Simba – Ragdoll of the Week

I was 14 years old when I met my cat, at that time, I made a deal with my father that if I had gotten straight A’s for my exams, he would get me a cat. For the first time in my life, I studied my butt off. I breezed through all my exams but had forgotten that I had gotten a C for literature during my mid-year exams. As a result, my overall score was about six or seven A’s and one B. I was devastated and as embarrassed as I am to admit it, I went home to cry about it. I had worked so hard for this, I was so close but was let down by my past mistakes.

Fortunately, my parents were understanding enough and decided that even though I didn’t meet the requirements of our deal, I still deserved it because I did try my best. I began scouting the Internet for places to get cats, be it adoption agencies, shops or breeders. I watched at least fifty cat videos every day because I just could not wait to get a cat. It’s like if someone were about to get their braces removed, they would search up braces removal videos or watch vlogs of people removing their braces.

Anyways, I soon found myself just watching every episode of cats101, a TV show whereby they educate the audience about the different breeds of cats. I shared the show with my family and my father fell in love with cats that had fluffy tails and blue eyes. So that became the requirement for the cat we chose. We looked up several breeds, like the Birman, which were just so stunning to look at, but it was way too expensive and no one in our country was breeding them at that time. We then came across Floppycats channel and saw videos of Trigg and Charlie, they were the reasons we got into Ragdolls. They were like gentle giants. I remember one of the videos I watched was of Charlie going to Petco and was so afraid of the dogs there. So, we first looked into SPCA and cat welfare society but they didn’t have Ragdolls. I then tried to contact breeders but most of them were just scammers, asking me to pay a $500 deposit without even allowing me to see the cat. I was getting so agitated because all I wanted was a cat, any cat would do, I just wanted a cat.

A few weeks later my parents told me that my grandmother found a shop near her home that sold cats, and at that point I was desperate to get a cat. So, I went to the shop with my parents and long story short, their Ragdoll kittens wouldn’t come in until a few months from then. And I was getting so impatient, but there was another kitten there, a ragamuffin cat, with blue eyes, and my parents said that if I wanted, I could settle for that cat. The impatient 14-year-old me obviously took that cat and I named her snowball! She was the best first cat ever! At night, she would cuddle with me until I slept, and in the morning, she would cuddle with my sister until she woke up. We played all day and she was just such a joy to have in the family. But unfortunately, 5 months after we bought her, she passed away. The whole family had gone out for a concert that my sister was performing in and the maid at home had left the kitchen doors open, which was supposed to remain closed at all times.

 

Snowball got curious and found a small opening that led to the outside. We live on the 10th floor so when she got out, she must have slipped, and she fell. I don’t want to get into detail but to sum it up, I cried. It was my job to give my cat the best life possible and I failed. I was devastated and I was just so lost.

A few months went by and my parents said that they would get me another cat, I was obviously elated when I heard it and when we went back to the store, their new Ragdoll kittens had just arrived! The timing of the events made it seem as though I was never supposed to have any other cat except those Ragdolls. So, I stepped into the shop and there were two white kittens crawling around everywhere. They were siblings and as much as I wanted to keep both of them, I could only choose one. I initially wanted to get the female one because I was a little biased, but I was drawn to him, I can’t remember if it was his looks or personality that drew me in but I remember noticing a small brown patch on his right left shoulder and I thought it was the best thing in the world. He looked like the cutest little baby and I just knew that I would do anything to keep him safe. I would give him anything as long as he was happy. I would make sure that he had the best 15 years that any cat could possibly have, and I wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made with snowball. As a pet owner, I believed that any animal we choose to keep, is entitled to the best that you can give. I mean, we took them out of their natural habitat just so we could keep them inside our homes. The least we can do is give them as much love as we can and do whatever it takes to make them feel safe, warm and happy.

When I brought him home, he was so curious about everything. He wasn’t afraid and would immediately dash out of the room to explore every nook and cranny in the house. My father wanted me to name him speedy because of how fast he ran, but I just didn’t feel like it was a good name. After giving it some thought, I named him Simba😊 because he sort of looked like the Disney character when he was a kitten.
Simba was 2 months old when he came to us, he was the size of my palm and wasn’t afraid to do anything. I think he knew how much everyone in our family loved him and knew that we would always be there to save him or comfort him if he ever fell off the top of the table. We played all day and I would always buy new toys for him. But his favourite was always a small little bell, all I had to do was throw it and he would chase it. Sometimes he would bring it back to me, other times he would just wait for me to pick it up and throw it again. He was and still means the world to me. I love him so much that it hurts. After school, all I could think about it was going home to play with him, but whenever I leave for school, there is always a part of me that worries that he may run away or get killed like Snowball, so before leaving for school, I would give him a kiss on his small forehead so he knows that I love him. I do this because if he does die or run away, then at least his last memory of me will be me kissing him goodbye. At least he knows I love him very much.

Simba turned 5 on the 29th of September, he’s no longer a palm-sized baby anymore, instead he’s a bigger-than-a-corgi sized baby. He loves to cuddle and loves belly rubs! He always walks me to the door when I leave for school and I can always count on him to be at the door waiting for me to get home. My parents always say that he only meows when I am home, and he always follows me everywhere. He would run after me and stare at me with the biggest, most dilated eyes. At night, he would climb up with me and curl up next to my head. He would start purring and he would turn his head around to stare at me. And if he wanted me to rub him, he would scratch my bed post to let me know. Oh and every night, he would wake up to eat some dry food that I leave out, just in case he gets hungry, but when he jumps back onto the bed, he would purr and slowly sniff my face to see if I am awake, if I kept my eyes closed, he would lick my eyebrows and then curl up next to my head to sleep. I also gave him one of my soft toys to use as a pillow every night. Right now, he uses a penguin, I named Paul, when I was 10 years old. He loves kisses and at night when I am on my bed scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, he would jump up and ‘present’ his forehead to me. He would just close his eyes and wait for me to kiss him, if I didn’t, he would purr even louder or meow until I did. Afterwards, he would cuddle beside my head. He is still as whiny and cheeky as when he was a kitten, but he isn’t as brave. He is afraid of the vacuum, strangers (especially men, I don’t know why) and lastly, Nalah, a 10 year old ragamuffin we adopted 3 years after we bought Simba.

She is much smaller than him but somehow never loses a fight to him. She was abused in the past and her previous family wanted to euthanize her, but we got to her 30 minutes before the husband could come home to take her to the vet. She was so shy and afraid of everything, she spent like a week underneath my sisters’ bed and refused to come out. But my family did our part to make sure she knows we love her.

I, personally, spent three days trying to get her to come out. I would crawl underneath and stay with her, I would let her smell me and I would gently stroke and pet her. After a day or so, she started purring and kneading my head. From then on, she slowly gained her confidence back and now she struts around like the Queen that she is. She is a lap cat and loves to cuddle. She loves kisses and rubs too, but I can’t do it in front of Simba because he would get jealous and start meowing or he would attack her afterwards.

Simba loves the cat treats called Ciao Ciao, it’s a Japanese product and he absolutely loves it. He would meow at me until I gave me at least two tubes and would get so excited whenever he saw me opening the drawer to the treats. Unfortunately, I had to stop because I am still a student and cannot afford to keep buying him those treats. He hasn’t had them in about a month now and I feel awful because I want to make him happy but I can’t afford it. But I would definitely recommend other cat owners to buy these treats!! They are the best!

Simba has an Instagram page that I started a while back, its called Simba&Nalah😊 I post his pictures there because I really do love him and I want to share him with the world. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

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