One year's roller coaster ride with my cat.

27^th March’ 2016

We kept her aloof all night. She was kept in a carton because she meowed a lot. Yes, you got it right. I am talking about my cat that was found outside a nearby park last year. I never liked cats. I had seen them pouncing on the people. Such disgusting dirty little creatures!

It was my 4 years old baby cousin who wanted to adopt her. We were certain about our intention of giving away the kitten to a nearby animal shelter. However, Zahabee (my cousin) recalcitrated against our will and kept her with us as she herself was staying with us that time. She named her ‘Michelle’, which her mother often called her when she was a baby. She was the one who named the kitten and told everyone that Michelle is her daughter.

Michelle's first day with us

Now the story of my kitten began to reach another stage. Poor Michelle was only a few days old. Neither she could walk nor could she eat. All she could do was meowing! On the other hand, we were clueless about dealing with the animals. A friend gave her a bath next morning, trimmed her nails. We got her a basket to sleep to in; however, she wanted to sleep on bed with us. At that time, we were too scared to handle her in our bed so we decided to put her in the basket without her consent LOL. This resulted in more meowing throughout the nights and we had to get up early by her meowing. One week passed and none of us dared to hold her except for Michelle’s mum (my baby cousin) and my friend.

When she almost made her way out of the carton

As the days passed, we learned how to hold the kittens. Our kitten was quite rebellious and always protested whenever anyone made an attempt to hold her. I remember I was the last one in the family to hold her in her hands. She was still not allowed to sleep with us since you never know when she could attack. To our surprise, she turned out to be a darling and always made it to the bed every morning right next to me and my sister. We started playing with her. Teaching her walk was a little time consuming as her legs were not fully developed at that time. We noticed that she loved cuddles and enjoyed playing with the ball. We fed her milk with a tiny feeder as she could not suck milk from the bowl. She had started sleeping with us but putting her in bed was a tough task. She wanted to stay awake until everyone in the house does not sleep.

Months passed and we noticed that Michelle had become the youngest family member. Taking her to the vet for the first was heart-wrenching. We cried like anything when she got vaccinated. By now she has become a very important part of the family and we did not to want to lose her. She is the happiest cat and we are the luckiest pet owners.

My baby cousin, Zahabee and Michelle's mum LOL

26th March 2017.
It was Misha’s 1^st birthday in a day. Like many cats, our Michelle is a little stubborn. When she's chilling in a closet or napping under the couch, she's not coming out at any cost, whether you call her name or not. So when I didn't spot her after my nap in the evening, I didn't think too much of it. But when I began dishing food into her bowl at her feeding time and I didn't hear her tiny paws bounding toward her favorite flavor of chicken Jelly, I knew something was wrong. We began searching for her in every nook and cranny. We looked under all the beds. We tore apart every closet. I looked under the fridge, in every single cabinet, in the fabric of the couch, in the bathtub ... even in the stove. We looked in all of those places twice or maybe thrice. Michelle is an indoor-only cat, and we were desperate to find her. After ransacking the entire house, reality began to sink in: my cat was missing. And we had lost her! We could not find her. We thought she must be hiding somewhere for which the cats are notorious. We did not want to accept the fact that she was lost.

The absolute horror that I felt at this realization is difficult to put into words. I was frantic. I called a dear friend and insisted that he cancel all his meetings to help me look for her. We ran through the neighborhood crying and calling her name. I didn't know how she got out, but she was most definitely not inside. Panic, grief and terror swirled inside me like a storm. I was clueless as to what to do.

Hours of more searching ensued. I put her litter box outside in hopes the scent would draw her home. By the midnight, I was exhausted from the trauma and the searching and the sobbing. I took a break from calling her name, sat on the back stoop, and put my head in my hands in despair.

Everybody went to their bed but nobody could sleep. We sobbed all night quietly under quilt. I was terrified by the thought of where she would be at that time. She does not eat anything except freshly boiled chicken, she does not pee anywhere except in her litter and she does sleep anywhere except her bed. The sun rose but my cat did not show up that morning. The whole family was in shock. We had lost our baby right before her birthday.

My brother did not give up and went on the search again. He kept on calling her name aloud and after a few calls, someone answered back with a fragile and frightened meow. My brother followed the voice and finally approached the block of the building where our baby cat was hiding. As she saw my brother she came out and jumped on him. He called us and informed us that he is bringing our baby back home.

Relief flooded me and more tears came, this time tears of immense joy. Once I had her in my grasp, I pulled her out and held her to me as tightly as I could. Even as she scratched up my arms as she struggled. We including my parents and sister gave her a bath. She did not eat and drank a lot of water, peed in her litter and slept on my lap <3

Misha maa turned one today I often think about those horrific 28 hours. And then I tell myself, ‘At least Michelle is not missing’.