Every morning at 7:30, Sweetie jumps onto the bed and purrs loudly in my ear. If I try to grab her, she immediately runs away. She poops a lot, and it’s incredibly smelly. When I come home, she rubs against me affectionately, but after a while, she acts like she doesn’t know me. When it’s snack time, she runs over super fast, but once she’s done eating, she acts like she doesn’t care who I am.
Here’s a beautiful photo of Sweetie to set the tone.
When my wife and I were dating, she sent me a video of cats to choose from, and I immediately fell for Sweetie. Her cleverness stood out, and when we went to see the cats, Sweetie was indeed the most lively and mischievous one. Even though her back wasn’t fully gray, it didn’t matter to us.
Because we were going to Beijing during Labor Day, Sweetie stayed at the pet store for four extra days. She had been checked and was fine before, but when we brought her home, we found out she had developed ringworm and a black chin.
Sweetie didn’t show much stress when she came home. She ate as if she’d never get food again, and this went on for a while. Then, perhaps because she ate too much, she had diarrhea and even bloody stools. We took her to the vet, where they did blood tests and stool tests, but nothing was wrong. Reducing her food intake and giving her probiotics solved the issue. It felt like she was constantly on medication, with various ointments applied to her body every day.
Here’s a photo of her as a little duck-legged kitten.
We used to live in a small rented room, but after moving to a bigger place, Sweetie seemed much happier. However, after the move, her first bath went wrong—the shampoo got into her eyes (thanks to the pet shop, where a Shanghai employee blamed me, saying my cat already had issues, and even spoke in Shanghainese, thinking we wouldn’t understand). To make matters worse, the ringworm on her tail flared up again. For the next two months, it was a daily routine of anti-inflammatory medicine, two types of eye drops, ringworm spray, liver-protecting medicine, Itraconazole, egg yolks, fish oil, and nutritional paste.
Fortunately, Sweetie recovered day by day and grew up healthy. Then came the time for her spaying surgery.
True to her resilient nature, while other cats would sleep for a day or two after anesthesia, Sweetie was already stumbling around trying to jump and play the same day. Within three days, she was back to her usual energetic self, climbing and jumping everywhere.
In January this year, we went to Japan for a week, and Sweetie made a new friend named Hitler, a super chill female cat.
During the boarding period, the two cats seemed to compete for food, eating non-stop. Sweetie’s weight shot up.
When we came back, she was noticeably chubbier. She also stopped sleeping next to us and instead slept in her cat bed, at our feet, or between our legs (a ten-pound cat is really heavy!).
Here’s a photo of Sweetie during the New Year at my grandfather’s house.
Sweetie isn’t usually very clingy, but if you step out even for a moment, like to get a package, she becomes super affectionate. Once, when I left her alone for two days, she cried heartbreakingly when I returned, making me feel so guilty. She’d let me hold her for about five minutes, then ignore me. She loves to get my attention by the bed, but if I try to pet her, she runs away, being her mischievous self. She’s always tearing apart cardboard boxes blocking the sofa or under the bed, and her poop is incredibly smelly. But Sweetie has become an irreplaceable part of our family. I hope she continues to grow up healthy and happy.
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