I go downstairs for a solitaire dinner, and on the way back to the flat, I play with Slinky the cat who lives at my block. I named her Slinky because the first time I ever saw her when she was skinnier and smaller, she used to slink around on her back and looked like a cat version of a cute leisurely yawn. Now she looks different, someone else is feeding her as I only did once (with some leftover tuna which she lapped up shyly but gratefully). There was a time I thought that was another cat, that looked male, and I dubbed 'him' Mr. Slinky. Actually I can never be sure of whether they are the same cat or not, but I saw that I never see more than one at a time, and that 'Mr.' Slinky also slinked around! So it must have been a fattened Slinky. Slinky is very friendly and never begs for food even during the first few trying weeks she lived around here. She is black, with, according to Calvin' observation, two white-tipped paws.
There is another cat I see sometimes, at the back of the block, I called him Grey Cat. Well, he is a grey, fat type of cat. Light grey with longish fur. Very snobbish. Grey Cat hates humans. He would be scavenging for food in the rubbish with a scowl on his face, and then when a human appeared, he would pretend nothing happened between him and the rubbish and quickly scurry away from the 'crime' scene, with a scowl no less, telling you that 'you didn't see anything.'And then when you are (or pretend to be) out of sight, he comes out again to continue scrounging. I would feed him if he were hungry but he always runs away when I miaow at him, so it really is no use. Only the professional cat-auntie who takes care of the cats, will he come nicely to. You know, that cat-auntie that every neighbourhood will have.
Grey Cat is actually quite cute. There was a weekend when Calvin was over and he parked his mother's car downstairs. When we came down to go out, there was Grey Cat lying down under the car's rear end. We both were concerned because we didn't want to injure Grey Cat with the car when we drove out of the parking lot. Then Cal bent down and talked to the cat and said, 'Come out, Grey Cat!' And Grey Cat saw us both and scowled away hurriedly. Okay so Calvin is quite cute also.
I am both a cat and a dog person, but because I am house-proud, or as Sash says in her latest post, the type who makes an awful fuss (about her house) about nothing, I would keep them animals away from my home. I love my sofa, and my flooring. So until the house is rather run-down many years, I would keep to playing with Slinky and Grey Cat downstairs when I need to destress and never bring their kind home.
If I could choose, I would rather a dog, because I like smiley animals, like my dog called Dog, who I had during my teenage years in my JB houses. I love her and she is still my favourite dog in all that I have ever met. I like big and smart dogs, and those with nice vain fur, and street-wise types who could look out for cars before crossing the road, and protect me from bully dogs when we went for walks. She never needed to be leashed, in fact she hated it, and went on walks on her own, although her routes are rather adventurous, evidenced by her muddy lower body at times. She was clever and obedient, and understood completely what you told her to do. And she always knew if passers by were friend or foe, and smile-wag or bark accordingly. There was once she was in the porch, and needed to go out to pee, but I only came home after school at about six p.m., which mean that she held in her pee all this while till I came home. When she saw me approaching the gate, she whined and had this really kan-chiong look on her face, and then I realised, oh no!, and let her out as soon as I could, and when she came back, boy did she look relieved. I was so amazed that she didn't just pee somewhere in the house, which would have upset us, because that house didn't have a garden. Good Dog.
I would play with Calvin's dogs, but both his dogs are not very playable. Spotty the dalmatian, is blind, drooly and greedy, so she is not the huggable type, because she gets all shifty because she wants to nudge a snack out of you. She is old and therefore not very into playing games. Plus she is not very nice to pet. But she is a good dog. The other dog is an absolutely silly dog called Rebel, a stupid silky terrier type, and I don't like him, just as I don't like most small dogs. He is fierce, unfriendly, insecure, and suspicious of everything. And he is a boy-dog. You cannot touch him with your hands; he has even bitten his own owners, and is only friendly to the maid. Never choose the liveliest pup of the litter I say, and try to choose a girl dog because they are usually smarter and more obedient. Anyway Rebel is so jealous, he still fights with Spotty, and he still gets jealous when someone else in the house is carried in the arms - children, girls in boys' - or when he smells cat on Calvin when we have visited friends' who have cats that sit on his lap.
Anyway, after playing with Slinky downstairs, who I actually I feel like bathing because she is so dirty but of course I won't do that to an undomesticated cat, I feel now less stressed, more relaxed. Since my house is near foreign worker camps, walks may not really relieve stress at this hour, so playing with Slinky was the next best option that I planned, so I did. And I feel good now. Nice Slinky.
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