PITY STOCKING, OUR ORPHANED CAT

He was the sole survivor of five. His mother gate-crashed into our house a few weeks after we moved in.

She gave birth to five beautiful multi-coloured kittens right smack on our old sofa. The cushions were all soaked wet and slimy with her uterine fluid.

Out of pity perhaps, we accepted their presence. We raised them, initially they were only allowed to be on the outside the house.

Slowly however, we had soft spot for the kittens, they ventured into the house.

Kamal used the abandoned rabbit cage for keeping them out of mischiefs. The mother and kittens grew well (the mother was still growing when she got pregnant).

One day, I accidentally reversed my car and ran over the mother. She was seriously injured. Just before she breathed her last, she ran over to her kittens and gave her last look at her new generation and died.

Everybody was grieved for her death. I felt so bad that I even dreamed of the accident.

Kamal buried her in the empty lot (now overgrown with Imperata cylindrica) next to the Indah Water sewage treatment plant.

Her kittens were left to be on their own. They missed the training period other kittens normally get from their mother.

As time went by, only Stocking, was left in our care. His other siblings were either dead or went missing.

Stocking grew fast. But it became clear that he sorely missed his mother. He did not know much about life.

He does not know how to look for food, except wait for food to be given to him.

He clearly lacks self confidence especially in protecting his territory, that is our housing compound.

He is so scared of the wandering tomcat who frequently gets into his territory and bullies him around.

Many a times I saw him scrambling up the metal railing just to escape form the bully, urinating all over the car porch along the way.

He is more than two years now, but he behaves just like he is still a kitten - meowing for food when he is hungry.

He also lacks motor skill. Things as easy, for a cat at least, as climbing up and down the metal railing, will be so troublesome for him. He has many times injured his hind legs while climbing down the house sliding door.

By his physical structure he could easily beat the bully, but no, not Stocking. He let the bully to continuously harass him.

Pity Stocking, the orphaned cat. He seemed alone in the cat world. Once he was romantically involved in an under-aged female. More than once he tried to seduce her, but it was him who was shelved around.

But, as they say, sexual desire does not have to be taught. He managed to perform when we were not looking (our guess). For not very long after that, she showed signs of being pregnant.

Soon after she gave birth to three kittens, two of them resembled Stocking in many ways.

Not to repeat the previous mistake we gave them away soon after the kittens opened their eyes.

We wonder what will happen next to Stocking? Will he survive the challenges of being a full grown tomcat? Only time will tell. The signs are positive. Now once in a while he braves himself and wanders out of his unforced prison - outside our housing compund that is.