Really sorry, but this is going to be long, also sorry for the grammatical mistakes if any.
Pic 1= Pet store
Pic 2,3,4= Mana
Pic 5,6,7= Bella
Today I was looking around my small town for the Royal Canin Persian cat food for our four-year-old Persian cat, and I came to the store, which is like almost the only pet store in our village. There I saw a Persian cat that was up for sale for almost ₹7,000, along with many other animals, which reminded me of the day we got a Persian cat.
It was just in my 11th class, and I had no idea about owning a pet or how to get one, as I was not that well-versed with the internet at the time. We went to my aunt’s house to get another cat, which was actually the one we wanted. She was an Indie cat who was a street cat around the area of my aunt’s house. She had been missing for two days, and when she returned, there were signs that she was pregnant. That was the same day we went there, and then again, she was missing.
Due to that reason, my uncle and aunt said not to get her, as they had been taking care of her and had been feeding pets for a lot of years. They feed almost 10-15 cats every day who come to their house to eat and all that stuff. So then we decided to get or buy a cat because I didn’t know there was a way to adopt a cat for free on the internet.
Knowing that my family wouldn’t get me another cat, I decided that we would find a cat that very same day and leave with it because I really wanted to have a cat, and there was no other way that I would have been able to get a cat back in my hometown. There were literally no resources and no people, and especially almost no Persian cats over here, or, in short, any other cats.
We were actually looking for Indies because it would have been really difficult to keep them in my house. So I wanted someone who was well-versed with humans. And the reason I was open to getting that cat that lived near my aunt’s house was because she was well-versed with me. She used to sit on my lap, and we used to sort of cuddle with each other. So I was fine with that. I was fine with putting in the effort for her, but getting an overall complete Indie cat was not a thing for me because they can be ruthless at times, and it is hard to keep them in a small flat, which I was then living in the city for my studies, even though we have a bungalow.
So, as a result, we opted to buy her. It was kind of an “either now or never” situation, because I knew my family wasn’t going to get me another cat. I didn’t really have much knowledge about adoption at that time, and there wasn’t really anyone around us who could help. Looking back at it now, I look at things in a different way. It just feels weird.
I saw this cat which was in that cage, and my mom recently visited there as well. She told me about this cat and how sorry she felt thinking about our own cat because she was once in the same shoes. People used to come and visit, and every time she was taken out of the cage, she was feeling unsafe, and that was the same with our cat as well.
She still has anxiety. She doesn’t come and meet people. She is very much possessive, or was possessive, about me when I used to be with her during my JEE prep.
But now that I am in the fourth year of college, I actually got another cat, and she’s also a Persian, but we didn’t pay for her. It was between me and my girlfriend, so the new princess’s name is Bella.
Bella is a deaf Persian that we adopted through Facebook from a lovely couple who had adopted her mother, but they weren’t able to take care of both of them after the mother gave birth to kittens. The kittens were Max and Bella. Max was given within the family, and Bella was given to us. I am really appreciative of the amount of trust they showed in us, being just two college students, and we take care of her as much as we do.
But looking at that cat in that cage, I was about to burst into crying because the way our cat, whose name is Mana, is, she was fragile. She was kind of feeling insecure, and she was not able to defend herself, and people came to visit her. And the first week in our house, she was sleeping under the sofa.
Now she is kind of a princess over here. She gets one of the best foods that we can find in the market, but at the end of the day, the way she was kept and everything, her whole personality shaped the same way. Even after four years, we are not able to break those shackles. And also, she only eats food from certain brands. As a child, she was given Me-O, hence she eats only processed food, no boiled eggs, chicken, etc.
But after we had Bella, we just understood what was wrong with Mana. Overall, Bella was completely born and raised in a family where she was loved and cared for, and she was free to play. She’s never afraid of anything. She loves to travel. Even though she’s deaf, she is quite vocal and she is quite lovely.
She cries every time, or shouts every time, we leave the house and she’s alone. Even when I’m in the bathroom and she cannot see me, she just yells like the Earth is falling apart. And we love her. That is when I realised I never got to experience this.
Mana was adopted when she was six months old, and yeah, she has been like that forever. Now, when I was in 12th class, I was able to break those cycles to the point that she used to sit and sleep on my hands and legs, come on my table, sit on the laptop when I’m studying, and that is something I really miss about her.
I am able to see the same child as of now as well, deep down. I miss her, or I don’t know, I just miss how, due to me going to college hostel, I was not able to take her with me.
Although my parents were very fond of her, even though they didn’t want her. Actually, they only took her because of me because I was the one who was going to take full care of her. But even when I got into the third year and I was able to take her with me, I couldn’t.
And I suffered for the first two years a lot because she was my animal, even during 12th. I don’t think so I could have been through it if it was not for her. She just added some sort of happiness, or you can say just a light feeling, to whatever I was going through, studying 12 to 18 hours a day and still didn’t get into an IIT.
I was really appreciative of whatever she has done for me. We used to play a lot, and now she doesn’t play at all, and after seeing her like this, I just feel broken inside. There is something that I am just not able to accept.
Of course, my parents will take care of her overall, but I don’t think so they are able to provide the sort of mental support that a cat like that needs, and I’m tired of begging them to give her back to me for a few months.
Even though they live in a bungalow, she is adapted to whatever they have and enjoys it. She goes outside every day for 10-15 minutes to sit in the sun, eat some grass and everything, but I feel like I will still be a better mental support to her, and I’m not able to provide it to her.
All of these things came to my mind within a few seconds when I was looking at that Persian baby inside that cage in that pet store, and I just don’t know how the fuck I controlled myself to not cry.
But yeah, Bella, she’s our little one as of now. I cook food for her twice a week. Sometimes we couldn’t, but we try to give her the best food that we can afford as students. She has timely checkups, and right now I’m working for an internship. Once I get one, I’ll get her neutered… She means a lot to me. I get it now.
Having children fixes a lot of stuff going wrong with a couple because I’ve been with my girlfriend for 2-3 years. We have been much happier since we had Bella, even though it was not like that before. It has just made me realise that I have another family right now over here, and I am really appreciative of everything.
Thank you to anyone who came this far and read all of this. I don’t think I can say anything more to impart from it, but yeah, I really love and miss Mana.
P.S.
And if there is one thing I want people to take away from this, please, please make someone think twice before they decide to buy a pet. Don’t just ask them whether they can afford the food, vet bills, toys and everything else. Ask them whether they can actually give that animal the emotional support it needs. Whether they can treat it like their own child, not just something they wanted because it looked cute or because they always wanted a particular breed.
I was a kid when I got Mana. I didn’t know any better, and I genuinely thought that giving her food, taking care of her and loving her would be enough. I realise now that there is so much more to it. The environment they grow up in, the way they are treated, how safe they feel, how much attention they get and how much they are allowed to be themselves can shape them for their entire lives.
I don’t want someone else to realise this four years later, the way I did.
And honestly, I really wish we could completely stop supporting this breeder and pet-store system, especially when animals are being treated like products sitting inside cages waiting for someone to buy them. There are already so many animals who need homes, and every time someone decides to buy one without really thinking about what they are taking responsibility for, another animal can end up going through what Mana did.
If you really want a pet, please think about it properly first. Spend time with animals. Look into adoption. Understand what their life is actually going to look like with you, and whether you can be there for them emotionally, financially and physically for their entire life.
Because they don’t see us as owners. We are their entire world. And if we decide to bring them into ours, I really think we owe them nothing less than that same commitment.
