Introducing Awang
Monday, Mar. 01, 2004 2:04 p.m.
This is my fat cat:
He is the sweetest cat in the world. His name is Awang. He is named after 'awang kenit', which is a Malay term for gnome, or very small man. When he was born, the name came to mind naturally. He was, after all, the youngest of his siblings, and a wee little kitty at that time. A gnome, hence the name. (Of course, once he grew he stopped being wee and so we lost the "kenit", which means "small", and just called him Awang).
Two of Awang's sibs have since run off with some alleycats, and the remaining two now live cushy lives in Geldern, Germany, where my aunt and her husband live. They wanted a cat to replace their gorgeous black cat that died, but ended up taking two, a male and female. They're called Coco and Kerlchen, and have their own kittens. Awang and his brothers and sisters come from a glorious line of inbred cats. We started four years ago with a randy Siamese called Daisy (my mother's idea, the name), and with the exception of the few (3 or 4) alleycats that appeared intermittently to add variety to the gene pool, Daisy's offspring and the later generations pretty much bonked one another. And miraculously continued to produce kittens that were good-looking.
Awang is toilet-trained; he actually perches over the toilet bowl and does it (I've been to houses of people with so-called toilet-trained pets, and sometimes what they mean is the creatures just piss and crap in the toilet, but not in the toilet _bowl_.) Apart from impeccable washroom etiquette, however, Awang isn't too bright. This isn't always a disadvantage because he's the feline equivalent of I dunno, George Clooney? You know, like he doesn't seem to try but he has this irresistable charm about him? And he's not really cocky or smarmy, he's just confident that he's loved and admred by all, or at least many. That's my Awang.
He's also very sweet-tempered. He never ever jumps on the dinner table to steal food, but he does peer from the chair and watch us eat with interest. He doesn't bite unless you tickle his belly, and he never scratches. He also makes these small little-boy-lost "miao"s that I find endearing. And he never struggles if you pick him up and squeeze him.
I do suspect that maybe it's not so much that he's good-natured, but he's just a big, lazy fat-ass who knows he doesn't have to work for anything. He's also not very inclined to move very far, he sprawls on the floor like a skin rug every 4 or 5 steps. We worry about him when he prowls the neighbourhood. He's come home with a swollen paw and a cut on his mouth before. He is no alpha male. He's a neutered princess, really.
Obviously now that I live on my own, Awang is not with me. He still lives with my mom and my siblings at her place. So I take pictures of him every time I visit, and I thought I'd share this one with you.
Older entries
Ramadan - 08 October 2006
Where I Have Been - 03 October 2006
Baby Talk - 10 August 2006
6 Weeks of Separation - 16 July 2006
Unacceptable Rudeness - 21 June 2006