Posts Tagged ‘Beit Chabeb’
Part 1. Antics of lovable late dog Misha
William got in the business of training Misha. Misha was not to approach the dish of food before getting the order “Eat Misha”, “Good dog Misha”… William had to move out of home and mother would cook for Misha rice and leftover meat that I bring from the supermarket Storiom. Misha would still not come close to the dish until I prompt her “Okay Misha, eat!” Stranger would think Misha might be sick or on a fasting diet. Friends of William would think Misha was trained on the strict vegetarian diet of her master; like the notion that most kind of grains induce stomach ulcer and…
The irony is that William turned vegetarian and refused to bring leftover meat for Misha, kind of “I don’t carry meat, don’t expect me to ask for meat”. And I am thinking “What is Misha to eat then? Has Misha been trained early on to eat vegetables?” It is confirmed that Misha don’t like carrots: She would sort out carrot pieces from any mixture of vegetables, rice, and meat.
Mother would bring food to Misha by hollering “Misha, Mishaaa…aaa”. The cats would get the hint, eat the meat and leave the rice.
Two years ago, a tiny beautiful stray cat, no older than two months, entered the hall of the building. Misha and I were there and I said “No Misha”. Little niece Chelsea happened to be there on time and carried the kitten up her apartment. The cat was raised in the apartment of my sister.
Ever since, Misha would retreat and make room when she sees the cat. Kind of Misha is making sure not to be tempted to hurt the cat. All other cats, trapped inside the staircase, would be found hanging on the windows bars. Twice, we thought the cats in serious predicament and tried to help them out of the windows: We finally learned that they were too afraid to step down in Misha’s presence.
Chelsea once boasted to William: “Our cat is ferocious: Misha is too scared of her.” William reasoned with his little sister that cats are no match to dogs. I personally witnessed the previous wild dog swiftly bite a kitten instantly dead and resume his walk as if nothing happened: The poor beautiful white kitten just peeked her head out of her hiding.
I also witnessed many times cats eating their own dead kitten; as if it is pretty normal to have first right on this fresh meat. I once saw a mother cat taking her dead kitten in her mouth and drop the body to ground several times to reanimate the corpse. Anyway, it seems that male cats try hard to kill the kitten, as lions do.
We had a weird black male cat that retreated on her hind legs when frightened. I used to think this cat was gay or something: This male cat took longer than needed to “mature”. And then suddenly, this year, the black cat never stop moaning his “in heat” state all year round, in all kinds of melodies that drove me crazy. I think he was faithful to the cat raised in Chelsea’s apartment: Another sign of his weirdness. For two weeks now, our black very matured cat disappeared.
A couple of days after we buried Misha in the garden, I saw half a dozen girl scouts visiting Misha grave. I thought: “Oh Oh, Misha grave is a visiting destination” The next day, I beautified the place: I spread roses of different colors and a poster of Misha.
We have printed postcards of Misha with messages of what she meant for everyone in the family. We are distributing them to all houses in Cornet Chehwan, Bikfaya, and Beit Chabeb to raise awareness against intentional dog poisoning. There are a lot of houses to cover, and the girl scouts are kindly helping us, but we would really appreciate an extra hand if anyone can spare some time.
Hanane Kai and a few of her friends knocked on the door of over 200 houses, giving them letters.
Letters saying: “Misha was like a sister to me! what would you do if they poisoned your sister?”
Adonis Diaries 