A Cat Mother's Love

Mingming or Muning, a usual name for cats, is also the way we call ours -- the neighborhood's cat. How come she doesn't have an owner? That I am not sure. All I know is she roams around in 3-5 houses in search of food, but usually stays in 3 of those houses. That in saying, she is a usual native cat

She is what made me realize animals, cats or dogs for instance, are like human beings in ways. Like her, you cannot be friends or you cannot make a person comfortable with you unless you "tame" him/her or "kukunin mo ang kanyang loob". Similar to our economically challenged Kababayans, stray cats, also beg for survival, sometimes even battle with humans for a cramped amount of food. They, too, received discrimination -- being kicked or being beaten, some days with valid reasons, other times just simply they are what they are. Muning, despite that small quantity of food she have, still gives it to her kittens given that they all struggle for growth. But what amazed me most, is this creature affection beyond Mother's love. She adopted and gave milk to two kittens which are not hers. Who knows a person who do that? An economically challenged to be exact. Seldom, I guess.



I remember this one time I was curious if cats taste spicy foods, and if so, how will they react to it. What I did then was to put Chili pepper seed in her food. After seeing her reaction, which seemingly nothing, I put some more seeds then came a moment when I almost included a small Chili pepper. Guess what? Her reactions told me there's something wrong, she only rested for few minutes then later had feast on it. So then I knew there taste buds are working.

I like that she knows me and would follow me whenever I go though I have not sheltered or protected her 24/7. And even I am not an exception to some who "bully" cats, there still is a space for them -- for Muning in me. Now that she's gone, for reasons I know not, I hope she is now with our previous cats, and with her kittens who failed to survive.

I hope she'll forgive my flaws for not fully tending them. I, too, hope that someday, someone will discover an easy way of spaying animals. Spaying that won't need operations. Spaying that is affordable. Spaying that only needs to be sprayed. Not possible? Who knows? After all, our world isn't only a populace of beings -- our world isn't only for sparing human race, it's sparing life of all kinds in this unending expansion.