Every self-respecting homestead needs a cat.  Not a pet.  A working cat with the job title of Chief Mouser!  This cat exists to control rats, mice and other vermin.  In semi-arid Kenya, said Chief Mouser has the added job of killing poisonous critters like scorpions, spiders and snakes, and keeping the resident gecko population in check.  This could include taking off their tails as punishment!

When I still lived in Nairobi, we lived in a compound of thirty houses. Perfect community to raise children.  Everyone had a little house dog, but no one had a cat.  We however had the resident cat, who was owned by no-one but was fed by everyone.  Her name was Socks.  Because she was a stray cat, she gave birth constantly, yet we never managed to capture her and take her to KSPCA to be neutered and re-homed.  Our Caretaker did his best to re-home the kittens and somehow managed to convince us to either take in the kittens or find homes for them.

One particular kitten did not seem intent on being re-homed and escaped from the Caretaker and hid in my neighbor’s car engine.  I guess it was a cold night and the engine was warm.  That kitten spent the night mewling. I did not hear it, but my daughter did because her bedroom window faced the neighbors parking lot.  By the time I got downstairs for my breakfast the next morning, my daughter had taken the kitten, washed it, dried it, and collared it.  We had a cat!  Her name was Mittens.  She was skin and bones and the most beautiful black and white pattern with little white mittens on her paws, hence the name.

We set about feeding Mittens and socializing with Mooshoo who immediately fell in love.  Mooshoo must have thought this was her personal toy that could run and play. The two bonded immediately, and proceeded to cause utter mayhem in my house.  The curtains were swings, the chairs were climbing frames and my housekeeper could barely mop the house without Mooshoo and Mittens each biting the mop threads and hanging on for dear life.  It was chaos – a heartwarming kind of chaos.

Soon enough, it was time to move to the homestead, and Mittens came along.  Unfortunately, because of being raised indoors, Mittens was always afraid of strangers.  On moving day, he got into the new house and hid in the kitchen drawer for 3 days.  Mooshoo was miserable!  When Mittens finally came out of hiding, she took on the title of Chief Mouser and went about her business of killing every critter she could find.  Scorpions had their stings removed and were presented to my daughter as gifts. Frogs were hidden in my daughters’ shoe cupboard, which nearly gave my daughter a heart attack every time.  She cannot stand frogs. Geckos promptly lost their tails to her sharp claws.  No creepy crawlies were in my house.  Mittens was an “A” performer.  The “Navy Seal” of Mousers!

Then one day, my daughter and I took a good look at Mittens.  Lo and behold! She was a boy! The anatomy said it all. How had we not seen that?  How had we raised a female cat that was actually male and not realized it?

As soon as we realized Mittens was male, he started acting male.  It’s almost like he had been waiting for us to figure it out so he could get on with his life.  He would leave at night at around 11pm when the dogs were asleep and would get back at 3am.  We learnt to leave certain windows open for him to get back home when he was ready.  Sometimes he’d be gone for a couple of days, but he still got back.

Then, one day, Mittens did not come back.  We waited for him and called out to him and sent Mooshoo out to find him but nothing.  Mittens was gone. The house was sad and felt oddly empty without him.  I even went out looking to see if I’d find his body – perhaps he had been turned into a hyena snack, but nothing!

Then, one day, about four months after Mittens had gone missing, I was driving home late at night.  And there, in front of my car, crossed Mittens!  He was alive? The following day, I asked my Groundskeepers if they had ever seen Mittens on the days they came home late, and they mentioned they had.  I could not believe it.  It seems, Mittens had found a harem at the home of the main gatekeeper, and had promptly swapped his house cat status for the wild.  My housekeeper and Mooshoo went looking for him, and the main gatekeeper confirmed that indeed, he had seen Mittens visiting his female cats for a while.

This turn of events left me confused.  Mittens had a warm home, plush blankets, great food, loving humans and a friend in Mooshoo!  Why had he left us? Why had he abandoned us?  Then I figured it out.  He wanted to be with his own kind, even if it meant discomfort for him.  So, he took off his collar, hung it up on a tree, and went wild.  I salute you, Mittens! For having the courage to live wild and free, a life of Mufasa, surrounded by your Mufasalets!