Our cat, Jackson!

Our cat, Jackson!
Jackson became part of our family sometime in early December of last year, we can say he was our Christmas gift! We brought him from an animal shelter. It was quite a journey getting him home.

The very first time we saw Jackson, although a bit shy, he still managed to steal our love and attention. Aww…such a delightful cat mama, Anoushka said! Arrested by his affection, we had no desire to move around and to look at other inhabitants of the shelter. We spent the rest of our ‘meet and greet’ time solely with this snowball, stroking and playing with him. Consumed with gusto and besotted we returned home. The next on agenda was to line up the necessary permissions from the landloard and get going on the adoption process for our much loved feral. The subsequent week was spent anxiously waiting for the approvals. We had requested the shelter to put Jackson on hold for us, but there was no guarantee that he would remain on hold for a long period. We were desperate to get Jackson home. Finally the approval from the property owner came through and we rushed to the shelter to bring him home.

The wait was worth a while. We were thrilled to have this cuddly tuxedo. Living up to his personality of a sidekick, he enjoys being the centre of all the action. Be it putting cloths on the drying line, washing dishes, watching TV or anything other mundane work, sure enough Jackson has to be right in the middle of it. His ultimate luxury is to lying on his back and enjoy a massage. His favourite toy is a ball. It’s amazing to see him chasing a ball with such lightning speed and yes, he has never ever missed a mid-air catch.

His enormous size (he is almost as big as a small dog) is a bit deceptive, as he is a very scary cat. We were told that he had a very awful past, guess that explained some of his behaviour. Any slightest sound or movement scares him. It took some time for him to get familiar with the usual sounds and of our house and surroundings. One day it so happened that he decided to sneak out and visit our neighbour’s cat. Anoushka panicked and started crying at thought of losing Jackson. I was worried too, but for a different reason. Being in a new country, I was calculating a possible fine I would be asked by the council to pay against a harassment claim slapped by my neighbour.:)

As time passed, Jackson seems to have settled down and is much calmer. Jackson loves being in the outdoors. So we recently decided to introduce him to his immediate surrounding and the neighbourhood. We bought a swanky harness and leash. He took delight to be outside on a leash (I know you must be thinking how weird to walk your cat on leash) and soon started exploring our backyard. After few days of familiarization tour, we decided to send him out without leash. It was a big risk we were about to take. Knowing that he might take fancy to the free life and would never come back, we left him out. As soon as he was out, he jumped on the roof of our neighbours car port and then into their lawns. We saw him merrily rolling on the ground, oblivious to our incessant screams and shots to get his attention to bring him back home. After a couple of hours of loitering around, much to our delight we saw him meowing near the laundry room wanting to come inside the house.

He loves socialising, which has now become a norm. We often see him sitting with neighbourhood cats and enjoying each other’s company and basking in the sun! From being my morning alarm to giving me company, Jackson is a big part of our lives.

I am glad he is able to leave behind his troubled past and seems to be now enjoying his purr-fect future!