Champa manages to turn the lights on in the middle of the night. Sakhu, Dubru and Baku are learning to live with this live wire at author Sonali Gogate’s home
She went to adopt two kittens but looking at how upset the one who was not being adopted was, author Sonali Gogate picked up that kitten too! That’s how Sakhu Baku and Dubru came home. Watching her cats play makes her feel very happy, even if they are climbing up and down her curtains. What fascinates and amazes Sonali is their understanding of things around and the decisions they make based on that. Then came Champa, found drenched on the street and given to Sonali to foster. She never left and the Gogate brood grew to four.
While Champa, the happiest kitten in the house drives the three elder ones loony, Sonali sits back and enjoys the fun. The graceful and talkative Sakhu, Baku the chief groomer and Dubru the super-sensitive, no-fuss cat make all time fun time at her home. Champa has been turning on a tap that has a lever instead of a knob! At night she jumps on the switch panel in the living room and manages to turn on lights and the fan! Yes, there is never a dull moment, day or night!
With so much activity around, how does she find time to write? Sonali lights up, “They have tried to help me in many, many ways. Climbing on the laptop, walking across the keyboard in the middle of my typing, unplugging the power cable when the laptop is charging. Not just snoozing on my notes – but sometimes tearing them up too! I sometimes lock myself in the study now when I want to seriously focus and write.”
Living with four cats would be fun, each with their individual personality and antics. Is there a favourite? “That is impossible to answer! I don’t have one favourite, really. But it has happened that on a particular day I find one of them most loveable,” she says.
Her cats have dared to gift her something just once. They looked at Sonali’s reaction and never dared to again. “The three older ones (this was before Champa came to us), killed a lizard and left its head on my favourite place in the living room for me,. It was sweet because they thought of me, but actually it was really ghastly,” she sighs. That’s something cat parents can easily relate to.
Sonali’s reason for everybody to have cats: They keep you in a good mood always! It is difficult to be depressed when you have these creatures playing happily with each other. It is so much fun to watch them trying to figure out things. It is also very relaxing to watch them take naps whenever they feel like and sleep like there is no worry in the world. They are smaller in size so in the apartment, easier to manage. They also don’t need to be taken for walks like dogs. They are also cleaner – happy and healthy cats keep themselves very clean! They don’t need to be bathed either!
Unlike other cat parent complaints, Sonali’s cats are not troubled at mealtimes. They enjoy different brands and types of dry cat food and wet food and homemade food. The secret? “I have found that cats are more choosy and finicky if they are the only cat in your place. When there are more than two then they tend to be a lot less fussy,” she observes.
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