Why a cat?

Around lately July or early August (forgive my poor memory!) of 2007, we brought a new member home. It was a female cat, purebred Sacred Birman, born on 7th May, 2007. Sincerely I had never known nor heard about the existence of this breed before. I had even never immagined I could be able to love a cat either! In my childhood, my family owned a dog. As I remember, I didn't like cats because the look in their eyes scared me a little bit. There were several stray cats in my living zone (my parents' house at Bangkok). I refused to approach or touch any cats just because I felt they were not so friendly. Therefore cats were "scary" and "hostile" for me.

Well, the idea to get a pet comes to your mind sooner or later, especially when you've kids. Truly it was my husband, Francesco, who proposed one day the question: "Why don't we get a puppy?". He suggested it should be time to give Dylan, our only son, a pet to keep him company. It's said animals do good to children, perhaps he was right, I thought, although I wasn't that convinced.

At first, he thought of a dog. He was pretty interested in the golden retriever, well-known for its attractive characteristics. I would be great but I wasn't so certain of the idea. Well, who would bring it to pee in a freezing winter morning, perhaps at 6 a.m.? I was so sure the responsibility will become mine, thus I should prevent it before it cuold happen! (We share the same house, court and garden with my in-laws and they'd never accept a doggie's pee and poo in the house's gate.)

After this argument, Francesco looked at many websites to find something to convince me and he somehow came across a web page that told about a cat breed which is rare. He suddenly felt in love with those kittens after reading their story and looking at the pictures. He came to the conclusion that no one needed to bring it outside in a cold morning (of which I was afraid). A cat is less dependent than a dog, we immagined. From the pictures, they were just adorable, like little cotton flocks. The Sacred Birmans are not easily found in a pet shop. They're reservedly bred in farms, that are not available in many places. The nearest one we found in the websites was the Albafeles, in the province of Pavia. Francesco contacted the owner by phone and she invited us to see the cats at her place. We brought Dylan, 6 years old at that time, to visit the farm the soonest. It was the first time I saw cats as attractive and friendly creatures! The bigger ones came near us, they wanted us to hold them and they were very soft! That was my feeling. Dylan too was enthusiastic. Well, we just simply loved them. The owner kindly explained the Sacred Birmans' characteristics, their habits, how to take care and she assured us that these cats were very friendly and playful. Well, we had had the experience from the visit.

After one month of waiting, we got the call from the farm owner that the new kittens were born and we could go to see them. Only one of the three new-born kittens was to be given away. It was female, seal point coloured, and it was just too adorable. Yes, we decided to take her but the owner didn't want to seperate the kitten from its mother too soon as it was still eating from breast. We had to wait for almost 3 months and then it was done!

                                                         Nanà, the 1st time we visited her.

                                                        Dylan was glad to get near his kitten.

                                                          They were getting more confidence.

                                  Finally Nanà came to stay with us, she was inseparable from Dylan.