Saturday 7 April 2012

Sid and Doudou

Let me introduce you to the two most well-travelled furry things in our household: Sid the cat and Doudou the... erm... doudou. These two together probably clocked more mileage in a few years than the average Swiss in a lifetime.

Sid came to us in Moramanga in Madagascar. Remember my previous comment about me saving random animals? Well, this one was actually brought home by my hubs. He was tiny, filthy beyond words, packed with fleas and very sickly. He got washed, deflea-ed and dewormed. By some miracle he survived all of the above and went on the become a big and fat cat. When we moved back to Switzerland, we arranged all the paperwork for him, including a microchip implant in his neck and brought him with us. He loved Switzerland from the first minute and spent his days out in the green fields, chasing whatever was slower than him. Then we packed him up again and moved him to Sudan. Well, let me tell you, he was NOT impressed. The looks thrown from under the bed said more loudly than words "I cannot believe you brought me BACK!" He is happy enough these days and spends his awake time hunting sparrows or fighting with streetcats.

Doudou was an ebay purchase. I should actually say doudouS in plural, since we have two of them. I thought it would be nice to have a stuffed animal for Zina and just in case one was lost or otherwise unavailable, a spare one would come in handy. Zina loved her (I am told it's a girl) from the first minute and we dragged Doudou 1 and 2 with us interchangeably wherever we travelled to. Then after about 3 years, finally Zina discovered that there was two of them. Now we have "Broken-Eye Doudou" and "The Other Doudou". Broken-Eye Doudou is by far the favourite but she can still be talked into accepting The Other Doudou if needed. The travel to Sharm El Sheikh in March was a turning point: she chose to bring another stuffed animal and both doudous were left behind. An absolute first.

Both Sid and Doudou are getting old now. Doudou went from a lovely bright yellow to a dirty greyish tinge, while Sid is over 7 years now  and has only six months left before he officially qualifies for the "Senior" catfood. He is also getting a bit senile and tends to pee everywhere he shouldn't, risking each day being thrown into the Nile by my furious hubs. I owe both of them a lot though. To Doudou for keeping Zina company and calming her fears anytime of the day or night. And to Sid for making any place we have lived in during these seven years feel like home. Thanks guys. Don't go just yet...


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