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“Precious Kimi”
“Kimi – When Home Was Home, Wasn’t and Was Again” Photograph © CatsHope™
When Home Was Home, Wasn’t, and Was Again
As told by Kimi
My brother and I were tiny when we were released into the foyer of an HDB block. The space around us was wide open. We were frightened and did not know where to go or what to do. Then we saw a drain. Running into it for cover was our first instinct.
This was a strange place. We were hungry and cold, and we meowed as loudly as we could, hoping our pawrents would come back and take us home. But they never came.
An iron grille lay over the drain. As night fell, we saw a face above us, then the light of a torch. Hands moved the iron grille and gently pulled us out. We felt warmth and the hope of being safe.
My brother went to a fosterer named Ken. I had never thought we would be separated. The gentle hands brought me to CatsHope™, where I met Angel Mum. She gave me a bath and food, and took me to a clinic the next day.
She thought I was terribly cute. It had been many years since she had a ginger cat, and she wanted to keep me. I had a pumpkin face and a short pom-pom tail. My hind legs and bushy little bottom made me look, she said, like Puss in Boots.
Angel Mum listened to me and often gazed into my eyes as if searching my soul. That was how she named me Emma Kimi Cinnamon Topaz. Kim means gold in a Chinese dialect. To Angel Mum, I was a golden Qilin of House Topaz.
My pom-pom tail was quite an attraction. Angel Mum loved to cuddle me and tickle my tummy. I made her laugh, too. I grumbled when she picked me up, climbed whatever I could reach and leapt from place to place. I was small, feisty and seldom still.
One day, three kittens arrived: Simba, Rockie and Cougar. Cougar became my friend. We were both girls, about the same age, and we liked being together. Her brothers welcomed me too. We chased one another around the sanctuary, slept together and ate together.
The three kittens had lived here before. A few days after they returned, their mother, Tami, came home as well. She had lived here before, too.
In our own ways and at our own pace, Tami, her kittens and I grew to love Angel Mum and the other two-legs at the sanctuary. CatsHope™ was becoming more than a place where we were fed and sheltered. It was where the people we cared about lived. We felt safe here, and we hoped we could stay forever.
Angel Mum wanted to keep me, but she was recovering from cancer, and our home was small. Tami and her three babies—Simba, Rockie and Cougar—were there, along with the three Whities. Those three white cats would also come to be known as the Three Bosses, or the Original Three. With me, there were eight cats in Angel Mum’s care. It seemed too much for her to manage at that time.
Ken introduced Angel Mum to a resident from China whose friend was interested in adopting me. Angel Mum had one condition: Cougar and I must go together. We were friends, and she would not separate us. They agreed, and the two of us were taken to a new environment.
First, we stayed at the resident’s home while we waited for our adopter. We were frightened and hid behind some suitcases. Angel Mum could see us through an internet camera and speak to us to calm us down, but we could not go to her. Her voice was familiar. We had learned to love her at home; now we could hear her in a place we did not know.
Soon Tom came to pick us up, and we went to another unfamiliar place. His granny lived there and took a liking to Cougar. Tom bought each of us a carpet bed, which he placed in his room. He also bought cat shampoo and kibble. He loved us and tried to make us comfortable.
After about a month, Tom had to move. His apartment was rented, and he could no longer keep us there. So Cougar and I returned to Angel Mum, who welcomed us home.
Angel Mum felt she had not researched the situation carefully enough before letting us go. This time, she decided to keep us both. CatsHope™ was home again.
After the spaying, the eight of us came to be known as the Original Eight. The three Whities were the Original Three; now there was a name for the larger family we had become.
I was still the little ginger who grumbled, climbed and jumped. Cougar was still my friend. We had left home together, and we had returned together.
This time, we stayed.
This was a strange place. We were hungry and cold, and we meowed as loudly as we could, hoping our pawrents would come back and take us home. But they never came.
An iron grille lay over the drain. As night fell, we saw a face above us, then the light of a torch. Hands moved the iron grille and gently pulled us out. We felt warmth and the hope of being safe.
My brother went to a fosterer named Ken. I had never thought we would be separated. The gentle hands brought me to CatsHope™, where I met Angel Mum. She gave me a bath and food, and took me to a clinic the next day.
She thought I was terribly cute. It had been many years since she had a ginger cat, and she wanted to keep me. I had a pumpkin face and a short pom-pom tail. My hind legs and bushy little bottom made me look, she said, like Puss in Boots.
Angel Mum listened to me and often gazed into my eyes as if searching my soul. That was how she named me Emma Kimi Cinnamon Topaz. Kim means gold in a Chinese dialect. To Angel Mum, I was a golden Qilin of House Topaz.
My pom-pom tail was quite an attraction. Angel Mum loved to cuddle me and tickle my tummy. I made her laugh, too. I grumbled when she picked me up, climbed whatever I could reach and leapt from place to place. I was small, feisty and seldom still.
One day, three kittens arrived: Simba, Rockie and Cougar. Cougar became my friend. We were both girls, about the same age, and we liked being together. Her brothers welcomed me too. We chased one another around the sanctuary, slept together and ate together.
The three kittens had lived here before. A few days after they returned, their mother, Tami, came home as well. She had lived here before, too.
In our own ways and at our own pace, Tami, her kittens and I grew to love Angel Mum and the other two-legs at the sanctuary. CatsHope™ was becoming more than a place where we were fed and sheltered. It was where the people we cared about lived. We felt safe here, and we hoped we could stay forever.
Angel Mum wanted to keep me, but she was recovering from cancer, and our home was small. Tami and her three babies—Simba, Rockie and Cougar—were there, along with the three Whities. Those three white cats would also come to be known as the Three Bosses, or the Original Three. With me, there were eight cats in Angel Mum’s care. It seemed too much for her to manage at that time.
Ken introduced Angel Mum to a resident from China whose friend was interested in adopting me. Angel Mum had one condition: Cougar and I must go together. We were friends, and she would not separate us. They agreed, and the two of us were taken to a new environment.
First, we stayed at the resident’s home while we waited for our adopter. We were frightened and hid behind some suitcases. Angel Mum could see us through an internet camera and speak to us to calm us down, but we could not go to her. Her voice was familiar. We had learned to love her at home; now we could hear her in a place we did not know.
Soon Tom came to pick us up, and we went to another unfamiliar place. His granny lived there and took a liking to Cougar. Tom bought each of us a carpet bed, which he placed in his room. He also bought cat shampoo and kibble. He loved us and tried to make us comfortable.
After about a month, Tom had to move. His apartment was rented, and he could no longer keep us there. So Cougar and I returned to Angel Mum, who welcomed us home.
Angel Mum felt she had not researched the situation carefully enough before letting us go. This time, she decided to keep us both. CatsHope™ was home again.
After the spaying, the eight of us came to be known as the Original Eight. The three Whities were the Original Three; now there was a name for the larger family we had become.
I was still the little ginger who grumbled, climbed and jumped. Cougar was still my friend. We had left home together, and we had returned together.
This time, we stayed.
“Precious Kimi”
Photograph © CatsHope™
Article by Tiffany Argent, CatsHope™ Ambassador.
Kimi’s stories — 1 of 2
Related: Cougar’s A Family of Four Plus One →
