MakeMeSmile #13:Nui Kuh The Family Cat

Looking back at these old photos really makes me smile, happy and sad at the same time. It brings back some precious memories of my old cat. She is a female cat and I named her as Nui Kuh. Her name means soft bone in the English language. She is the first generation cat in our house. Nui Kuh been living with us for over 10 years of human age before she passed away in late 2004.

She allows the whole family to touch any part of her body whenever and however we like and never fight back at all. Unlike other cats we had, some may try to bite back. Due to her unique bone body, she able to squeeze and pass throw many narrow obstacles which I think is impossible no matter how I look at it.

Nui Kuh is the special one who rules not just one street but the whole area we live. She is a queen of this area. She understands human language well and does know how to speak a few words of it. She knows how to call my mum as "Ma". When she hungry, she shouts "Yao" known as Hokkien dialect and interpret as hungry in the English language. When we talk with her and she agrees or understood, she will answer "Um" as a meaning of a "Yes" word. There are times, she says two words but hardly hear from us because she never likes to repeat it. She keeps the rats, pigeons and stray dogs away.

You heard it right, she keeps pigeon away from the street too. Pigeons have been shitting everywhere without anyone concern about it. Cleaning up the shit of the pigeon is not easy especially when they targeting your car for fun. Nui Kuh ensures that never happens. Not many birds dare to fly around here even crows are less in this area.

Before we have Niu Kuh, rats in the house is a big problem. When we have her, she helps to keep that problem away not just in the house or street but the whole area. There are times where my dad scolds her for not doing her job as a cat and the next morning, she brought a surprise present to near my dad bed. My dad was shocked when he woke up from his bed and saw an alive rat next to it while Niu Kuh standby to get her acknowledgment from my dad. From that day onward, my dad no longer scolds her.

Stray dogs in our area is another problem as they move in a group. Some of my neighbors have been bite by them and causes a serious damage to their body. Every time the animal rescuer team to this area, they mostly failed to catch them. When Niu Kuh is here, everyone is happy because she protects the area.

She has an amazing jumping ability from one roof to another. Sometimes, I suspect she knows how to fly. Niu Kuh able to jump down from the roof straight down to the ground and it is about 5 meters height. I probably should say that is insane since I never seen any cats able to jump like that before.

She has been given birth to at least 5 generation of cats in our house. There are times we have nearly two football team of the kitten. Her daughter, granddaughter, and grand granddaughter help to take routine to take care of each another kitten. Feeding all of them sometimes can really go broke. Because we love her as part of our family, we mostly keep her kitten until we no longer able to afford the food budget. Sad but true, we have to let go of some of her kitten.

Although she has been gone for long, sometimes I feel her spirit is still around me. I miss her and hope I will meet Nui Kuh in my next life.