Instinct Of A Mother

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful.


Today, I'm going to write a story about a mother cat. A pure instinct and love of a mother cat.


Below, is a picture of a mother cat named Maggi. Maggi was one of the cats at my hostel block.




When Maggi was younger, she was one very frightened cat. Dia macam takut dengan orang. Tapi mengenangkan kewujudan operasi penangkapan "tak pasal-pasal" kucing-kucing di blok-blok hostel uia ni, memang wajarlah Maggi sentiasa rasa dalam ketakutan. As a result, she didn't reveal herself that much to people. And as a result, when she gave labour to her kittens, she would give labour dalam semak samun yang ada dekat blok aku ni. And when the kittens got bigger, she would hide them dalam semak samun atau di dalam longkang yang berdekatan dengan blok aku ni juga. Gambar-gambar di bawah, mengukuhkan kata-kata aku tentang insecurity Maggi sebagai ibu.

Gambar di atas diambil waktu siang.
The two kittens are her first batch of children that we, me and my friends, saw.

The two pics above were taken at night.

Di atas ini ialah gambar longkang yang Maggi selalu menyorok dengan anak-anak dia. It's their main hiding place, especially bila tiba masa Operasi Menangkap Kucing "tak pasal-pasal' which I mentioned earlier. Sebenarnya, dekat tepi sebelah kanan ni, macam ada saluran kecil yang membolehkan Maggi dan anak-anaknya masuk ke dalam longkang besar ni.

Tengok tu, the two kittens, Bunny and Koko;p The funny part was, the two knew how to get into the big drain, tapi tak tau macam mana nak keluar:p Makanya, terjerit-jeritlah dua ekor ni, konon minta tolong dari dalam longkang besar tu bila Maggi was not around.

It was quite deep tau the big drain. Me and several other catlovers couldn't simply jump to save them. Makanya, kitorang sampai kene turunkan kerusi untuk keluarkan diorang.

Tengok, betulkan? Sangat dalam.

Some may deem Maggi's act of putting the kittens in the drain as a crazy act. Ya, mungkin pada akal manusia, kita rasa Maggi buat kerja gila. Tapi jika kita fikirkan semula, this is a living proof of the pure instinct and love of a mother cat which was trying to save her kittens from threats and danger. And perhaps, I would say more of the threats and danger from human beings and any other forms of perpetrators. Pada instinct atau naluri Maggi, only the big drains and the bushes were safe for her and the kittens.

And Maggi was definitely not a crazy mummy. She cared so much of her children. Ada waktu-waktu tertentu, Maggi akan bawa "hasil buruan" seperti cicak, burung dan binatang-binatang lain untuk diberi pada the kittens. Subhanallah, tersentuh sangat bila tengok dia gonggong 'buruan' tu ntah dari mana ntah dan bawa ke blok aku untuk bagi anak dia makan. Kalau the kittens were not around, she would call them dengan suara meow dia yang halus tu;)

And there was this one time, Bunny and Koko were hid in my room, cause it was the week of the Ops tangkap kucing. The two tak senang duduk dalam bilik ni, mengiau meronta mintak keluar. Tak sampai sejam diorang bising-bising, tiba dengar suara Maggi di luar bilik, mengiau suara halus dia tu;p She knew that her kittens were in some sort of uncomfortable surroundings, and she knew where they were. Subhanallah. Once I let Maggi into my room, Bunny and Koko cuddled next to their mummy and went to sleep, soundly. Dah tamat kekecehohan;p

Maggi and her first batch kittens, Koko & Bunny (which now have turned into pretty lady cats;) relaxing at the parking lot;p

Eventually, Maggi got used to the existence of human beings around her and around her kittens coz we, the catlovers usually fed them, patted them on their backs, treated them well and cared so much about them. Maggi masih ada rasa insecure, tapi tak seperti dulu. Lama-lama, dia dah ada rasa percaya sikit pada manusia, yang sukakan kucing. Dia dah berani datang ke my room yang kat level 3 ni, minta makanan dengan suara kecil dia tu;p Comel sangat;) Dia dah makin gemuk sampai dia dah pregnant dah beranak dan pregnant semula pun kita tak perasan. Dia juga dah berani ikut kaki kita ke mana juga kita pergi, kalau dia tau, kita ni suka kucing;) All I can say about Maggi is she was one super adorable mother cat...

I said WAS one super adorable mother cat...


On Monday morning, I woke up and was walking slowly to the toilet to wash my face, when my neighbour (my jiran ni, dia tak la gilakan kucing like me and some others. so she doesn't hafal the names of the cats at our blocks like how we do), who saw me in dazed, quickly said, "Fara.. Fara tau tak ada kucing mati?". I was like "Ha? Kucing mati?! Kucing mana?". She answered "Kucing yang ada anak lima tu'. I said to myself, kucing yang ada lima ekor anak..? Kucing mana pulak ni..? She further explained "Alaa Fara..kucing yang lima ekor anak comel-comel tu.. Yang letak anak dia dalam longkang tu.." OH MY.... PLEASE... NOT MAGGI...

