“ROCKIE, JUNE 2021”
Watching, wondering, and probably about to ask a question. This picture taken after Rockie was returned to CatsHope™ in 2021. He was approximately six months old at the time.
Photograph © CatsHope™
“A New Home”
An illustration of Mr. P’s home in 2021, where Rockie arrived with his mother, Tami, and siblings Simba and Cougar, not knowing how much their world was about to change.
Illustration © CatsHope™
The Journey — The story as told by Rockie Page 1
Rockie Speaks
A New Home, the Home of Mr. P
I was born at CatsHope™ with my brothers and sisters in a big oval tray. When we were very little, we lived in a four-tier cage. As we grew, we were able to roam freely around the CatsHope™ residence. There were five of us kittens, our mother Tami, and three white cats living there.
We had two mums. One was our cat mum, Tami. The other was our two-leg Angel Mum. She fed us, cleaned up after us, played with us and looked after us every day.
After Kopi and Tigger went to their new homes, there were three kittens left—Simba, Cougar and me.
Not long afterwards, our two-leg Angel Mum brought us to the home of a man called Mr. P. We didn’t know where we were going or why, so we stayed close to her.
When we arrived, we were let out of our carriers. A large box had been prepared for us with one of our cushions from home inside. It smelled familiar, so we all climbed in and rested together for a while.
While the two-legs were talking, we climbed out and began exploring. The house was much bigger than our old home. There were many rooms, long hallways and lots of places to hide. There was also a black cat living there.
Before our two-leg Angel Mum left, she stood at the doorway and waved goodbye to us. We watched her leave, then followed Mother as she explored the house.
At the back of the house was a covered garden between the main house and a smaller building. That was where we ate.
There was one bowl of water and one bowl of Royal Canin kibble that stayed there all day. They belonged to the black cat. Sometimes ants found the kibble before we did.
Once a day, Mr. P opened a can of food and placed it on the familiar orange plate that our two-leg Angel Mum had left for us. We always liked sharing our meals from that plate.
Everything was different. We didn’t feel safe yet, and the food wasn’t what we were used to. We only ate a little before running back to our hiding places.
Later, Mr. P told our two-leg Angel Mum that we hardly ate during those first days. He thought we were still settling into our new surroundings.
As the days passed, we slowly learnt our way around the house. We followed Mother wherever she went, chased each other through the rooms, watched the black cat from a distance, and curled up together when it was time to sleep.
We didn’t know what was happening. We didn’t know why we were there. We didn’t know if our two-leg Angel Mum would come back to take us home, or whether we would be staying there.
We just waited.
“Good Bye”
A depiction of the family of four as they stood in the side room just before I left the home of Mr. P.
Illustration © CatsHope™
Learning Our New Home
The house was much bigger than our home at CatsHope™. It had many rooms on the ground floor, and every room seemed to have something different to discover.
An elderly grandmother lived in one of the downstairs rooms. There was also a housemaid. Mr. P lived there with his brother, and there was a black cat who already knew every corner of the house.
During the first few days, Simba, Cougar and I stayed close together. We were still frightened by unfamiliar sounds and often hid behind furniture or amongst the clutter whenever someone walked past. We only came out when everything was quiet again.
The litter trays were just outside a glass sliding door at the side of the house. The door was always left open so the cats could go outside to use them. Beyond the trays was a small garden with a tree and plants. If a cat wanted to, it could dig in the soft soil instead.
Mother stayed close to us. She walked around the house, the covered garden and the side of the house, but she never wandered far. We followed wherever she went.
Every day became a little more familiar. We learnt where our food was, where we could hide, and where we liked to sleep.
We still didn’t know why we were there. We didn’t know how long we would stay.
We just waited for our two-leg Angel Mum to come back.
