Srimayee Sen Sarma says she found Piddhu on the road when she was just about two months old.
“I was pregnant at the time and walking with my husband when we heard the soft meow of a kitten. My husband spotted her sitting in the middle of a busy road with cars zooming past her.
“He rushed to pick her up and she licked his hand, which made him fall in love with her instantly. I always wanted a cat but my husband was against it. Not anymore,” Srimayee says.
They decided to name the kitten Piddhu which means “tiny” in Bengali.
“We put her up for adoption initially but only because we are foreigners staying in a rented condo. Also, I was pregnant and Piddhu is a black cat.
“Both our families were super against it but my husband and I never believed in such superstitions. If anything we thought the act of helping an innocent soul could only bring good into our lives,” she says.
Once potential adopters called enquiring about Piddhu, Srimayee and her husband realised they could not give her up. And so Piddhu stayed on with the two people who saved her life.
“We never had to toilet train her. Piddhu looked to Pantua our dog, as her mother and followed her around. She learnt to pee and poo in the toilet just by doing as Pantua did,” Srimayee says.
She also says that Piddhu is unlike other cats in that she never steals food, never dashes out of the home when the front door’s ajar and even comes running when called.
According to Srimayee, Piddhu tends to sleep all day and is up all night, running about, jumping here and there and getting up to all sorts of mischief.
“She likes to instigate Pantua to fight with her by swatting her gently in the face and trying to scare her by meowing at her,” Srimayee says, laughing.
“She loves to cuddle but only when she wants to, otherwise be prepared for scratches and bites – but playful ones, never hard enough to hurt us.
“She can climb pretty high up windows and gates. And she is very fast. It scares us sometimes as we worry she will fall, but she is very agile, thankfully,” Srimayee says.
People often ask Srimayee how a cat and dog can stay peacefully together. “We were initially very scared that Pantua would hurt Piddhu. But Pantua is very gentle and very kind to her.”
But Pantua does occasionally get jealous of Piddhu when Srimayee pets her and will gently nuzzle the cat away.
“But if we scold Pantua, Piddhu will rush to lick the dog’s face to pacify her.” However, Pantua does not return the favour. “When Piddhu is scolded, the dog joins in and scolds her too.”
Piddhu and Pantua love to engage in “pretend fighting” but it’s all for fun so neither hurts the other.
“When Piddhu was smaller, Pantua would take her entire head inside her mouth as if she was eating her up. We used to get really scared but Pantua would never bite down. It was all play,” Srimayee says.
She says the two turn the condo topsy-turvy when they play and her daughter is in their team too.
“Piddhu fights with my daughter like a sibling. They both love boxes and somehow they both want the same box and then they will fight for ownership of the box.
“If my husband scolds my daughter, Pantua will come and bark at him,” Srimayee says, with obvious affection.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to lifestyle@freemalaysiatoday.com. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.
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