Cat style

(I am still looking, but now at least readers of a popular Indian newspaper also know!)

Many years ago I met three cats – two of those came as a package – that were friendly, sociable, almost-human and extraordinarily responsive. They were rather in contrast to the family feline who has in her young character a pinch of paranoia, much madness and all the hi-bred pickiness native to a princess of some extremely exalted line. These cats were elegant, poised, wise and as close to perfect as it would be possible for a cat to be. After all, they were Siamese. Koko and Yum Yum, the pair, were the property of James Qwilleran, millionaire and bon vivant journalist who solved crimes as a matter of diversion, always with the help of his two furry companions, the creations of Lillian Jackson Braun, author of the Cat Who…series. To add a lighter touch without blood and gore, there was Solange, the long-legged, wide-eyed, languorous lovely from the comic strip called 9 Chickweed Lane. Put it all together, and I wanted a Siamese to call my own.
So when I lost my own black-and-white gutter-bred moggie to illness, I decided I would be deliberate about my next choice and find the perfect purebreed who would embody all the snob value that I could identify with. It has been almost five years since I started looking and no Siamese has reared its curious head in my market. Are they difficult to find in this country, or am I not looking in the right places? Various people manning ‘pet shops’ in the crowded Crawford Market animal section either ignored my questions, or tried to sell me everything from an ultra-lethargic rabbit to a tortoise that scuttled back under its shell when I peered at it. I was asked to ‘come this way’ to take a look at cats, but decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valour when I looked at the man’s paan-stained lips and unbuttoned shiny red shirt. So I chose to troll the Net looking for dealers and found very few in the Mumbai area who had cats, leave alone the snooty species I was interested in.

Saroj Chandran at the Animal Hospital in Parel said that Siamese were the easiest cats to have – “They are friendly and curious and no trouble at all. But they are not often seen here.” She told of a family in the western suburbs that once bred the cats for sale, but they had been raided and not been heard of since. She started looking for one for me five years ago.

Veterinarian Dr DK Patil says that “There are very few cat breeders in India and since the Siamese are not that well known or popular, they have to be imported.” And that makes them expensive. But taking care of them is a cinch; after all, “Food for Siamese cats is now easily available and they do not give too much trouble,” being short-haired and sociable felines.

Saying I was a potential buyer – which in a way I am - I did speak to a dealer in Navi Mumbai, who told me that Siamese were very difficult to find. “They are usually imports,” he said, “but I can try and find one for you”. And the price would be “around Rs 15,000”. He tried to talk me into a Persian, which is “more decorative”, but the cats are long-haired, which does cause some problems in a city apartment. “We have some dogs you may like to see…” But a Siamese cat was what I wanted.

And I wait to find the perfect kitten that embodies all the wonderfully catly snob values that so delight me.