Memoirs of Veggie Lim

One fine day, she brought him home from a furniture shop at Chong Pang. She said there were two kittens but veggie caught her eye. So she brought him home, just like that.

Why Veggie? Because his head has a distinct V if you look at his head from behind. And no, veggie is not a vegetarian and he loves chicken.

We did have other kind of pets, rabbits, tortises, chicks, fighting fishes and even small froggies. Veggie is different, he brought our pet experience to the next level.

It wasn't easy to have him as an additional member for us. for me especially, because I am not animal person. For my mom, household chores became tougher. She had to come home every morning after her coffee and breakfast, with surprises. Cat urine can be on the floor, in the kitchen and even on the beds and sofa.

He started with incessant meowing. Then peeing everywhere. There was no internet, no forum and no friends who had pets. We don't understand his behaviour, let alone how to teach him. He grew up in our family, just like that.

The peeing problem did not just give rise to the cleaning part. It can be exasperating when we rushed for work or meeting friends and realised our clothes, bag or shoes smelt of his strong urine smell! Embarrassing.

There were times I was at work. The air-con was strong, so I pulled out my black cardigan. Gosh, the whole sleeve was full of veggie's white fur. I had to use scrotch-tape (the only adhesive available) to try to stick them all out, during work! Yes, all the black clothing would come with free white fur.

Nevertheless, he was my sister's best companion. He will follow her in the house, wait for her when she bathed and wait for her at the door.

When my sister went for her first checkup in the hospital, the bad news struck her down. She went into depression after the nurse casually remarked that she should cut her hair because her long hair would enhance the effect of the hair dropping process during chemotherapy. It was the thought of going home to see veggie that kept her going. Every time she went to hospital, she couldn't bear to leave veggie.

For veggie, he would search for her through meowing loudly in the middle of the night when she went hospital. A few days before my sister passed away, my mum and elder sister said veggie boy cried when they told him his owner is going to die.

He was such a loyal pet to her.

For me with Veggie, I went from running 1 meter away from veggie 9 years ago, to sitting side-by-side with him, touching his forehead, rubbing his cheek, to sharing the same bed and even the same pillow with veggie boy. The three of us shared the same room, until nana came, we became a family of four sharing the smallest room in the house. It was small, nevertheless cozy.

And it was entertaining to watch him sleep or laze around. It just feel as if nothing else matters, why not take a break from the vexing matters. I do miss waking up and found him sleeping deeply by my pillow. The luxury was gone when we downsized from a queen-sized bed to a bunk bed due to my newly developed allergic rhinitis.

So veggie, please go and find your owner and help mend her pet shop.
Kiss goodbye.