#AtoZChallenge2024
Theme: Soliloquies (Musings and
Intrusive Thoughts)
(Clockwise) Young Mimay looking wide-eyed at the camera, Mimay and Me, JemJem relaxing on Trudy Bear’s lap, JemJem nursing her three kitties, Baby PaoPao, Bunggit and Mimay sleeping beside their human big bro
Goodbye, My Loves
Late 2022 to Year 2023 was not a good period for me as a furparent. I could not really talk about it because I didn’t want people to judge me. But, heck, I have to talk about it sometime.
People can judge all they want. I don’t want to be lectured on what I should have or should not have done. If they’re going to be mean know-it-alls, I will not give them the satisfaction of getting any response…
I lost my cats, Mimay and Bunggit. Mimay was the first kitty I had after the last one, Mumay, passed years before. Mumay was the last of a long-enough line of felines, all surprisingly white, born in this house. The line started with a stray calico we named Ligaya.
Mumay didn’t leave a kid. So I named the new white one Mimay. It is usually a girl’s name, but…Well, I thought he was a girl! I’m not an expert on kitty genders, not until they grow older. He was named after my favorite in CATS, Jemima, who’s a calico, which didn’t matter to me. I wanted the name! But needless to say, we dropped that name.
We got an orange-and-white baby a few months later to give him a playmate. They hit it off easily like actual brothers. The name Bunggit was from the word “bulinggit”, which means “linggit” or “liit”. Basically, it means small. I named him that just because he was smaller then (he grew bigger than expected). I was just happy to have a ginger cat. It was so long ago when we had one in the house. The two got along fine and zoomies and falling objects became constant in the house.
Mimay & Bunggit: Brothers from Different Mothers
My heart broke into pieces when Bunggit died in late October 2022, Mimay in April 2023. It was doubly painful because I cared for them. I put them right beside me while I worked so I could see them and take care of them. I hardly slept.
I failed…
Before they passed, we adopted a pregnant stray mother and her only kitty, both calicos. This time, the names were perfect. The mother was Demeter, Demi for short. The daughter was–surprise!–Jemima. JemJem for short. It was a shock when one day, Demi just decided to leave. She left us and abandoned her kid! Maybe, she didn’t feel safe with the toms around fighting over her all the time.
My son would see her around and try to call her, but she never went back. It even seemed she had a new collar on. I just had to assume she had a new owner taking care of her already. Or she was not a stray in the first place…
What? No chip?!!
In the Philippines, chips are not a thing. Probably, the people who could afford to buy the supposed “higher” breeds (just because they’re foreign breeds) have those in place. I honestly have no clue right now. I don’t think so, though. Many owners prefer “imported” cats for show, they just won’t admit it. Not all, maybe not most even, yet many. They would rather buy expensive cats rather than adopt and/or rescue local ones.
Demi & JemJem, Mother and Daughter
So, wait! What breed is our local cat? We call them Puspin, from “Pusang Pinoy” or Filipino/Philippine cat (“pusa”). It’s a fairly new term. Thank goodness, finally, someone thought of giving these cats a proper, respectable name!
In the early ’80s, they were called Pusakal. That’s short for “Pusang Kalye” or street cat, because then (till now!), many cats lived in the streets, unloved and uncared for. They were even hated and seen as thieves that would break into houses and steal food. How were they supposed to survive? That is why “pusakal” also became a term used on actual thieves and robbers or criminals. Cat burglars. I hardly hear the word being used now, though.
Puspins can have white, orange, black, or mixed colors. They’re generally smaller in feature and with shorter hairs. That said, I’ve seen many videos of cats from abroad looking practically the same as our Puspins. So some Filipinos’ preference of high-effin’-breeds due to, supposedly, better looks is STUPID and a form of RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.
Like neo-Nazis, people don’t like that local cats are of mixed breeds. Since they are street cats, the original breeds are usually unknown unless they show specific physical traits of specific breeds. The reality is, there might even be more than just two breeds passed on from generation to generation.
While that is a reality, it does not necessarily mean that Puspins are inferior. Just think of humans! If anyone thinks his pure race is superior, well, then, he’s not superior and most probably not of pure blood either. He’s just a racist bigot who doesn’t read and study enough. Anyway, going back to the subject, the bigger reality is that many Puspins are not living in the streets now. Many are born in their furever homes, like the generation of cats after Ligaya, or my current kitties now.
(COL. A) The kitties would do anything for milk! (COL. B) The triplets as babies; JemJem’s little family; Rare moment between Momma and Katniss who, it turned out, was giving a final goodbye. (COL.C) When not rough-playing, these blood brothers are sweet to each other, sometimes including the canine species. The last pic is both nice and heartbreaking. We all thought we heard JemJem coming back and expected her to come in through the window. These two surprisingly sat there waiting for their mom,…but she never came back.
My handsome one-year-old tom cats are the sons of JemJem. They were born late April last year, two days before I lost Mimay.
