Sunday, April 26, 2009

Tikus—a cat named mouse

We have rats dancing on the thatched roof in the great room and mice party in the kitchen at night while we sleep. We called the property manager and their solution was a kucing (a cat)—of course. They told us of a large Persian mouser that they would bring to our villa and he would take care of the "tikus" which is the Indonesian word for rats and mice.

So, three days ago, Uul arrives with a box that he brought on his motorbike from their home about half hour crazy from here. He had no luck catching the big Persian mouser that he chased through the rice fields in Umalas, but he did bring a cat. He opens the box and there is the tiniest cat looking up at me—maybe 5lbs. She is not the typical Bali wild cat, but as Uul explained, "she adopted them, lives at their house, but she is not their pet". So she moved in and I named her Tikus. She has claimed a bright pink mat on a bench in the kitchen and when she is not sleeping there or eating crunchies, I see her chasing mice in the garden. Despite her diminutive size, she is quite loud.

After a day, my western ways got the best of me and I started to worry about the fact that this cat wasn't spayed (they don't do that much here). So off we went to find a Dokter Hewan. The last thing we need is a litter of "anak kucing". Later that day a beautiful young Balinese woman arrived on a motorbike and introduced herself as Kadek the Dokter Hewan. We all sat on the floor and made plans for the operation which with our limited Indonesian and her very limited English took some work, a dictionary and a fair amount of pantomime while Tikus slept in our laps. She determined Tikus to be about eight months old and she could perform the operation tomorrow either at her home or at our villa—AT OUR VILLA?

11 comments:

laura said...

Oh boy, a home hysterectomy!
The cat paitnings are just great--I love them all, and especially the patterning in the bottom one.
I've had cats all my life, and my two tiniest cats, Cleo and Smilla, were the best hunters: they both had a killer instinct!

Alex said...

Awesome cat drawing!!!! :) Sangat Cantik^^

Lindart said...

beautiful paintings of the cat - very soft and warm! She looks like a lovely cat.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

What a charmer, Jennifer. LOL, it is startling to think of having the kitty spayed at your house, but that would be a good thing to do. I wish more people would do it here, where roaming cats kill thousands of birds and small mammals. Love the sketches, especially the one with chin up.

Ann said...

Beautiful sketches! Good to get her spayed though. Hope all goes well :)

Beth Baxter said...

These sketches really capture "catness", as I sit here typing with my big bruiser, Bailey, on my lap.

Caroline said...

Yikes, operation kucing at home! Love these cat sketches - you have a wonderful ability to capture essence of cat! Hoping you'll not want to document too much of the operation though!!

A Brush with Color said...

Oh, man--I love your stories, Jennifer. These watercolors of the cat are just stunning. I am so impressed with the lovely job you did on these. You are a natural at watercolors, I think. So beautiful. Keep us posted on the big event! LOL Hope all goes well.

Deborah said...

Will the cat be anesthetized?

Kate (Cathy Johnson) said...

I love these, Jennifer...I hope all went well for your pretty Tikus.

seesue said...

Morning Jennifer, your sketches and stories are the best.