He
was absolutely no trouble for his owners Mr and Mrs Field
and their two kids - six year old Jeremy and four year
old Timothy.
He
woke up early in the morning - exactly at 6 when the sun
rose - and with clockwork precision - he would rub against
his owner's legs, proclaim his two long meow greetings,
have his breakfast and then promptly go back to sleep.
He
would wake up again at twelve and in a similar fashion
have his chow and then once again go back to enjoy his
afternoon slumber.
Both
Mr Gregory Field and Mrs Juliana Field adored Scoofie
but not his two kids. They would sometimes try to tease
him into playing games. They often compared Scoofie with
their friend's pets - both cats and dogs who performed
funny tricks - and say that Scoofie was not an interesting
pet. Jeremy even had a friend whose cat would say seven
different meows in 7 different pitches exactly in the
way Peter spoke to him.
Mr
Field would then often sit down with his children and
patiently explain to them that each of us was born with
different abilities and was special in his own way. Whenever
he said this, Jeremy and Timothy would look at their parents
and say, " What's special about Scoofie except for
the fact that he's a pure bred Siamese. He sleeps all
day and is such a lazy cat. "
Many
had been the occasions when Scoofie would doze off to
sleep even while the kittens and cats played around him.
Nothing could coax Scoofie from his slumber. When he slept,
mice could walk over him, flies could buzz around his
ears and ants could bite him. He would sleep through everything.
The
kids would sometimes take him to other people's houses
where they had lively kittens and cats to get Scoofie
inspired. It made no difference and had no effect on Scoofie.
All he would do is look at them disinterestedly and then
go back to his slumber. Their best attempts to wake up
the playful spirit in Scoofie failed.
Sometimes
Jeremy and Timothy would tell one another that they had
a really dumb cat who didn't understand anything. They
would shake their head and tell their parents that they
needed another pet this Christmas - a playful kitten who
would play with them.
Then
Mrs Field would comfort them by saying, " Look, children
what a wonderful cat Scoofie is! He lives in his own world.
He is quiet and troubles no one. He is affectionate, well
mannered and friendly. Never has he scratched or bitten
anyone or ever spoilt any furniture or sprayed anywhere.
See! What a happy, contented cat Scoofie is! ".
Mrs
Field looked at Scoofie lovingly. Scoofie was busy resting
by the fireside purring contentedly. Purring for Scoofie
was like yoga. Everybody knew Scoofie's special purring
time. He had to have his two bouts of purring - one stretch
for half an hour exactly at half past eight in the morning
and another bout precisely twelve hours later at half
past eight in the evening.
Then,
one day Timothy fell ill. He had had a bad fall. The doctor
pronounced sprain, bed rest and 4 weeks to recovery.
That
week Scoofie was a different cat. He was not more active
or anything but he only changed his sleeping place. Instead
of sleeping on his usual cushion, he would climb up to
Timothy's bed and snuggle up very close to him. It was
like by being there just next to him, that he was trying
to nurse him back to health.
In
fact, for nearly half an hour four times a day, he would
rest his neck very close to Timothy's injured ankle and
do his special sessions of purring very loudly. His purring
was so loud that one could hear it from a distance of
a couple of feet.
A
week later, when Dr Bailley came to check on Timothy.
All he could do was shake his head in amazement. "
Wow! Timothy! Good to see that you are back to normal
in record time. ".
He
then started questioning Mrs Field. He said, " Mrs
Field, What did you do different? Did you massage his
ankle or try accupressure or any other Oriental or Ayurvedic
treatment? "
She
shook her head and said that she gave him the regular
calcium tablets and even skipped the painkillers because
after the second day Timothy stopped having any pain.
"
No! Doctor, We didn't do anything different. Yes! But
we did let the cat sleep close to him ".
Then
suddenly both the kids and Mrs Field nearly screamed out
- all at once, " Doctor, Scoofie kept doing something
very strange! He would purr very loudly very close to
Timothy's ankle. He normally purrs like that twice a day
but ever since he's been sleeping near Timothy's ankle,
he's been purring like that four times a day and then
throughout the day, he's been purring, very softly except
during his mealtimes ".
