Hello Kitty

One of the downsides of living in a rented household full of students is the fact that we can't have pets. Kayla and Maire have both had fish - and don't get me wrong, the fish are pretty, and cool to watch, but you can't hug and pat a fish. A couple of Kayla's also caused some emotional turmoil when she'd come home and discover that they'd jumped. Yes, bowl life proved too much for these little beasts and unfortunately, suicide was their chosen way out - finding the lifeless, orange bodies on the floor is an unpleasant and stressful time for any fish owner.

Cats and dogs don't off themselves like that.

Since I was 9 I have always had a cat or kitten. Our current family cat, Mazda (yeah that name's a long story) is the greatest feline ever known to man. He has suffered through endless smotherings from my siblings and I (but mainly my siblings...), multiple cat fights and trips to the vet, family holidays that required stints in catteries, and he's crossed the freaking pacific in the cargo of an airplane! You would think such experiences would turn him into a pussy (no pun intended..) or an angry, ungrateful jerk of a cat. But no, Mazda has outstanding tolerance and patience, allows himself to be smothered and inhaled like he's coke by my brothers, and never hisses or bites or scratches.

A couple of weeks ago I slept in a bed with a sweet ginger cat sleeping on the end. It made me miss Maz in the extreme. I was tempted to take it home with me, but doubt that would have gone down well with its owners. Sometimes I hear a cat meowing near my window, and I have to resist the urge to let it in (I'm assuming it belongs to the neighbours, unless I am seriously hearing things.)

Our living arrangements make it hard for us to have pets at the moment - we are renting, so we're not sure if we're actually allowed them, we know a few people with allergies, and we have big clashes in animal preferences. Our ex-housemate wanted to get a WHIPPET. Um.. Whippets are beasts of canines that require a lot of exercise. This girl had the energy levels of a freaking sloth. We live in metropolitan Melbourne, our backyard is no place to keep a massive dog. She was very unimpressed when we said no. (Seriously. She was cooked...)

So the point of these ramblings, brought on by looking at Mazda's facebook page (my then 12-yr-old sister's doing) are this: As soon as my living arrangements and budget allows, I am starting my Australian family. I shall go to the Victorian Cat Protection Society and pick out a little kitten that I shall spend the next couple of decades with. He or she will spend many a night at the end of my bed. He or she will know my children. He or she also has some big paws to fill - After all I have known Mazda, the greatest feline ever known to man!

Dad, Mazda and I, when I visited for my 21st. He knows how to work the camera!