The King and I

King is one of our eight cats and his name would not fit any of my other cats. For King's free, proud and adventurous spirit kept me longing for that day that he would decide to stay with us. Yes, you could say that King was a stray cat for most of his life, but he knew that the roof of a certain house (and many other houses) belonged to him.

King was born on the roof of my husband's house (long before he was my husband) about 11 years ago. My husband knew about the kittens and started feeding them by putting food on the roof. I was told that most of the kittens left and went their own way, but King always came back for the food or maybe for the love that was represented by the food. My husband left for overseas work in Taiwan end of 1998. King's roof and house was left with a caretaker who continued placing food for him on the roof.

My husband and I met in 2000 in Tawain (where we both were teaching) and in 2002 I visited the Philippines for the first time. During my month's visit I had the honor of meeting King and also decided to name him after witnessing his conquering leaps from roof to wall to wall to roof. Occasionally he would jump down to the backyard and allow me to pet and talk to him. His sincere "hugs" and "purrs" against my legs felt like we knew each other before we met.

I left for a new teaching job in South-Korea and ended up staying for almost 3 years, but never did I forget King. Whenever I phoned my then to be husband in the Philippines, I would ask: "How is King?" My husband and I got married in South Africa (where I am from) end of 2004. I moved to the Philippines, started a job, had a son and enjoyed King's irregular visits to our backyard. Often he enjoyed baking in the sun on the wall or on the corner couch, but never long enough . . . freedom was to inviting for him and putting him in the house (as I tried many times) was against his religion.

Then one week, in 2006 there was no visit from King. After several weeks passed without seeing King, I started blaming myself for not forcing King into a cage to have him castrated just to cure him from that admirable free spirit. Never did I stop looking for King. Every night when I fed my other very domesticated, "never dare to go anywhere" cats I would call for King, hoping that he would find his way back to our roof.

Two years passed and no sight of King, until one evening in March of 2008. King was there, right there on his roof, our roof. With his unique high-pitched "miaau" he responded to my every loud overjoyed call for him. King came home. His one ear was collapsed due to ear mite infestation and he had plenty of infected scratches, bite marks and wounds. King was now 10 years old and nothing not even his free spirit would keep me from letting him slip through my heart again.

Within the next week King was castrated and treated for his many wounds and ear mites. After a two-week cage rest we allowed King the freedom of our garden and backyard. Yes, he jumped on the wall but he didn't leave and looked at us as if he wanted to say: "I will stay, I'm already old and I've done it all and I choose to stay with you." He never left again.

King is now 11 years old. His kidneys need medicine, his on a special diet and our vet mentioned that his condition might only get worse. Last week, King spent 3 days in an animal clinic, but he made it through and welcomed 2009 with us. His eyes and "purrs" are still filled with that same enthusiasm from 6 years ago. King is King, and we will hold on to him as long as he can hold on to us . . . and I believe this was exactly his reason for coming home.