Scoofie wakes up!
Written by Dr. Laxmi Iyer

He was a sleepy cat. He was called Scoofie ever since he had been adopted as an eight week old kitten by the Fields. Now, he was seven years old. He slept 16-18 hours a day. All he did all day was sleep. No! He didn't like to play games. Nor go for walks. He was a happy, sleepy cat who purred all day like a loudly, whirring fan.

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 ".