Loy Loy Part II

Loy Loy & Ve Ching

People always asked me whether Loy Loy got along with the cats. For the most part, I would say that she did. She certainly didn’t chase them out of malicious intent or from some genetic hatred of the species. She didn’t even chase the community cats that she came across on her walks. In fact, she was once attacked by a mother cat, when in her very blur way, she wandered too close to a nest of kittens. At home, she would only run after the cats for two reasons: when they try to steal her food and when she wants to join in their play.

Sometimes, it crossed my mind that Loy Loy thinks she’s a cat. Not long after she entered our household, she started to lick herself. We took her to the vet but she couldn’t find anything wrong with her. We tried spraying her with Bitter Lime, but it didn’t stop her. She simply ‘cleaned’ herself everyday as if she was a cat.

Then there was the matter of her food. She preferred eating cat food over her own dog food. We ended up having to put the cats’ food bowls on the counters and cupboards, so that she would not be able to reach them. But sometimes when we gave the cats some canned cat food as a treat, we would give her a little as well. If not, she would give us her very sad look.

Another food item that both Loy Loy and some of the cats liked a great deal was cheese. It was a habit started by her previous owner. She had given Loy Loy a slice of cheese, once a day, everyday, for the last 10 years. When Loy Loy thought that she’s getting cheese, she would jump up and down and turn around and around and around. Never before or since have I seen anyone behave so maniacally for such a small thing as cheese. And when she’s fed the cheese, she swallows the pieces in super fast time.

The only other thing that would rival cheese in the amount of excitement and happiness it brought Loy Loy would be going for walks. The minute she saw me in my walking gear, she would start with her jumps and turns all the way to the front door. She got so animated by the time she's reached the the door that I often have a hard time putting her harness on her. Sometimes, Harmony (the little curmudgeon) would get so annoyed with all the jumping and turning, that she would thump her one. But even that wouldn’t quell Loy Loy’s exhilaration. All she wants to do is to get out the door, race down the stairs and the long corridor to get to the lift. Once in the lift, she would place her little snout in the corner where the lift door would open and shoot out the minute it was a few inches wide!

Writing these postings about Loy Loy has brought forth a lot of good memories about her. Most of it is in little disjointed bits and pieces. Perhaps I'll jot them all down one of these days and create another post with them.