JAGUAR - THE WILD KITTY OF NORTH AMSTERDAM

My favourite place was the chair under the dining room table because it was cool when it was hot. Or the cool white leather armrest of the sofa where the One sat, always busy with something. She liked the big black box in the corner and the silver one she often had on her lap. I used to lay down beside her leg, clawing her gently with my paws  and she'd tickle my tummy while I stretched my legs high in the air. I loved that!

I was born in a wild nest in the northern fields of the city. A group of little Ones found us and took us to a place where there were many others like my siblings and I.  It wasn't a bad place but it smelt horrid because we all used one box together to urinate. Most importantly though it was dry, warm and there was food. One night, when I was just eight weeks old we were all  sleeping on the couch in a little bunch. I woke up with a big yawn and stretched my legs walking over the others and there in front of me was the One. I didn't know her then, but she picked me up and cuddled me all over. It felt so good those human hands running through your fur and so safe being held so tightly. I'm not sure what happened next but I arrived alone with the One in a new place. I was so scared I ran underneath the bed, where it was safe and dark and I couldn't be reached. The One managed to coax me out after some time and then I got the most delicious meal I'd ever had! It was soft, juicy and so tasty I was in seventh heaven. I got loads of attention and from then on until I had outgrown it all, I played with the One every night. I loved big upside-down boxes with holes and doors, plus strings with balls at the end. I would chase them crazily until I was almost dizzy. Happiness was mine to keep. I made sure I did because once or twice, I  saw a few of my kind staring back at me from a mirror. So I heckled my fur on end to let them know that "this is my territory and my One!" I think it worked because although we had visitors none ever stayed and so I was the King of the Castle. The One seemed to react to my playful antics with happiness and together we made a great team. Yes, those were the early days of eleven years ago.
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When I had outgrown my kitten-hood, I could jump high and the piano, sideboard, dressing table to window sill and dining room table were all easily within my reach.  Early morning and six o'clock in the evening were breakfast and dinner time. If the One ever overslept or was late because she was busy, I reminded her.  After meals, I'd sit on the dining room table, watching the birds on the Magnolia tree outside and groom. Lick, lick, paw over ear, lick lick paw over ear. That always took some time. In the evenings I'd then go back to the kitchen, stand on the washing machine and watch the One playing with the black thing in the corner. When the One sat down to eat, I would sometimes use my paw to pull her hand of food towards me. I don't think she always liked that because she'd raise her voice, blow softly in my face or make cat noises like me.  But my tricks nearly always worked because I'd get small tidbits or something to nibble on afterwards. Hhhmm, scrumptious human food!  When it was bedtime the One used to pick me up and put me on the bed but I would always run away. It took her a long time to understand that I always liked to eat something first as my bowl wasn't empty and then I had to groom. The One groomed in the smallest room of the house where I seldom went because it rained in there all the time! When I did get to bed, after the One had turned out the light and settled, I would knead the duvet with my paws then position my head so it landed in the One's left cupped hand.  That was where I got the best neck massages and strokes ever!  We sometimes played games there too, when the One felt like being a cat and behaved like me. Hide 'n seek under the duvet or catch the scratch on the sheet from the mattress underneath. These games were much more fun that the awful tasting mice the One would buy for me periodically. I mostly ignored them, but because it seemed important to her for me to do something, I gave them a kick once or twice just to please her.

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The most important thing I learnt as I grew up was about the wilderness outside. The first time I entered it, the One insisted on keeping me within a restricted area with this awful long thin snake around me. So I pulled hard and ran forward through a jungle suddenly finding myself a few metres further in a hedge with beautiful soft dark and fresh smelling earth beneath my paws. However, the  snake around my neck had locked me to a hedge trunk. It was also wet and muddy so I panicked. The One then turned into a cat and rescued me. She wasn't happy and I couldn't enter the wilderness for what felt like a lifetime at that young age. The next time though was without the neck snake. I was absolutely free! So I ran as fast as I could, as that outside world was so big and gorgeous.  It was a strange feeling when the grass though came to an end and the ground under my paws was extremely hard. So I darted over to the first maisonette porch on the other side. The One was even more unhappy this time than the last and when she caught me, for which she had to work hard, I was strongly reprimanded. After I had learnt what roads and cars were though, I was given all freedom and I could spend as much time outside as I liked. I climbed trees, sneaked around, chasing butterflies, warning the birds, guarding my territory from others of my kind and catching frogs, mice and sometimes a bird. I used to bring the mice alive to the One but she actually took them away from me! One day one mouse ran away from her under the fridge. She spent a long time trying to catch it with the neighbour and I can definitely say: "I was a better mouse catcher than she was!" Sometimes it rained but when it was sunny I had various places to lie and sun, the One's pillowed bed being the best. Ah yes, they were all such happy years and how I loved the One.

