the kitchen.

Apparently, my mom brought the little kitty to the bathroom where my dad was doing the morning ritual (#2) while reading newspaper and put the kitty on his lap. She said, "Please take a good look at her and make sure to say goodbye..." My dad looked and saw the precious animal sitting on his lap. He smiled and said, "Well... you're cute. I guess we will have to keep you..."

We named the kitty, Hachiko. Nick name is "Hachi" (meaning Bee in Japanese) - because she has brown hair and white stripes. She is still alive and has become my dad's favorite. We have had total 6 cats in Hawaii and Tokyo. I will talk about them some other time. But "Hachi" was the first stray animal that I had kidnapped from the street.

Now, my two little girls are saying they want a kitty cat. Let's see what happens.