The Runaway Cat

Ogre-mi ran away once. We confined him in a room when we were staying in a rented house. That time he was in good health, gained some weight (fat) after his dental and maggot issues. He learned to open the window himself. He's a really, really smart cat. 

So one day I was back from work and I found the window opened and he was not in his room. I was furious. I went out to search for him for a while but didn't find him. That time I still wasn't too attached to him. And I thought, okay if he wants to run away, so be it. 

He came back the next day, with the same injury on his left arm - a bloody, large cavity hole. Frustrated as we were, we still brought him to see the vet, again. And nurse him back to health, again. He had to wear the cone of shame for the whole time. He hated it but he still tolerated it. Just like how he tolerated my excessive kissing and touching and hugging.

That was the only one time he successfully escaped.

Life With Ogre-mi

It was just like a normal cat with Ogre-mi, before being diagnosed with CKD. We feed him once in the morning and once in the evening. In the evening he'll be released from the confinement of his room and into the living area. Feeder would play with him with his favourite mouse, but first the sitting on Feeder's lap ritual should not be forgotten. 

After he'd diagnosed with CKD, we moved him into the master bedroom with us. He was too weak to move around the house anyway. The daily routine also had many changes along with the terrible news. Force feeding food, medicine, and subcutaneous fluid, twice a day. The doctor said everyday is a bonus. We had a bonus of close to 2 years.

Over months he got better and his Creatinine reading had dropped from over 2000 to around 300. We were thrilled. Every visit to the clinic there was improvement on his blood test result. Nevertheless the routine had to carry on. It got easier because we didn't have to force feed him anymore. He was eating willingly with appetite. To a point where the vet said we need to control his body weight to not reach 6 kg. He was at 5.8 kg. However the routine was taking so much of our time and it was eating us up, especially me. But we never love him any less. Ogre-mi was the best cat still - obedient, loving, playful, cute. He was everything I'd hope for in a cat. He brought me so much joy.

And then we moved to our new house, with Ogre-mi. He and Panda-mi got used to the new environment almost immediately. When he was first diagnosed we didn't even dream that he would survive until then. He stayed one and a half year in our new house. By then he occupied the whole double storey with Panda-mi, roaming around freely. I think he loves his new house. 

Panda-mi tagged along with Ogre-mi all the time, until Donkey-mi came along. Then he switched his direction to tagging with Donkey-mi. Probably due to the fact that Ogre-mi is older and play with him less. But Ogre-mi did play. He would jump up onto the platform above the TV, and he would play on the cat staircase, jumping onto the topmost cubicle usually, then looking down on his humans and his fellow kyoudai. Yes, for sure. Ogre-mi is their aniki - and always will be. Although this aniki sometimes bully them - slapping their heads and faces. I remember looking at their interaction was the most rewarding thing to do at home. That was when things were good.

Ogre-mi's health started to deteriorate more or less during the time when I was outstation working in Fuzhou, China. But we brushed it aside at that time, thinking it was nothing.

The Tabby

Ogre-mi is what we call the 貍花貓, the most commonly seen type of cat in the stray market. You see his kind almost everywhere. They are so common that they are the least adopted type, other than black cats. But they are the sweetest.

Ogre-mi has a on/off button on his back. Probably a result of fights for survival on the street. He also has a patch near his left arm that didn't grow fur anymore. That was a result from a very deep wound he had when we found him. 

And of course his crooked, protruding teeth and his slightly deformed chin, which we could only imagine what he had gone through. Feeder named him after his signature teeth, looking like an ogre.

Sometime he'd look at us with a "confused", "stupid" look on his face. And that always cracked us up. That expression is priceless and only Ogre-mi has that. But he's not "stupid" - far from that. He is the smartest cat of the four. He feels and understands human emotions - he knows when we're angry or upset, and he knows when we love him. I would kiss him, touch his back excessively, bury my face into his back, and he would tolerate all these even though I could tell he didn't like it. He would tolerate me doing these things because he knows these are the act of love.

His favourite though, is sitting on Feeder's lap. And he loves it when Feeder brush his fur. He'd close his eyes and enjoy the process. Sometimes he'd bury his face into Feeder's arm, for a long long time. He really loves us. And we love him a lot too. 

I just really, really miss him. And I wish he is here. I wish to see him again.

I would attach a photo here of him on Feeder's lap. But I'm so afraid to look through his photos right now. I will do it when I'm ready.

The First Time We Met

Feeder went out to buy gas for cooking. He came back not with gas, but with a seriously injured Ogre-mi, of course that time we didn't call him that. We put him in an extra room to isolate him from our existing Medium Cat. And waited for the next morning to bring him to the vet. That was Feeder's birthday 11th January 2021. I left the taking care work mostly to Feeder because Ogre-mi was so smelly and dirty and weak.

Ogre-mi was being brought to the Ipoh Garden Animal Clinic, which I hated and would only go there if I had no choice (it was one of the largest and most complete clinic in Ipoh). The vet cleaned his maggot-infested mouth and diagnosed him FIV positive, estimated age about 8 years old. He wasn't a young cat.

We brought him back and nurse him into health, and fatness. We named him obviously because of his crooked teeth and slightly deformed chin, which was amazing he lived through it. I didn't think his dental condition would be one of the reasons and complications that caused his death later.

He wasn't exactly good friends with Medium Cat though. They hated each other! But that didn't stop me from loving him so much. I always love Ogre-mi more than Medium Cat.

When I came back from work. The first thing I'd do was to release Medium Cat into wilderness, and Ogre-mi from his isolation room. Because they didn't do well together, Ogre-mi could only be confined into a small room during the entire one and a half year. Only when we moved to a new house that he was able to roam the whole double-storey area whilst Medium Cat is being released as an outdoor cat.

When Feeder came back from work, he would sit down crossed-leg, and Ogre-mi could come greet him, climbed onto his lap and would sit there like a boss. And he wouldn't leave until he was satisfied, by then usually Feeder's legs were already numb. He wouldn't sit on my lap though, no matter how hard I asked. He did try and maybe it was not as comfortable, he'd sit for a while and got back up. 

Ogre-mi would understand if we'd beckon for him to come. And he would obey. And when we sat on the couch and tap on the seat next to us, he would jump up to sit next to us obediently. He understood this hand gesture! He was truly the most obedient cat I've ever met.

Sometimes Ogre-mi would come to sit next to us uninvited. He'd always jump up to bed, made a u-turn, and leaned against your leg. And he would make sure with the u-turn to face outward, and not towards his humans.

The leftmost photo was when we first picked him up. The rightmost was when he was healthiest.

Ogre-mi was healthiest at these moments, way before his CKD diagnosis.