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We would always cuddle with our foreheads.  She liked that. I'd stand on the piano and we'd rub each others heads. At night-time before bed we'd also play stop and catch the whisker treat from sliding under furniture. Yes, I've had a wonderful life. The only times of my life which were not enjoyable were when the One would suddenly disappear for long periods at a time. I would see her put the suitcase out and immediately I knew routine was about to be broken and I would scrutinize her every coming and going.  In the first few years, she took me to a place with her suitcase and left me with others of my kind. They were the longest weeks of my life. I hated being away from home, my outside jungle and the One.  I think she understood because after a few years I was allowed to stay home and the neighbour came and gave me food twice a day. During those days, the house was quiet except for the radio and only when the One came home did things return to normal. When I realised it was her we would have a long, long cuddle. She would pick me up, squeeze me, kiss me, tickle my tummy and I would purr loudly. She'd talk a lot, make my favourite meal and it was hard to go on being resentful for her leaving because I was so happy she was home.  Yes, life has been good to me. I've been sheltered and cared for lovingly. Fish on Fridays, whisker treats at night and plenty of freedom in the jungle outside. I have never been in a cat fight as it wasn't my nature but I was still an independent and strong animal, only  afraid of fireworks, thunder and that loud sucking machine. Although, after the One used it, the house did always feel lovely and clean to the paws again. As I grew older, my favourite past-time was watching the black world in the still of the quiet night from the window table.
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Having always been a healthy creature, in all my eleven years, besides annual vaccinations I've only had one horrible allergy that lasted a few weeks.  Back then, the One put me in the safety box and carted me off to to the magician with the cold metal table.  After that visit the allergy disappeared but my diet was radically changed. No more soft, juicy food anymore, I was put on dry crunchies which although tasty, were completely different. Anyway, we get used to everything and so did I. It was therefore unusual that just a week and a half ago I got my first infection from a small wound I had behind my right ear. I sat a long time on her lap while she cleaned it with wet cotton wool and after a  visit to the other with the cold metal table, and two pricks in my back with antibiotics I felt better. The pain went and I could enjoy the hot spring sun again, lying on the cool dark earth under the Fuchsia bush to cool off.  It was a terribly hot week though. I hadn't slept in my soft cosy cat-bed on the table for a good few weeks now because the heat had been long and lasting. Lovely of course, after a freezing cold long winter which even made going outside unpleasant. I suppose therefore, I have not been as active as normal. After all, I'm not a young kitten or five years old anymore, I know where comfort is and I leave all the hectic running around all day to the young cats of the neighbourhood.
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Neither I, nor the One knew that I would not get to enjoy the full summer. It all happened when fortunately the One was home all day. Last Saturday, early evening. Not too hot, I lay outside at the door enjoying the fresh air and shade but decided to go in for a little drink of water. However, when I reached the second corner of the lounge  rug, my back legs suddenly caved in under me. An immense pain took over and I could not get up from the ground. The One, two metres away jumped to the floor touching me gently, talking and looking at me straight in the eye. I tried to turn over and scratched madly with my paws in vain on the wooden floor but only inched forward. Then I lay on my back and the One kept her hand softly on my tummy. Oh it was heavenly. Those were some of the last endorphins my brain made because the pain was gone for a moment. But then it was back I tried to move again and that was when the One jumped up and started banging cupboard doors and talking to her little black hand box. While she was not looking I slid my way through the lounge to the passage and managed to pull myself through the gap into the laundry cupboard. Immediately, the One was emptying the cupboard to get me and she lifted me gently onto a big towel and put me in my safety box. By now the pain was excruciating. I howled and when I was in the car I could barely breathe. My tongue was out and I was gagging. The whole journey, which felt like forever, the One had her hand in the safety box door holes touching me as she repeated something and my name over and over. I was scared, in pain and I couldn't move my legs. Then I was on a cold metal table under bright light. I didn't howl as two others touched me. One of them cut one of my hind leg claws but I didn't feel it or move and just kept my head in the One's cupped hand, lying sprawled across the table, accepting it all. I know when the One is upset and she was upset. I tried to comfort her with my eyes by not howling. My legs could not come back to life and so I just relaxed trusting the One and the others. It was then that I slipped into a deep, quiet peaceful slumber, and the pain dissipated into thin air.
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A silky soft rose petal place where I am free forever. Yes, away from the One, whom I loved so much and who loved me. I know she'll be unhappy for a while because I am far away now but I also know that I am in her heart and so I will never be gone.