kitty trauma

i had a craving for the pan mee at Restaurant Okay in SS2 (the other end of kayu nasi kandar). so alvin and i got dressed and jumped in the car.

as soon as he started the engine, i heard a loud meow. i thought it was just a cat outside the house. then i heard more meowing.

meow! meow! meow!

it sounded extremely close by. i immediately panicked.
"babe! turn off the engine and pop open the hood!!"

my first thought was to check the engine. a lot of people don't know this, but cats have a tendency to climb into your car engine and hide there because of the warmth.

i searched and searched while the kitten continued to meow rather loudly. alvin yelled out while pointing towards the tyre.
"here!!"

confused, i looked at the tyre and looked at him. he pointed again. this time to the space in between the car body and the tyre. the poor little kitten was curled up in the suspension coil just above the tyre!!


i think alvin's dogs' barking scared the shit out of the poor little thing and it must've just decided to hide in there. i mean, if you're a kitten, three madly barking dogs are enough to scare the shit out of you. i think it was only about 1 month old.


alvin changed into his singlet and got to jacking the car up. after a few attempts, i finally managed to get it out from within the coil. then i realised....
i had NO idea what to do with it!

"just put it out on the grass outside," alvin said. meanwhile his mum came out, and they started talking about buying numbers. -_- damn chinese.

i took the kitten away from the barking dogs, and it struggled so i put it down on the grass by the drain. the kitten immediately jumped into the drain and i was thinking,
"oh for fuck sake. it's going to be stuck in the drain and not be able to get out now."

and i was right. the kitten had no idea what to do. there was no way for it to climb out because it was just too tiny. i looked to alvin for help. but he was still busy debating with his mum about what number to buy. i was getting angrier and more frustrated by the second and finally snapped.
"can you two stop talking about buying numbers for a second??!!"

angry bangry lisha. rare occassion.

alvin came over and looked at the kitten in dismay. if he had said anything about cats being stupid right then, i think i would've slapped him. but luckily he didn't. he just stood there and looked at me.
"err..."
"you want me to get it out of the drain, is it?"
"err. yea. i don't really know how to handle cats."

he can be my hero when it comes to cockroaches and moths. but, i guess he can't always be a hero eh?

well, i wasn't about to climb in the drain in my outfit (call me shallow/vain/watever... i was being practical!), so i changed into shorts and a t-shirt and got down and dirty. after picking the kitten up, i was again faced with the predicament of deciding what to do with it.

i decided to bring it to the alley behind the house since i always see cats there. i figured the kitten must've lost its mother so, chances are the mother would be somewhere around. two guys were fixing some stuff in the alley and looked at me carrying this ragged little kitten around like a possessed woman. i had worry written all over my face.

i put the kitten down near two cats and waited to see if they would be friendly or hostile. looking at the colour of the cats, i already knew it was not going to end well. the kitten walked towards one of the cats. he (i think it was a he) inched slowly towards the kitten, back arched and tail flicking. immediately, i picked the kitten up.

i was NOT about to leave it to be bullied by the other cats. the idea of bringing it to SPCA crossed my mind, but i was afraid that if it took it in and no one adopted it, they would put it to sleep. thinking back now, i should have brought it to SPCA. people are more inclined to adopt young kittens.

instead, i panicked and quickly walked to another row of houses looking for somewhere else to put it where it could hide safely and hopefully find its mother. as we headed towards the park, the kitten struggled and i put it down with a bit of bread.

stupid, stupid thing to do! it ran into the garden of someone's house. i could only hope there were no dogs there and the owners would take the kitten in or do what i hadn't done - take it to SPCA.

here i am DYING to have my own kitten and i couldn't keep this one. i wish i had done more for it. instead of saving the kitten, i may have just killed it.

it could be attacked by dogs.
or larger cats.
it could starve.
or get caught in the rain, fall sick and die.
it could get run over by fucking maniac malaysian drivers.
or it could get trapped again somewhere, with no one to save it.

i couldn't stop crying for about 45 mins after that. they say why cry over spilt milk, right? well... that was the only thing i could do.

if only i could have kept it.