P2

Anthony Nguyen

UGS- Leadership, Ethics, Animal

 The life of twin kittens

It was cold and I, Xtina, was very scared. All I remember was that cuddling with my mother and my twin sister (Xi’an), in an attempt to stay warm. It was so painful to hear my twin sister crying and loud noises in the background. Dogs barking, cars honking, humans running everywhere, these were just a few of these frightening sounds we both had to experience everyday just because we were born into this unknown world, yet there were more problems we had to face. My sister and I were not only cold and scared, but we were also extremely hungry. The situation was made even worse because our mom had been laying on the floor next two us without moving an inch for days. So, not only was I worried about us being hungry, but also I was more worried about whether or not my mom would live to see us grow up. She was our only support for food, love, and safety; if she was not around to take care of us, I do not think my sister and I would make it one day on our own. So as days went by, we fed off our mother. Every night when my sister fell asleep, I would check to see if my mother was able to move. I really wished I could have done something to help even a little. I just wanted to go and find some water or even a piece of bread to give to my mom. She had not eaten for several day and it had gotten to the point that I can hear her stomach growling loudly. My sister and I looked at each other and realized that we were both thinking of the same thing; we are not going to last for much longer. Our family was running out of food, we were stuck living in a horrible environment, which humans called an “alley”, and my mother was struggling to live. The “alley” smelled like rotten food, was dirty, and after a few days my entire family had begun to experience an itchy sensation, which we later learned, was due to fleas. At that point I realized I had hit rock bottom, but I knew that if I was going to die then I was glad that I could still be with my mom and sister. One afternoon later that week, I saw a really big van drive into in the alley. Two people came out of the van, one holding a net and the other holding a tool that seems to grab when you pull the handle. They were getting closer and I didn’t know what to do. Next thing I knew I heard my mom started to hiss at them. I knew my mom was trying to scare the humans away in an attempt to protect my sister, and me, however humans still decided to approach us. Since I had not had a sufficient meal for almost a week, I was too weak to fight. I just lay there thinking nothing would go wrong because I had my mother there to keep me safe. As I held on to her, I felt a cold sensation on my neck. Everything happened so fast! I was then picked up by the grabbing tool and carry away from my family and put into this box with holes on the sides (cage). Those people carried me back to the van and left me inside as they went back to get my mom and sister. All I could do was look through the holes in the net to see what they were going to do next. I could hear my mom hiss louder as they got close to my sister. Sadly, I could tell my mom was too weak to do anything but hiss. The humans used their scary tools to pick up my sister, put her in the cage, carry her back into the van, put her next to me. I was relieved that my sister was fine, but then I began to worry about my mom. Since she was a big cat, unlike us small kittens, they decided to use the net. Mom could only sit back and watch in horror as the humans carried out the same procedure onto her as they had done to my sister and I. Thankfully, my family was still together in this vehicle, but we had no idea what was going to happen next. I slept for a good thirty minutes when I heard the van door open again. Two more cages were placed beside us and both had cats in them. About 2 or 3 hours later, the entire back of the van was fill with cats in cages. It was so loud in the van that I could not even hear my sister or mom next to me. It was filled with the noise that I was making, screams because I was scared and crying. After awhile the noise began to settle down and we all felt the van stop. The door opened with two new humans in addition to the other two that had captured us. They all slowly pick up each cage at a time and carried them somewhere. Since my cage was on the bottom I was the last one to get carried away. I did not think about it until that moment, but I was being taken away from my mom and sister. I felt really frightened because this was the first time we had been separated from one another. I look forward and saw that I was being taken to some kind of building. As we entered the building, the first thing that startled me was the loud barking of dogs. It freaked me out even more when I saw so many dogs lock up in cages just like me. Then we entered another room I saw many cats in cages that looked like me. I was placed on top of a table. The front of the cage opened and then two hands reached in and grabbed me. This time it was a lady wearing a surgical mask. She held me up in the air high checking my entire body for wounds or any kind of injuries. She said, “this is fine” and put me back into my cage. All I could think at this time was of my desire to be reunited with my family again. I just layed there in my cage helpless and then I was happy when I saw my mom. The lady picked up my mom and I heard her say, “this one is no good, its almost starve to death”. Then I did not know why but another person into a different room carried my mother away. That entire day I just witness the same procedure for every cat that was taken in. They were either put next to the rest of us or put into another room where my mom was taken. The next day began and I was really hungry. Those people gave me some food that I was unfamiliar with (cat food) but I ate them anyway. A few hours later, I saw these two ladies wearing a shirt with the letters APA looking at each of the cats and asking about their history. When they got to me I heard them saying “ this cat was with her mom and sister when we found her”. The APA lady asked, “where is the mom and sister?” and the other lady respond “ the sister is in this room but we had to put the mom to sleep”. I soon realized that the reason my mom was put into a different room was because she had to be killed since she was already near death. I felt so depressed hearing that. All I wanted now was to be with my sister. The APA lady said, “Ok I’ll take this cat along with her sister”. The next thing I knew, my cage was being carried away along with this other cage which was my sister who I had not seen since I had gotten out of the van. At this point I had no idea what would happen next. I was puzzled with so many questions. Where are we going? What will happen to us now? Are we going to end up like our mother? The vehicle stop, the door open, and we were taking to this new build with the same letters APA on it. These two ladies took my sister and me out of our cage and took us to a bathtub where we were shampooed and cleaned. All the itchy feeling suddenly began to disappear. I felt so clean for the first time. After the shower they took us to this other room where they held us down and insert these needles into us. I was still confused at first ,but I felt more secure being here then the last building so I decided to go along with whatever these people were doing to us. After the shower and getting shots, they took us into this room where they had toys and pillows and other objects that I was really intrigue about. I was with my sister finally and the lady put these things around our neck and said “Ok you are Xtina (me) and you are Xi’an (my sister), now go and have fun”. I was very intrigued that we were given these names. I did not know what to do or what just happen but I enjoyed the environment here better than the alley or the other building. I just looked at my sister Xi’an and we just ran everywhere playing, climbing, and enjoying ourselves for the first time in months. I had lost my mother, but no matter what I want to be with my sister always. Every time we go to sleep we always cuddle together and keep each other company. Everyday I see random strangers come in to this building and every now and then take a cat with them. I keep hearing people say “you are about to meet your new family” when they take a cat with them. I too want to have a new family, along with my sister and so as times go by, both me and Xi’an were adopted into this new family where I know we will be safe and happy for as long as we live there.