Sonya Mah definitely wasn’t looking for a pet when she set out to take pictures for a college assignment close to 10 years ago.
As she was walking up a hill in the park, she had an inexplicable urge to turn around. She did so and there he was: a kitten of two to three months old – the smallest thing ever.
The little one struggled to follow her up the hill and she remembered feeling sorry for him, even though she didn’t dare pet him in case mummy cat was nearby.
As it started to rain, Sonya decided to head home, looking back every now and then to see if the kitten was following her. He was, deftly dodging and hiding between cars, running to catch up to her as vehicles passed by.
She didn’t have the heart to chase him back into the pouring rain by the time she reached her house. And the rest, as they say, is history: the feline had found his forever home, and Sonya named him Kit.
A senior cat now, Kit is reticent with strangers but has all the love in the world for his human. “He loves kneading on my tummy and drooling everywhere,” Sonya told FMT fondly.
And she returns the favour, giving him head massages and relishing his contented purring whenever she does this.
He also loves sleeping on anything made out of cardboard, which cat lovers would be more than familiar with.
As for what he doesn’t like? “Being pointed at – when we do it, he pulls the angriest face, making us want to tease him more,” Sonya shared, laughing.
Another thing about Kit is that he’s a picky eater, liking only a specific brand of kibble with a specific flavour. When it comes to fish, Kit tends to scoff, definitively setting him apart from most other felines!
In addition to being discerning, Sonya’s four-legged companion is smart. “He understands it when I say ‘come on, let’s go’, whenever I leave the room.”
She also calls him “more of a lover than a fighter”, since he hates the sound of other cats fighting!
When it comes to bedtime, Kit used to sleep in her bed, but this proved to be disruptive. “He’d go in and out several times throughout the night, meowing to get out and scratching to get back in again.”
She has since allowed him to sleep anywhere he desires – downstairs.
Asked about her fondest memory of her furry friend, Sonya said it had to be the day she found him – or rather, when he found her.
“I thought he had a unique teh-ais shade, no patterns, spots or anything. But when I gave him a bath, I realised it was just dried mud.
“When the mud washed away, I was bummed to discover he was just an ordinary orange tabby,” she said with a fake groan.
Almost a decade later, Sonya can’t imagine life with him – even though “my first thought back then was that my parents were going to kill me!”
This article was written by Toon Kit Yi. Read more pet stories here, and follow Kit the cat on Instagram.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.