First was the very vocal Iñaki Boots. ‘Iñaki’, because it sounds like “iyakin”, which means crybaby — so clingy! He meows a lot. Cats don’t often meow at each other. He meows to catch our attention. ‘Boots’, because he’s all-ginger! Like Puss’n’Boots! Second to be born was Ninja Kit, black-and-white. Early on, he showed agility and ninja-like abilities to climb on and into things, ergo, the first name. ‘Kit’ just completes it. There was an old movie titled Ninja Kids. I think it’s cute…
The depressing part is there was a third kitty. Katniss Everdeen, who looked like her mom, was the brunt of JemJem’s litter. She didn’t grow much but I thought she was healthy as she had a good appetite. I thought, like mother, like daughter. JemJem naturally has small features. Then I finally realized how Katniss hardly grew compared to her growing brothers. I tried to make her healthier and gave her much attention. But she got sick and never recovered. It was Mimay and Bunggit all over again. I was devastated. The boys lost their sister.
Unfortunately, more than three months ago, pregnant JemJem did a Demi: She bailed out on her kids, too. I miss my Baby JemJem/Bajejem/Badedem…We haven’t found her, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll come back. She was such a sweet kitty.
Were they all cats, though? No. I had PaoPao. He was an Aspin or “Asong Pinoy” (Filipino/Philippine dog/“aso”). The name is relatively new as well, but, I think, older than “Puspin”.
Our cats and dogs share common denominators: they are mixed breeds that originated from the streets. Small to medium size, short hairs, alert pointy ears, tails always up. Both experience discrimination from those that prefer imported breeds. The cats have it worse, though. There are more people who are willing to adopt dogs.
PaoPao was the younger brother of our former dog, Augie. We got them both (not at the same time) from my husband’s relatives. Therefore, they weren’t from the streets at all. There were both big, though PaoPao was bulkier, had more hair, and had a gentler demeanor (his booming bark was worse than his bite). They were said to be a mix of something, based on the large father and mother. I do think I saw an image of a breed online that resembled PaoPao’s baby picture. I’ll have to find that again.
PaoPao: Muscular and intimidating, but with a gentle demeanor
I did just use the full but kind of blurry photo of him (see photo above) for Google Lens. Surprisingly, I found a picture that looks so much like him! If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s him. Turns out, my Powie could be a kind of English Mastiff, a pageant dog at that! Meanwhile, though there is quite a resemblance, Augie did look different as well. He had shorter hair, a slimmer body, and a pointy face. I tried to look for the possible ancestry but couldn’t really find any that’s near, just hunches…Maybe they had different fathers after all.
PaoPao developed separation anxiety in his first year and, admittedly, it was our fault. That was why we tried our best not to cause his anxiety again. We often would just get out of the gate for a little while and he’d cry and try to follow. You could hear him from afar — he was a big dog with a big voice after all. I felt so guilty for causing that.
I loved PaoPao so much. But after six years, he suddenly died late last year. I was working one day and didn’t think much of it when people would call his name from outside. People knew him and some were fond of him. I thought, okay, people seemed particularly friendly to him that day. It went on for a while until it was my name people were calling. “Gi, come here, look at PaoPao!” I dashed outside and found him in the backyard, already lifeless. No wonder they were trying to call him!
I was so shocked! What happened? Whenever he was sick, I was always able to take care of him and nurse him back to health. I was devastated once more. I was his mom!!! How could I be so stupid?!!! It felt so surreal at first but I finally bawled my eyes out when people left and I was there alone with my PaoPao…
Oh, so many heartaches caused by so much loss! Grief over the death of beloved pets is real. I still grieve and wish I could turn back the clock and do things differently to save them. But, of course, I move on and try to do better with my current babies.
I do have a puppy again. After PaoPao left, I and my husband asked around for Aspins. I wanted a dog already to love and also fill the void. Finally, my nephew’s friend gave me a puppy. I just wanted an Aspin, not “high breeds”. I wanted none of the stress as high breeds are generally high maintenance, vulnerable to sickness, and prone to getting dognapped here. That said, the kid said the baby is half-Golden Retriever.
Half- or maybe part-, I am not sure. The expected general physical traits are not there much, or not there yet. But Aubree is adorable! I’ve seen images of Retrievers that are also part-something else and a few look like her. After all, Retrievers are also the product of breeding experiments. It’s not exactly a pure breed.
I decided to use Google Lens, which indicated (twice!) that Aubree could be a Labrador. Now, I’ve read that some Retrievers originated from Labs as well, so that could be true about her. To make things more interesting, my research showed that she could be a Goberian, which is a Retriever and Husky mix, or even a Labsky, which is a Labrador Husky mix.
That very distinct hair “design” on her forehead is a clue. In fact, I saw pics of Goberians really looking like her. The descriptions and traits seem to fit her. However, she also looks more like a Lab, as Google Lens showed, so I’m guessing she could be a Goldador.
So, right now, I’m going with either “a Goldador Husky mix” (“Goldador…sky?“), which is probably more accurate, or “a Goberian Lab mix”, which has a nicer ring to it. One thing is for sure: She is an ASPIN. I love my Aspins!!! [UPDATE: I have decided to go with “Goberian Aspin”.]
Aubree: Goberian, Labsky, or Goldadorsky? Honorary Cat, too, Cat-and-dog zoomies in the house!
And, oh, I named her Aubree Gold, sort of based on wordplay. In the periodic table, “Au” is gold. I decided to search for a girl name that starts with “Au” and thought Aubree is cute, especially when spelled that way. I do call her Obi, too, when I’m feeling extra affectionate.
I try to learn from my mistakes. So now, I’m doing more to make sure my babies are happy and healthy. That makes me happy and my mental health better, too.
The End Justifies the Journey 