Animals teaches us compassion

May you free from all kind of sufferings and sicknesses. May the merits gained be share with all beings

Last Sunday evening (17th Aug, 2014), while at the night market to purchase some fruits and vegetables, my husband Marcus stumbled upon a weak and injured kitten near a drain. It was shivering from cold, hunger and pain. Husband stood there for half an hour wondering whether to bring it back or not as we already have two cats at home.

A Malay lady who walked past told him encouragingly, “Angkatlah anak kucing ini balik rumah, cepat kasi ia sembuh.” She was telling him to take it home and help it to recover quickly. Inspired by her encouraging words, he decided there and then, “Okay, come with me!”

So with one hand carrying a big bag of groceries, the other was used to carry a struggling kitten all the way home, much to the amusement and smiles from those who saw him. The kitten has very sharp claws and it was struggling out of fear but Marcus held it close to his chest so that it could feel that it was in safe hands.

Once home, the poor thing was given a warm bath and some cat food. Our daughter named it “Marble” because of its color which resembled that of a marble cake. Fearing that it would get hurt, Marcus slept with it in the living room as our cats were quite hostile to the newcomer. Cats are territorial animals.

The next morning, the first thing Marcus did was to bring the kitten to the government vet in Cheras. Feeding food and medications to an injured kitten is a daunting task as it keeps struggling and refused to open its mouth. You see, the area around the kitten’s mouth was raw with blood and pus. But with perseverance, Marcus was able to do that.

Both Pussy and Kitty took almost a week to accept their new mate. This photo was taken today, a week after Marble was rescued from a dirty drain. Look, its mouth had completely healed and tiny hairs began to sprout out from what used to be an open wound.

I told husband that Marble is so lucky she met him. “Lucky is a more suitable name than Marble. Let’s call her Lucky instead.”

“It is our luck that I met the kitten. Animals teaches us compassion. We are very lucky to be able to learn compassion from animals.”

I think Marcus is right. Besides teaching us responsibility as pet owners and giving us wonderful companionship, animals helps to bring out the compassionate side in us.

Thank you, Pussy, Kitty and Lucky Marble. We are still hoping for the miracle that Nelson will come back one day. We would love to watch them play together.

Puss, the big brother.

Nel, the second brother. “Miracles happen everyday”

Kiddy, the little naughty.

Marble , the lucky gal.

Puss and Marble the lucky gal

Puss and Marble the lucky gal sharing the night view together.

Lovely Marble the lucky gal

Getting healthier and stronger.

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Baby steps, joyful steps…..

A day before my baby son turned 100 days old and to mark the milestone, his babysitter told me to get ready a piece of chicken meat, a piece of pork and a piece of fish fillet, all cooked of course.

“Bring these food over and I’ll do the necessary for him,” she told me, a first time mother and a very naive one too.

The next day, she smeared his mouth with each piece of meat which I had cooked and put together in a plate.

“Today, you’re 100 days old and ready to eat solid food. Don’t be a picky eater, okay? Eat everything given to you – chicken, pork and fish. That way, you’ll grow up to be a big healthy boy,” she told my wide-eyed baby wriggling in her arms.

The same was done for his little sister when she was 100 days old.

I guess this must be some grandma trick to get children to eat meat. As children, we were given meat to eat as soon as our first tooth popped up.

Like my children, I grew up eating meat.

In those days, chicken, pork and fish were considered luxury food and when we have them once in a blue moon, we were so grateful that we did not bother to stop for a moment to think whether these are the right food for us. What is important is to have our empty stomachs filled up.

Now it is different. Now I am beginning to question the food that we put into our mouths.

I still remember as a teenager, I followed Mom to the Pasar Besar Ipoh one day and we stopped at the pork section. There, at her regular stall facing Foong Seong Building, I saw a slaughtered pig as big as the size of an adult human with its stomach slit open and drops of blood were dripping from the opening down to the floor that was covered with used newspaper.

On the table nearby was a tray of the pig’s offal which were to be sold separately. I saw another tray of coagulated pig blood as well. This gory sight made me almost fainted. I ran down the steps to a nearby drain and vomited. There and then, I made up my mind never to touch pork again.

Many years later when we moved to live in a housing estate away from town, we got someone slaughtering and selling chickens in the market as a neighbor. Each morning, he would slaughter hundreds of chicken before transporting them to the market. After four o’clock in the morning, it would be impossible to sleep on with all the crying from the animals permeating the air. The cries were so pitiful they will linger on in our mind long after the sun came out.

As years went by, it slowly dawned on me that we should not eat so much meat. Why should these poor animals have to endure pain and death to satisfy our palate? Don’t we have other food to eat besides meat?

Today, I am making a very conscious choice of reducing our family’s meat intake. I explained to my children why we should eat less meat from now on. Animals got killed because there were demands for their meat. If we reduce our demand, then there will be less supply and less killing.

Luckily for me, both my children were animal lovers and they have no qualms in giving up their meat intake. Instead of taking drastic steps like eliminating meat totally from their meals, what I did was to reduce them gradually. It’s been a month now but we managed beautifully.

Yes, we are taking baby steps towards total elimination and they are such joyful steps……..

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