But last year, there was this cat that “fell” into my brother’s backyard, and lived there ever since. He named him Othello. Of course, I was kind of petrified at first. Will Othello like me? Will we be okay? Mind you, I had this funny feeling when it comes to touching a living thing other than humans. It’s like this thing is warm, breathing and moving, but I can’t understand them. It’s just weird to the maximum level. But day by day, Othello taught me that I have nothing to fear, he will stay at his territory, and I can have a “normal” life.

And then … this house became some sort of cat haven, there’s even what I call, “The Cat Silk Road” on the outdoor ceiling of our backyard. If I don’t lost count, perhaps there are 20 or so cats who passed that ceiling, night and day … plus one Pandan Chivet. One day earlier this year, came “Batman” who loves to hang out on top of my car, and a few months later came this little cat which later we call “Robin” because he loves to hang around with Batman. Now … these three, are our “regulars”. Whenever they come, we give them food. But, other than Othello, we didn’t let any other cats come into the house, because they don’t click and there would be cat wars and cat dramas. So, even Batman and Robin stay outside.

Then … exactly last month came this tiny kitten, meowing in fear, maybe cold and hungry, taking a shelter under my car. I think I’ve heard this kitten meow from the night before, but I couldn’t identify where it came from. We were kind of clueless of what to do. How do we care for a kitten? We’re so used to taking care of the bigger ones … if that is even called “taking care of” because all we did was feeding and taking them to the vet when they’re sick or hurt, never had to deal with their poop, urine nor grooming. So, back to this tiny kitten, I’ve decided to take her into the house just because I’m afraid that it might be squished when I drive out (it liked to hide under the car, but hanging around somewhere in the car, so not on the driveway itself).

Then, the hunt for a name begins. At that time, I was watching season 4 of The Crown, so I think Charles if it’s a boy, or Anne if it’s a girl. Lol! And then … it was an Anne. After I took her in, I fed her and try to comfort her. Luckily, we already had a cage and a litter box in the house from when we cared to injured Batman not too long ago, so she can be kept safe. After a few days in the house, I slowly examined her and found out that her front right paw is kind of peeling. My husband and I took her to the vet and asked what happened to her paw, and since we were there, I asked about her general wellbeing. Is she okay or is she troubled? I told the vet that this kitten came out of nowhere, no body claimed her, no momma cat looked for her, and she couldn’t find her way back. So we took her in, and plan to find adopted pawrent for her.

The doctor carefully cleaned her wound and examined her. As you might have guessed, she was underweight, I can feel her torso bones when I hold her. At approximately 3 months old, she weighed 750 grams. She had toxocara (a kind of cat worm) and we were given 5 feeding syringes for her daily dose of deworming liquids. In the end I asked for a tick treatment and other things that she might need. We went home with the deworming liquid, a kind of solution for treating her paw and a tube of vitamin.

Weeks went by and no adoptive pawrent showed their interest in her. So, we started her vaccine so IF in the end we had to keep her, she would be on time to get sterilized at first chance suitable for her. On her second visit, she was examined again. The doctor said she’s in great shape, and great news is that she has gained almost double her initial weight! She is now 1250 grams, had her second dose of deworming medication and just a few days ago, we’ve given her tick medication as well.

I told my mom that we’ve been fostering this kitten and out of a miracle that she (of all other people) said, “Why don’t you just keep her?! It’s a good distraction besides work.” I was gawking when I heard that. She was the most anti cat person I knew! Well … because stray cats like to left their poops in her garden! Lol!

Then … her words got into me and my husband. “Do you think we can afford to keep her?”, I asked him. He said, “Well … why don’t we just give it a go? Do our best we can, until she finds a good home. If not, then we’ll keep on trying to be the best for her”. And just like that, we’ve decided to keep her as long as we can. May we be blessed to be the best pawrents for her, because “afford” not only means money. It also means time to care for her, time to play with her and give the attention she needs.

Looking back, I think we owe quite a lot to this little lady. In the last one month, we’ve learned how to be discipline with our schedule. Feed her at 6am, 12 noon, and 6 in the evening. Cleaned her cage when she had her breakfast, clean her after cleaning her cage. Remember to give her vitamins and a good amount of playtime, a good amount of cuddling with swaddle (yes, this cat enjoys her swaddle time) and a good amount of winding down before her bed time. When we’ve managed her routines, she will let us have our routines. Isn’t she amazing!

Thank you Taylor Selena Mandelbrot, you gave us someone to look after for, someone to play around with, and sometimes … to tease. Ha ha ha … there’s nothing for free, darling .. you don’t mind when we tease you, right! May you grow healthy and happy, bebiiiiii!!!!

Yes, in the end, we named her Taylor Selena Mandelbrot. Taylor … from Taylor Swift, because it seems that she likes to sing. Selena … from the character of Cat Woman’s real name. Mandelbrot … well … she likes to “brot brot brot” … pooping. In her first days at home, she was like … pooping all the time! And who knows … she might be the first mathematician cat! Ha ha ha …

Who would’ve thought that I’d be thinking about which cat sand, toy or cat food to buy, and above all … who would’ve thought that I’d be scooping cat poop! Ha ha ha … but I enjoyed swaddling you afterwards and shout to my husband “Paket!” … As I put you in his care while I scooped your poop in the litter box. Stay healthy baby darling! Mami loves you! Errr… oh yeah .. one more thing… never have I ever think that I will call myself … Mamiiiiii!!! Ha ha ha …