Happy Birthday Tchtch (Warning: Long)

I just wanted to share the story of a cat I grew up with. We never really named him, but he responded to "tch tch", so I guess that's his name.

On Oct 16th, 1999, a cat had a litter of three kittens. The cat belonged to a friend of my sister's. Two months later, the friend asked my sister if she wanted one of the kittens, as they were adopting out all of the kittens.

I was just starting 6th grade, and we were pretty excited about having a cat. My parents were not too fond of the idea, but they relented after a week of pleading and good grades in school. We took the crying kitten home. The kitten was not allowed in the house, so we kept him on our porch. We had a small box with some old newspaper in the corner of the driveway as his bed. He had an unusual mark, a kind of flower petal-ish shape on brown under his white belly.

We had the kitten for about a month. One day, he disappeared. We were so heartbroken - my sister cried for a few days. Pretty soon we forgot about him and life went on.

About 6 months later, my sister and I were looking out our window, and we saw a cat nibbling on the grass on our patch of garden. Stray animals were common where we lived, and there weren't many animal shelters. We tiptoed towards the cat, fully expecting it to run away, as all stray animals that we tried to approach do.

The cat not only did not run, but he saw us and just went on nibbling the grass. Soon we got close enough to pet him, and still he continued nibbling the grass. Surprised by the cat's friendliness, we sat near the cat. The first thing we noticed was that he smelled of shampoo. Then we realized that this cat was about the same brown/white color as the kitten we lost 6 months before.

We stroked him and when he plopped on the grass, there it was - the brown petal birthmark on his belly.

Tchtch had come home.

Tchtch was our cat, and we loved him. But knowing what I know now about cats, I am embarrassed to say that while we were never abusive towards him, we could have loved him better.

Tchtch was an outdoor-ish cat. For the 10 years he was with us, he spent more than half his time out on the streets in our little suburban area. We did not neuter him, as back then we didn't know anything about caring for a cat. He loved being outside, and he occasionally comes home to stay for a bit. Our home was more of a long-term hotel to him. He was never allowed in the house during the night, because we had no idea cats could be trained not to be destructive.

We couldn't afford litter, so we were happy to let him poop in our garden. He ate mostly grocery store stuffs, and I guess whatever he found outside.

He was a very calm cat, rarely meowing unless he's hungry and didn't feel like going outside. He was great with handling, and unfortunately, we kids LOVED to handle him. Thinking back, I shudder at some of the things we did to him. We liked carrying him by his front paws, so that he's dangling in the air. Sometimes we'd just drag him by his hind legs across the floor.

Tchtch never complained. He took our torments in stride. When he did something we didn't like (like running into the many storm drains around our area, picking up sewage and god knows what), we'd carry him forcefully into the house and whacked his bottom with a rolled up newspaper.

Tchtch still cuddled with us when he felt like it. 

In 2010, Tchtch went outside and never came back. I was already in the US, my sister in Canada, so there was nothing we could do. We heard this sad news from our mother. We never knew what happened to him. 

Tchtch would have been 14 years old tomorrow. Happy birthday, Tchtch. You had the patience of a saint, and you taught us love, even though we didn't deserve a cat like you. When I adopted Jed, I made it a point to do right by Jed, to pay tribute to Tchtch. I made Tchtch a promise to give Jed the care he deserves, the kind of care and "respect" Tchtch rarely got from two kids who didn't know better.

It's how I can honor his memory.

Tchtch really does sound like a tolerant cat.  I'm not trying to be rude and I can understand how you wouldn't know how to handle a cat as a child.   But why didn't your parents teach you how to handle an animal???? 

Lorie D. said:

 
Tchtch really does sound like a tolerant cat.  I'm not trying to be rude and I can understand how you wouldn't know how to handle a cat as a child.   But why didn't your parents teach you how to handle an animal???? 

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My parents aren't animal people. We were poor, and we didn't have the access to the kind of information that you have here in developed Western nations. Internet was a luxury. My parents had no idea how to handle animals any more than we did. They were just happy to spend some money to feed and house another animal.

I've just read this story, and I think it's beautiful and a loving testament to your first cat.

I really respect the fact that your family, like so many families around the world, really didin't know much about cats, but Tchtch managed to show you a little, and he was loved.