Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

My daughter prefers cats to dogs.  I don't know why when she's been exposed to dogs more than cats.  In the Philippines she has a pet dog named 'Bambam' who is being cared for by her Lolo (grandfather in Filipino), my father-in-law.  In the same household where we spend half of our holiday, the other half spent with my family, they have 3 more small dogs (a Yorkie, and 3 mixed breeds).  Outside the house, there are 2 bigger dogs that act as guards especially at night. 

But then Xianelle likes cats better, she loves them! She would rather cuddle a cat in her arms than a dog maybe because dogs are more playful than cats and she doesn't like it; or it could be that dogs have stronger odor than cats. Whatever the reason is, her liking for cats is definitely not a 'San Juan' thing.  Everyone in her dad's family loves dogs and they've always had pet dogs all their life.  Just the other day she was just telling me that she wished she had a cat but then I told her we couldn't have a pet here. 

Tonight a funny yet inspiring thing happened.  We parked our car just across the building where the flat is.  Just in front of the building we came across a stray scrawny, tiny kitten, probably a few weeks old.  It was crying as if calling out to its mother and it was going around in circles, trying to follow whatever it sees moving.  My daughter noticed it of course and started to take pity on the poor thing.  On our way up she started expressing her concern for the cat.  She kept saying that it was so poorly and that she wished someone would take care of it.  She kept repeating herself for the entire time we were looking at the flats and we kept telling her that the cat will be ok and that it will be with its mother.  She was really upset as she was teary-eyed the whole time.  I knew that she wished that we would say, we'd take the kitty home.

When we got out of the building, we saw that there was indeed a mommy cat.  However the small thing was still astray and tried to cross the street once more.  Then we had to cross the other side and the cat crossed once more.  But since it was so little, it was also taking very tiny steps.  Then we thought a car was coming, the kitten just halfway through, Xianelle panicked as she thought it would get run over.  Luckily the car took a turn to the other road.  The kitten stayed in the middle of the road, still in danger if another car was to come so we told her to pick it up and put it in a safe place.  Though she loves cats, for some reason she was scared to pick it up.  I was thinking that the size of the kitten was putting her off.  So she turned to me asking me to pick it up.  But not being used to pets myself, I couldn't bring myself to grab it.  So she turned to her dad who kept telling her to get the kitten herself.  She kept asking us to get the kitten while we kept telling her to do it.  She was so worried about the kitten yet too scared to take it as well.  Then she started crying, really begging us to pick up the kitten.  In the end, with her dad's prodding, she finally got the little thing and placed it in a safe spot. 

Then on our way home she talked about how she still worries about the kitten.  She said that she would be praying for it and for all other animals every single night, that they will be safe from harm so that they wouldn't be extinct.  And then she also suggested that someday, she would like to work in an animal rescue center.  Hmmm... the makings of a future PETA/ animal rights activist?  Perhaps... But this only goes to show that children even in their very young age have concerns as valid and as relevant as that of grown ups of which I amvery pleased to know.