It was a Friday. A very boring Friday. Well, at least I think it was a Friday... Either way, it was a dull day. I was doing my usual annoy the dogs routine when I got a call.
A call about a Fishing Cat.
At first, the call was just boring old work stuff, and I think the topic of the cat just happened to pop up. It may have been a phone call about work, but then Maalu, being the sneaky devil that he was, quietly slipped into the conversation.
"Ade, guess what? We are looking after an orphaned Fishing Cat."
"A what now?" At the time I was researching leopards, and knew very little about Fishing Cats.
"A Fishing Cat. Your uncle did a study on them 6 years ago. Come see it."
Of course at this point the only thing that I could think of was OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE TO SEE THIS THING NOW!!! But I calmly said yup would love to, and got off the phone – I couldn’t really start squealing like a little kid who was promised a puppy, could I?
The next day I was ready. With my camera in hand, I set out to see this Fishing Cat. When I got to the location, which the cat called home at the time, I proceeded to tiptoe into the room, and then I saw him.
There he was sitting on the ground, with a soggy fuchsia sock in his mouth. Eyes wide. Paws tucked under. Stubby tail twitching. The only thing that could remotely explain what I thought at that point is perfectly depicted by Agnes from Despicable Me, when she sees the pink and white unicorn at the carnival. Only difference was that I couldn’t grab him and run off.
Anya Ratnayaka made this drawing of Maalu, the Fishing Cat.
Maalu was rescued from a burning field but died of feline parvovirus infection in September 2012.
Interested in buying Anya's cat art ?? Contact her !!