It wasn’t long since I lost my darling Aslan, and today, I lost another pet: Nefertiti, the stray kitten who was abandoned by its mother in the goat pen.
Things were going great between the dog and the cat (the two were actually friends!) - with the dog being at a slight disadvantage, when jealousy got the better of the dog, who went out of line this morning and killed the cat for no apparent reason. I had known all the time since I took over the eight year old dog that it would be hard to retrain him to anything stable and normal, but the past months had seen such progress both with humans and animals, that I was quite cheerful about his future. Today however, he showed that the damaged done to him cannot be undone, and I can only be glad that it was not my niece that he charged.
Although I am certain I will never be an official cat person, I really enjoyed Nefertiti. In a typical catlike manner, she craved food and affection, but she gave generously of herself.
She followed me wherever I went and wanted to be part of everything I was doing.
She was never on the lazy side either - constantly enhancing her hunting skills and practicing on just about everything (including the dog’s tail).
Last afternoon I enjoyed her company, she was practicing her climbing skills.
I’m going to miss this little kitten. Some times when things end badly, you find yourself wishing you hadn’t invested so much, but I can’t regret it, neither for her sake nor for mine. We had a great few weeks together. I’ll always be thankful for that.
And by the way, she got the perfect name. Nefertiti dan Musa - son of the cat.
Now I have yet to forgive the dog, whose full Hausa name is Dennis Mugu, which appropriately translates to Dennis the criminal.
10 users commented in " Nerfertiti dan Musa: June 2008 - July 2008 "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI’m sorry to hear about Aslan, I was going to ask how he was doing!
And now the cat too…
Oh my, take care and watch out for that ‘criminal’, his ways are scarry.
@O: Thanks! I’m sorry about Aslan too. He was the Arwen of dogs, and I guess in a sense, Nefertiti was the Arwen of cats for me, as I’ve never really met a cat that impressed me so before.
Dennis the Criminal is doing a ceremonious act of repentance right now, but it’s just a show and I’m not impressed. I’ve never had a dog in my entire life who deliberately killed an accepted flock member. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do to fix the problem either. The dog is just too old and too damaged when it comes to interacting with other individuals and he will just have to live out his days with a restraining order.
So sorry to hear about Aslan AND Neferititi, it’s been a rough month for you. I hope that life with pick up around the ark and that Dennis doesn’t do any harm to your other animals.
Vad tråkigt att höra att du förlorade Aslan, och nu katten också. Jag hade missat att Aslan inte klarade sig. Det var kanske när jag var på diabetslägret i Lysekil. Väldigt tråkigt att höra. Ta hand om dig! När kommer fölet förresten?
Kram Karin
@Amanda: Thanks! For the time being, everyone is safe at Ishtar’s ark as all the other animals have the upper hand on Dennis. The mares need only threatened with a kick, and he’s out of there, and the goats will kick him until he cries for mercy if they don’t like his attitude. The last thing I saw of Nefertiti, she was on her two feet telling the dog to back off, but I thought it was all fair play and didn’t intervene. I don’t think I’ll be getting myself any smaller pets as long as Dennis is still around.
@Karin: Aslan’s death came as a such a shock that I couldn’t even write a post about it - all I wrote was a comment on the piroplasmosis post. The foal is due on September the 12th, but it could be anything from a month before or after. I’m keeping my thumbs up for a little boy - I know I’d have to sell him eventually, but Anette came up with the perfect colt name, and I have yet to match that when it comes to a filly!
Now that’s sad. Maybe you could rename him into Mugabe or so - Dennis sounds to submissive (~Thatcher
RIP Nefertiti. You looked so plucky through Esther’s lens.
Mugu = criminal in Hausa? Sounds close to the Japanese mugoi (moo-goy) = gruesome, horrible, ghastly or cruel, pitiless, cold-blooded.
Lol, I forgave the dog last night. He’s a mugu and people feel really unsafe around him, but he’s just an animal who let jealousy get the better of him. We people do that too.
On a different note, here’s a sweet story. Every day when Tabita sees me, she asks: “Did the mother cat came last night?”
In her mind, the visit of a mother cat equals another kitten in the garden, who will then replace Nefertiti. When I tell her the mother cat didn’t come by, and that I don’t think she’ll be bringing another kitten for a while, she looks at me as-a-matter of fact and asks with a serious note: “But how about Father Cat? Didn’t Father Cat come?”
Ah, now Father Cats are not much better than Dennis Mugus when it comes to the dealings of sweet little kittens, but the good news is that a two-year-old doesn’t need to know that yet.
ha ha, that’s a cute story
[…] It’s the lizard season right now, with males killing each other as they chase the females who are fat with eggs. Another life lesson I may not be sharing with my two-year-old niece, who still thinks that ‘Father Cat’ may bring me another kitten to replace Nefertiti… […]
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