But what if..

Our cat is an acquired taste. He looks funny, acts weird and is in general quirky.

We had decided not to have a pet; we worked a lot, traveled often for long periods of time and we wanted our freedom. I also had two cats in Sweden, rooming with my parents.

We lived in Singapore at the time, on a mountain (more of a hill really) lush with jungle plants. Snakes were abundant and whenever a pet disappeared, they were most probably a meal for one of the sliders or pythons. Alongside the reptiles there were cats aplenty, a steady supply of protein for the snakes, natures way of making sure everyone is fed, and a nice feature for all tourists and locals enjoying the outdoors or taking the cable car to Sentosa. Often throughout Singapore you would see abandoned kittens, more often than not scabby and sad creatures and it would break my heart seeing them. I had SPCA on speed dial and would call Ulf in tears whenever I had to leave one behind.

One morning I was out jogging and I heard a soft meowing from the side of the road. There sits this teeny, tiny creature begging for help, all alone in the world. He was clean and had no signs of disease or scabs and I just could not resist. I was thinking we could put signs up to see if there was anyone willing to take him in.
Ulf had still not left for work and sighed and said: "But Sara, we said we weren't having a cat." I told him of my plan to find him a family but he surprised me and said: "But Sara, what if they can't take care of him as well as we could?"
It was a done deal then. I took him to the vet who estimated that he was about three weeks old, clearly something was wrong with him, he had a wobbly walk and shook his head from side to side, he was starving and devoured a can of cat food on the spot and basically - he didn't give him much hope and wondered why on earth were we taking him in.
How could we not? He moved in with us, slept in a shoe box between us (so we wouldn't roll over and crush him in our sleep), he used the top of the box as his litter box and we toilet trained him to perfection; to this day he has never had any accidents, not even on long flights. He drives us crazy with his meowing, no more soft and beggingly, now loud and demanding. He cries like a baby whenever he wants something. He bites my feet and ankles; demanding the same attention I used to give him before the kids arrived. He sleeps in our bed, trying to reclaim the spot between me and Ulf but is being pushed away as soon as Amanda comes wondering in the middle of the night.

He once got lost in the gutter between our balcony and the neighbors', he has been in a fight with a bob cat, he has survived two babies and four intercontinental moves and should have been given air miles on each trip. He has tunnel vision, selective hearing- all caused by a bacteria in the brain (probably why his mom left him in the first place), sits like a human and loves us unconditionally. As we do him.