Let's Talk About Cats: A'a

First and foremost a disclaimer.

A'a was never ours to begin with. He IS a part of the trio of nincompoops in our house, but the truth is, A'a started off being a penyibuk. He was my neighbour's cat, still is, actually................ It's quite confusing to explain.

He belongs to Auntie Aishah from two doors down. He also frequents our next-door-neighbour Kakyong's house. And he makes our house his own. In short, A'a has three owners. Why I never actually officially call A'a our cat? Because I don't think A'a thinks he belongs to anyone in particular. He's some sort of a me-me-me cat who manipulates human being into thinking he likes them.

Was looking for the cat, when realised
that he was bootlicking someone else

I mean, last week, I saw him being all friendly and manja menggedik with the neighbour from the house opposite ours. I was like, "Look at that scumbag, pretending like that human is the best human of all human beings he has ever known. What an asshole."

I think he was trying to expand his territory his own way. While other cats show brute force and pee around the area to show dominance, A'a is expanding his territory through diplomatic relations. I mean, why bother fighting other cats to earn a territory, when you can melt human's heart into accepting you in, right?

Smart.

Back to the story, he started coming to our house when he was about two to three months old. He was this little twerp who would walk in like he belonged and sniffed around, playing with the fishies in the aquarium, eating whatever food there is in the bowl, and only going home when his mum Mila called him.

We didn't know his name, so for the first few months, we called him 'Si Kecik'.
(ironically, if we call him Kecik nowadays, it's more like us being sarcastic about the fact that he has become a Fatty McFat-Fat).

I also called him Penyibuk sometimes, because that's what he was. He was a penyibuk, yang sibuk-sibuk curi makan makanan Mugabe dan sibuk-sibuk buat rumah orang macam rumah sendiri. Dan dengan muka tak malunya, he made our house his.


People keep asking us if we bought him. Of course not. We don't buy cats. And even his original owner would say no to that. No. He's what you called a jackpot kitten. His mum was an alleycat-turned-domesticated pet, and maybe once upon a time, somebody's American Shorthair (ASH) breed successfully escaped from home and mated with her. And voila, you got A'a with fur pattern yang sinonim dengan baka American Shorthair, but with a habit and demeanour of a normal alley cat.

That is,... if he wasn't doing his "I'm a royal prince of Feline-dom..." routine - where he only wants chicken flavoured snacks, and wet food that has soup in them.

That is also why he doesn't act like an ASH cat.

A true ASH breed is known for its hunting ability. It was believed that early settlers brought it all the way from Europe to America with them on the ship to protect cargo from rats.

A'a, on the other hand, is useless when it comes to things involving hunting. Once, I even caught him staring at a rat stealing his food. I was like, "What the hell, A'a? You let it get away?" (Luckily, I got Mugabe to do the rat hunting for me). He looked at me, and stared at me for about 30 seconds before moving away, as if thinking, "Nnnope. Not gonna discuss this."

"What 'catching rats'? I am too fabulous for that..." 

And that's another thing with that dude. He stares. He can sit straight for a full ten minutes without moving at all, looking at the same thing the whole time, Once, I even timed him when he was sitting straight close to me, and it was like, seven minutes and 30 seconds before he actually did something (that something is actually climbing the sofa and taking a nap).

Other stupid things A'a likes include:

a) Being scratched
He'll sit on your lap and ask you to scratch him all over. And if you stop before he thinks you should stop, he'll make a humph sound. Like, "Humph... you're so lazy, Miss. Come on. My ears are still itchy!"

b) Being the centre of attention
Sure. If you come to visit, no matter who you are, he wants you to recognise how majestic he is. This include sitting in the centre of the living room (often on the coffee table), or suddenly hops on my lap, doing the, "Scratch me, slave!" while I talk to guests.

c) Playing with water
LOVESSSS running water. I mean, if there's a puddle of water on the cement floor on one side, and a dry one on the other, he'll choose to step on the puddle of water. Just because. He will also walk in the rain, and will approach you afterwards, looking at you with his big eyes and whimper slightly (that's A'a's way of communicating, "Miss, please towel me dry").
But then if you take him to the bathroom to bathe him, all hell breaks loose. He will scratch you, and punch you in the face, and runs away like mad. What a weirdo.

Water is awesome. Water is life.

Apart from all the weirdness, and the arrogance, and the failure in catching anything except a flu, I still love that fatso, solely for the fact that he is the opposite of Mugabe. Mugabe likes staying outdoors, he is an indoor cat. Mugabe meows a lot, A'a is very quiet. Mugabe catches mice, A'a catches your attention with his gedikness. Mugabe is not around a lot, A'a is almost always home.  

Don't you love a cat that is always home?