What are the names of your cats?
Minkee, Baboy, Uban, Calicot, Blu, Hekhek, and Smol
Where is your cat family located in?
We live in Manila, Philippines.
What are the breeds of your cats?
They are either rescues or Pusang Pinoy (Puspins)
How old are your cats?
Mommy Minkee is 4 years old while Baboy, Uban, Calicot, Blu, and Hekhek are 3 years old and Smol is 9 months old.
Where can we find your cats on social media?
On Instagram @thesmollestboy
In a few short words/sentences, tell us about your cats' personalities.
Mommy Minkee (white), is our first rescue cat who tends to shy away from other people and typically likes being alone in her favourite hiding spots all day. When she was a year old, she gave birth to the five other cats (Baboy, Uban, Calicot, Blu, and Hekhek) and is considered as the adoptive mom of Smol. She is also aloof, more reserved, and quiet but prefers to be petted only by certain hoomans.
Baboy (chubby tabby ginger) loves to sleep and loves getting the attention especially if it’s time to eat meals. He LOVES (emphasis on this) food and is competitive when it comes to eating treats/human food, which makes him the taste-tester of the cat pack, as he always eats the food before everyone in the pack does.
Uban (grey tabby) is the huntress of the pack as she’s a very good hunter who likes gifting her hoomans with rats, cockroaches, and lizards if she catches them. Maybe she thinks we (hoomans) can’t get our own food so she decides to provide us with these mini-gifts.
Calicot(calico), was named from the combination of her calico colour and Filipino root word, “likot” meaning naughty. When she was younger, she was very naughty and gave her hoomans lots of deep scratches, but when she got a little bit older, like now, she’s the sweetest. She acts as the nurse of one of her hoomans when sick, as she always makes sure to purr on her and give her head butts when she feels they are sick.
Blu (not-so-chubby ginger cat) is a loyal boy who always waits for one of his hoomans to get home. He makes sure to meow loudly in concern and waits in the edge of the door always until the hoomans return to their humble abode. He also likes to ask for food but does not get fat anyways.
Hekhek (tortie), has more resemblance to the characteristics of Mommy Minkee in which she’s also aloof and prefers only one hooman in the family to pet her. She’s also the masseuse of the family as she likes doing biscuits in her hooman’s clothes. She also acts as the bouncer of the cat pack as she stops the fighting cats by hissing at them or looking at them sternly, in which they listen and stop.
Lastly, Smol (tuxedo) is a very playful cat who likes to fetch his crocodile toy, as well as chasing the toy rat. He also likes to have occasional chin scratchies but starts to bite when he’s had enough attention. He seems to like kisses, but only on certain occasions when he’s sleepy and had a full tummy. They all have different personalities and have favoritisms when it comes to their five hoomans.
How have your cats transformed your life from the moment you've met them till now?
We never had pets before we had them, as most of us in our family have asthma/allergies and I must say that having cats now was just life-changing. That might be to cliche but seeing them and being with them makes everything better. I honestly can’t imagine being without them anymore. I would probably adopt more in the future if we get a bigger house. We don’t mind the allergies anymore, that’s probably one of the life-changing things we had.
What do your cats mean to you?
Our cats are our babies. They're a part of the family and we can’t imagine living without them.
How did you and your cats first meet? Tell it to us in the form of a short story.
A few years ago, my older brother started feeding a stray cat (Mommy Minkee) that was roaming in the apartment where we live. From time to time, my brother would give her food and water, which eventually became very frequent. One day she followed my brother home and started meowing for food outside our unit. At first, my parents didn’t want a pet as this would mean we would have to spend more money on feeding the cat and we also have allergies, so that would also have to be considered. But one day, our mom gave her some food out of her concern, which became more frequent again until she eventually was given a ration of food on her own, then gave birth a few months afterwards. Unfortunately, we live in an apartment and basically, any kind of pet is not allowed, so one day the caretakers took her and her kittens away. God knows where they were disposed at and we thought we’d never see them again as we kept finding them but they’re nowhere near.
A few weeks/month had passed, and one day when we opened our door, there was a faint meow from a very dirty white cat outside our room. This was Mommy Minkee again. We don’t know how she came back but there she was, standing proudly outside our door as if she’s telling us that, “Hey, I found you guys again, would you please be my hooman?”. So there, we took care of her, fed her, let her stay inside our house again until she became pregnant (another male cat was roaming the apartment, you see Mommy Minkee is very pretty) and gave birth again a few months afterwards. We didn’t know spaying was an option before so there we go. She gave birth to Baboy, Uban, Calicot, Hekhek, and Blu. This time we decided to keep all of them and not let anyone take them away anymore as she came back to us and chose us as her hoomans.
Smol, on the other hand, was still a baby when he was found on the street by my other older brother. My brother was bicycling leisurely around Quezon City when he saw a small blob of white and black fur on the street, he was almost going to get hit by a car, by the way. My brother carried him away from the street and put him somewhere where he wouldn’t be hit by any car. He drove away then came back on the same day to check on him again, but there he was again in the middle of the street almost getting hit by another vehicle again. He looked for the mom cat as Smol was still very small, hoping that his mom will get back but she didn’t. He put him in his pocket and drove him back home. That day we started taking care of him, feeding him in turns, even waking up in the early hours of the morning so he could be fed. We then introduced him to our other six cats.
What do you think your cats think of you?
Well, they probably see us as their servants and as royal companions or something as we always clean up their stuff and give them their food. Kidding aside, I think they consider us their family too and their own hoomans.
Your cats are part of your family. What are some things they do that make you think that they consider you part of theirs?
Well, they give us loud purrs and head butts if we feel unwell. They also play with us like how they play with the other cats in our family (bite and chase), the groom us by licking when they have the chance. If that’s what cats in a family do, then I think they consider us as part of their family already.
What are some accounts your cats like to follow on Instagram?
@tuxie_loki
@mr.bennypants
@kevinhart_the_cat
@guyitocat
Why do you feel that it is important to show the world that Cats are Family?
Growing up, I have seen people being hurtful to Puspins (Pusang Pinoy) as they are often found in streets without any food, shelter, and only thriving for themselves. I want to be part of this campaign because I want to show the world that our Puspin rescues, given the right amount of love and affection, could also be something great. I want to show that these rescue cats, even though they are strays and don’t have a breed, have an equal chance to be beautiful (just like other cats with breeds) if nourished properly. I hope in the future our community of Puspins will grow and be viewed in the same way as other cats do.
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