There were predictions of a baby boom after the coronavirus season. But, in my house there was an early babyboom. One was a complete surprise and another one, well, we were expecting that but we just didn’t care to check the duration of pregnancy.
It was the fish we bought from the store and our cat. It was Kichu’s (nephew) wish to have fish as a pet. Last time he visited our house he found this old aquarium, I don’t know if we can call that, more like a small square tank maybe. It was bought when my brother was a kid and wanted to pet fish.
So, we bought two fishies, one white and one black. Both of them looked good. We bought them just before the lockdown.
So this one fine day my nephew wakes up to the surprise of his life, so far in his life at least. He spotted one small tiny black fish in the tank/aquarium. I think he spent almost all of his day that day in front of it. Not only him, all of us kept going there to check on them. None of us had seen a fish hatch before.
Wait, is that what we call? Do fishes hatch or birth? I don’t know. Anyways
By the evening there were 13 of them. Small, little cute, black babies. I don’t know how the process works in the fish world, but I am guessing they are the offspring of the big black fish in the tank. They were all really cute, like really, I spent a good amount of hours just looking at them swim.
Sometimes they hide among those coloured pebble-stone thingy too. By the next day we transferred them to another large glass jar. We were not sure if they will jump out of the tank and die. In the coming days Kichu spent a good amount of time looking after them and instructing us to keep the curtains shut when its hot and sunny in the noon.
He practically never left those steps
Our cat needs an introduction. She is not a pet cat to call her “ours”. But she is so close to us, especially to my brother. We used to have a lot of cats in our house when I was small. They were ours but not exclusively.
There are cats we buy them at the pet store. They are mostly a breed that is not common here and needs special cares. Then we have the cats which are local, well used to the weather and lifestyle. They don’t really belong to anyone. But, they are not much like the strays either. They have their own territories. But, nobody can say they own them.
The ones we had were born in our house and lived with us. There were so many kids all of them had and most of them were killed when they are kids by the male cats who roam around here. Those were the sad days we witnessed brutal killings.
But, all of them were gone, either died or went away from here. We all were in different cities to for studies and work. So, nobody really had time for pets either. It is until recently we all moved back or started to come home very frequently.
Can we focus on her mustache please!
So, this cat started to come to our house, I don’t know how. But, one time I was home I remember my brother calling her “Sundari” and she started to respond to him. Sometimes she looks at him when he calls or gives a meow as a reply.
She was scared of humans. Unlike other cats, she ran away if someone went near her. Nobody except my brother touched her. Otherwise, she might scratch or even bite. She was scared of humans. I don’t know why!
Eventually, she became “ours”. She spent most time in our house. She came for her meal times. But she never really entered the house. If she comes inside and see the door closing, she panics and start to scream.
So, recently, she was pregnant. We didn’t know or care to think about it. These cats search for their own place to birth and it is usually a place where they can hide the babies. By now, she has started to come inside the house, till our dining table.
But, then she started to climb up the stairs and look in between the spaces. We thought she was searching for a place for her babies. That also made us think she would be coming here when that happens.
But, no, she gave birth to three little ones in our neighbour’s abandoned cupboard. I have no clue how my rest of the family could tell, but they all understood the babies are born. Then it was a hunt by my brother to find them and bring them home.
That is never a good idea. It never works really. The cat has to bring them own her own. It’s kind of a trust thingy I guess. That’s what we have seen around here. At least with these type of cats who enjoys complete freedom.
So, they were here for a few days and one day she took them and went somewhere else. She always came home and spent most of the time with us but then went back to her babies time to time. Lol, my brother and she had a fight over it, don’t ask me how they communicated :D
Fast forward to now, both the big fishes died. One jumped out of the tank and we found it dead in the morning and I have no idea how the black one died. It was gone one day I when I was awake.
The kittens are doing great. She brought them all back after a few weeks to our house. She is friendlier or rather more demanding to us now. She always cries loud when we start to cook. I can touch her and brush her without any fear of getting bitten now. I don’t think she is ready to be held in hands though.
Kittens are kept in a hidden darker place and we try not to disturb them. The other day I was near their den and extended my hand towards them and they hissed like a snake. To be honest I got scared. It had been a long time I had pets. I have almost forgot how kittens behave. So, now it is another few months till they come out of their hideout and get used to humans.
One of them came out with her when she was leaving and I got this blurred pic of her/him. I can’t wait for them to grow up. It is always fun to have the furred ones. I hope they live a good life. I’ll wait for a little more to name them. It is sad if we lose them otherwise.
That’s the baby boom story during the lockdown in my house.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://elsaenroute.com/the-lockdown-baby-boom/