My name is Diesel and I’m what humans like to classify as a male domestic shorthair tabby, with white paws, chest and tummy. I had a rough start in life – when I was about three months old (no one is exactly sure when I was born, but they think it was in February 2022), I was found in a car engine and taken to Friends of Rescued Animals in South Africa (FORA). I guess that’s why they named me ‘Diesel’ – they said I smelt like fuel and engine oil. Anyway, apparently it was touch and go for a while. I was very dehydrated and had a bad eye infection.
Luckily, the good Samaritans at FORA nursed me back to health. They made sure I got all my vaccinations and dewormed me, and then, in July, they did the unspeakable and took me to the vet to have my ‘boy bits’ removed. The indignity of it all – honestly! Actually, truth be told, I don’t feel any different – the worst part about the whole thing was the car trip in that awful crate. I’m told all these things are for my own health and safety, but sometimes I do wonder if these humans know what they’re talking about…
Anyway, then it was time for me to be put up for adoption. I got lucky and landed with my bum in the butter – actually, more like whipped cream! A nine-year-old little girl named Zoe fell in love with me and convinced her parents to adopt me. Then the humans at FORA did another weird thing to me, called microchipping. But I digress, back to the story… On 31 August, Zoe and her mom fetched me and put me back in the dreaded crate for a long car trip. It was terrifying – all these noisy things that I can only assume were other cars kept whizzing passed my window.
Eventually, we arrived at my new home. The first week has been pretty cool, I must admit. I’ve taken to calling Zoe’s mom ‘Mom’ too – she seems to be the one who feeds me and cleans my litterbox. She’s okay, but a bit ungrateful at times. I offered to help her with her work and archived two of her emails, which I really didn’t think she needed. It took her a while to find them, and she seemed a bit grumpy after that. She also seemed to be battling to see her computer screen, so I adjusted the settings and made it a bit brighter for her, but she changed the settings back. Like I said… ungrateful.
I have some pet siblings as well. They’re not too bad. The two dogs accepted me very quickly and are friendly, but they keep sniffing my butt – shame, I guess they don’t know any better. The two cats are okay, I guess. The old guy, Elvis, has kind of taken me under his wing and is showing me the ropes. Today, I went outside with him for the first time, and he was trying to get me to roll on this green stuff he called grass, but it was quite prickly, so I opted to have a roll on the paving instead. He seemed satisfied with that. The female cat, Phoebe, has been a total drama llama about my arrival. She’s only now starting to accept that I’m here to stay and finally started tolerating being in the same room as me yesterday. I think she’s just milking the situation to get extra attention from the humans.
I must go now, I see my bowl is less than half-full, so I must remind Mom to fill it up. She’s a real push-over – a couple of purrs and some rubbing up against her, and she’s putty in my paws. It has only happened once that she didn’t respond quickly enough to my instructions. I don’t think she’ll do that in a hurry again – I had to knock a framed photo of my human brother off the table and break the glass to get her attention.