Our New Place

I love our new house. Yes, it’s fairly large and yes there is a garden for the animals to romp around in but that is not what makes it special. In fact, we have fences all around so that the animals cannot escape (Kutzn and Blondie are exceptions) and no irate neighbour can accuse any of them of any misdeed. The most wonderful part of this place is that not only you meet others who feed biscuits to the strays, or adopt some homeless pups but you even have people who get them sterilized! That, believe me, is really saying something. I see young teenagers cycling around the park with a pack of strays valiantly trying to keep up with the cyclists not for biscuits but because for a dog every day is Valentine’s Day and they never tire of saying ‘I love you’!

Rohit, one of the dog friendly neighbours never walks / cycles without his entourage.

We moved in style. Our dream house had to have not only open space but also low in neighbours. After several nasty incidents, like our cats getting poisoned, our trust factor was rather low. Of course I am still wary, because it needs just one bad egg to create problems, and I hope I am not speaking too soon but this is paradise. A lot of planning was required as there are a few who do not get along and have to be kept separated.

We inspected the place thoroughly to seal all illegal exit points and tried our best to think like cats! It really didn’t work. The first year was spent in modifications every other day. We moved with not only our own ones but also with two window cats and their families! Sounds alarming, doesn’t it? Let me tell you we have not regretted the decision for a second. The dogs had to be left behind not only because they had spent their lives there but also because a new neighbour providentially moved in and took over their care.

We had Chichi and her babies (Pixie, Toady, Chess, Toffeechu), Vaiji and her babies (Chutka, Chutki , Wendy, Delta, Moti and BD) and also two of Damyanti’s babies (Kutzn and Blondie) although Damyanti herself was no more. Of course added to this was our home grown products (Puddy being an efficient baby making machine till sterilization overtook her) and several one offs.

Unlike our good old Bingo, Dinky or even Kitkit the dogs and cats were not used to traveling. The thought of them traveling for two hours was a daunting proposition. For dogs it was bad but for cats distinctly worse. Most had never travelled beyond the vet clinic. Several cages were arranged and we decided to start bright and early to avoid the traffic rush. There were two cars and each made two trips. First to come to the new place were the dogs. This was followed by the cats in two rounds. No amount of sweet talking by the cat-sitters could quieten them. Prior police permission had been got for transporting the lot.

The ordeal was not over on reaching. Some took the change badly. Circuit took some two or three days to settle down and had us seriously alarmed. Others dashed into the house and some could not be located! I was told that some had got into the new box bed. B went into the box bed but with poor output. Apparently, they were crossing over to the covered portion and though some cats could be touched there was no way of knowing who all were hiding there.

Ultimately a friend suggested that we removed the ply altogether to have a good look. It was a sight and it’s a shame that no one thought of clicking a photograph. There lined along the foot of the bed, in a narrow compartment were more than a dozen cats – with Puddy sitting on two others. Not for nothing do they say ‘scared cat’.

Next morning was a new day. The garden door was opened and a lot (though not all) rushed out. This was the first time they were venturing out in the open. In our previous place we had just a terrace and the small garden could not be used as they would have escaped. They nibbled at the grass and rolled around in utter bliss. We watched them indulgently, congratulating ourselves for managing a fool proof garden. Suddenly, I realized that I could not hear our talkative cat Trina. She had been sitting on the ledge, basking in the sun. I scanned the garden frantically – she was no longer there…

…to be continued.