Then my neighbour explained that on Friday, she saw the mother cat and the kittens in the drain. They were so cute and adorable together. Then on Sunday, she went again to the drain with the hope that she could take the pics of the kittens and the mother... But, all that she could find in the drain were the carcasses of the mother and her three kittens... Lying there... Already lifeless. I thanked her for telling me all this. Went to my room and I was still in denial, wishing that it was not Maggi. Oh please not Maggi. The thing is this, semester ni I was terlalu sibuk bekerja sambil belajar. Aku tak tahu sangat kalau Maggi pregnant or dah give labour. Aku tak perasan. Aku ingat lagi, hari Khamis pagi, Maggi datang mintak makanan. I gave her some. But I didn't notice anything. And I was still in denial.

But to make myself feel satisfied and sure of which cat and what actually happened, before I went to work, aku beranikan diri dan kuatkan hati, pergi jenguk dari satu big drain to another big drain yang berdekatan dengan blok aku ni. I even went to the big drain yang gambar kat atas tu tadi. But all the big drains were empty... I didn't find any trace of a carcass.

Until I arrived at this one drain. It was not a big drain, and it was not even deep. The depth was perhaps only 2 jengkal setengah. And there she was... the dearest Maggi... there she was... the dearest lifeless Maggi... :'(

I hold my breath when looking at her lifeless yet still looking strong body, trying to control myself from crying. I looked at her carcass for several minutes without blinking my eyes, a way of trying to tell myself that, THAT carcass was indeed Maggi.. dear Maggi. I stood there for 5 minutes, trying to digest everything. My heart kept saying "Oh you poor thing...you poor, poor thing mummy.... sian mummy..." I tried to search for the carcasses of her kittens, but I couldn't find any. Now I remember, there was a very heavy rain and even storms on Saturday noon. But I was at Alpha Angle when the rain came. It was so so so heavy that there the rain even flooded the entrance of JJ a bit.

Agaknya, waktu tu lah Maggi terlemas dalam longkang ni. Mesti, dalam kelam kabut hujan tu, being a strong mother cat and having a pure instinct of a mother cat to five cute healthy kittens, she must have tried to save her kittens. That's all that she could think of as a mother to the kittens. That's all her instinct said. Dan mungkin, masa cuba nak selamatkan anak dia tulah, dia terlemas atau mungkin terjatuh dan lemas. Ya Allah..sedihnya rasa.. :'(

After five minutes, I shed a bit of tears and went to my car, called a friend who stayed in the same block and who also fond of Maggi and the kittens, broke the news to her and she was also sad. Then, I went straight to another friend's room, a catlover as well, told her the news and she was also very very shocked. After that, I went straight to work.

But still, the whole of Monday and even up till today, I just couldn't shake my head of the fact that Maggi died while trying to save her kittens. And the kittens had probably died and drifted somewhere else cause I couldn't seem to see their carcasses. Sedih sangat aku rasa. Bila aku teringatkan Maggi je, mesti mengalir air mata ni. Ish entahlah. Kesian Maggi.. Sedih sangat. Aku terfikir, mesti waktu hujan lebat tu, naluri dia tak ada lain selain nak selamatkan anak-anak dia. Mungkin, naluri dia kuat untuk selamatkan, lalu dia determine untuk redah juga hujan untuk selamatkan. Mungkin, naluri dia waktu tu, nak yang terbaik untuk selamatkan anak-anak dia. Tapi, yelah, Tuhan lebih tahu apa yang terjadi sebenarnya. Tapi, disebabkan dia dijumpai dalam longkang tu, aku rasa, kemungkinan yang agak besar, Maggi berada dengan anak-anak dia masa hujan lebat ribut kuat tu. You poor thing.. poor thing.. Ish sedih.. :'(

To those who are not fond of cats, maybe you guys can't comprehend this sadness.. And it's okay, I don't mind. But please don't criticise us for having such soft spot for cats or even other animals. To us, catlovers or animal lovers, this is a special gift.

I told my mother about Maggi (but no, I didn't tell her that I cried, cause I rarely, very rarely cry in front of her) just told her that me and my friends are very sad of what happened to Maggi. She said that this is God's will. We have to accept it. And I thought to myself, yeah.. It's true. It's one way of God teaching me to accept His Qada' and Qadar. I might have the thought that if I was around at that time, I could perhaps save her and the kittens. tapi, biarlah apa pun yang aku fikir, ini semua dah Tuhan tentukan. And I thought, at least, Maggi died while trying to save her children from drowning; a very pure intention, pure instinct of a mother.. she died while performing what she had to do as a mother.. it is, in one perspective, an honourable death. This makes me wonder, in what ways will I die and end my life? Will it be an honourable one too..?