When his brother brought home a female stray cat one day 10 years ago, Khairi remembers telling him it was a mistake. “She will bear kittens for sure,” Khairi fretted – and sure enough, a litter of kittens was born shortly after she mated with their tomcat, Oyen.
At their peak, the family had a total of 17 cats that were kept outside in a special enclosure, though the number has since dropped to three. Pipil was among the third litter born from the prolific pair.
“We brought Pipil into the house to separate him from the others after he caught sporotrichosis at age two,” Khairi told FMT. The contagious fungal infection can spread to other animals, and sometimes even humans, through open wounds.
A special cage was made for Pipil, who took a year to fully recover. Ever since, he has been allowed to roam the house freely.
About to turn eight soon, Pipil is as curious as cats can be and enjoys affection from his human family. “He likes to be held in our arms like a baby,” Khairi said fondly.
The cat can be demanding, too: some mornings, Pipil will stand in front of Khairi’s bedroom door and meow continuously, clearly trying to wake his human up.
Since he grew up among people, Pipil can’t go for more than two days without human contact, otherwise he “gets stressed and pukes all over”.
As for his culinary preferences, Pipil likes canned food but gets bored easily, so Khairi needs to switch brands on rotation to keep things interesting.
The fussy feline also dislikes kibble that’s been sitting out for too long – although his human has discovered that if he takes some and spaces them out across the floor, Pipil will eat it.
“He probably thinks it’s a treat, which is why he munches away,” Khairi mused.
On a normal day, you’ll see Pipil sitting in his designated chair without a care in the world. Bird-watching is one of the few hobbies he has, other than trilling at other cats who happen to pass by.
When he’s feeling lazy, nothing will get Pipil up – not even his toys. “If it’s within his reach, he’ll play with it; but the moment I move it further, he’ll lose interest,” Khairi shared with a laugh.
Like most cats, Pipil is scared of the vacuum cleaner and other loud noises. Once, Khairi recalled, some fireworks went off, and Pipil fled to hide under a table.
Despite this show of apprehension, Pipil doesn’t shy away from meeting new people. And he has his cheeky moments, too.
“I was watching football late one night and, when I wanted to go to bed, Pipil decided to anchor himself to my lap,” Khairi recalled.
“I had to wait half an hour for him to get up.”
This article was written by Toon Kit Yi. Read more pet stories here, and follow Pipil on Instagram.
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