Animal Companions Issue 22 Home Page

I Love to Watch Our Cats' Behavior Kiyomi Yamazaki from Japan Photo: Kiyomi Yamazaki My younger sister with our cat Hime. Hime means 'princess' in Japanese, and we call her that because of her attitude. She behaves as if she were a queen.   There are two cats in my family. One is called Hime, and the other is called Goma. Hime means 'princess' in Japanese, and we call her that because of her attitude. My younger sister brought her home about 7 years ago. She reportedly lived in a park as an alley cat. At that time she was already an adult cat, so she is supposed to be over 10 years old now. She has long white, or rather, gray hair with black stripes. I don't know what kind of cat she is, but it doesn't matter to us. When she came, there were already two cats in my house. One was Goma, and the other was Goma's father. Though she was the last cat that became a member of our house, she soon began to behave as if she were a queen. She was dignified and even arrogant. She meowed, not in a pretty voice, but in a deep voice. She followed my younger sister every day, and she slept with her at night. She loved to sleep lying around my sister's neck. Now that my sister has left our house, her fangs have come out; and she looks older. But there is one thing that has never changed; it is her character. She is a kind of bold. She always approaches our guests,meowing in a loud voice that never sounds pretty. Though she doesn't seem pretty, I love her efforts to try to show herself off. Goma was born with her sister and her brother at my house nine years ago. She was the last one born in the litter. The others were soon given to other families, and she was the last one to remain. I think that was because her brother had all black hair and blue eyes—he looked beautiful, and her sister was very even-tempered. But Goma is neither beautiful nor gentle. She has short black hair, and her face is covered with very small, brown dots The dots look like sesame; that's why we named her Goma. In Japanese, goma means sesame. She loved her mother very much, and she never took to us. But after her mother died, she began to warm up to us. Now she always sits beside my mother while my mother hangs up our washed clothes to dry in the sun in our garden. Then she meows, begging my mother to brush her hair. She leads my mother to the small table in the garden on which my mother brushes her hair every day. After the brushing, she disappears into the garden. At night, she always goes to my youngest sister's bed and pats the edges of the comforter to let her know that she wants to come up. When she lies on my youngest sister's arm, she purrs and falls asleep. I think this is the happiest time for her. Although neither cat takes to me very much, I love to watch their behavior; sometimes it is funny and sometimes it is annoying. I hope they are happy with my family, and they will live as long as they can. Meet more animal companions: My Dear Yuki | Please Take Care of Kang Yang | My Cats are Opposites Return to: Animal Companions | Issue 22 | Home Page  TOPICS Online Magazine ©1997-2008 - Sandy and Thomas Peters topics.mag@gmail.com