The Persian Cat on Our Warship
This Persian Cat on Warship is a true story that dates back to 1988 when I was posted for the first time in my life to a warship. When I reached the warship, there was a sailor already posted on the ship to escort me into the ship. As I climbed the Gangway, which is a wooden plank with handles on both sides for people to climb from the harbour jetty onto the warship, the sailor saluted me. Then he escorted me into the ship
The naval sailor took me down to the warship's Officer's Wardroom. A wardroom in a warship is where officers have their meals. A part of the wardroom will have entertainment equipment like a TV, magazines, board games, and the like. The other half will have dining tables and chairs all around it. On the other side is the pantry that has just a 2x2 feet hole connecting it to the dining area.
As we climbed down the ladder to the below deck to reach the Officer's wardroom, the sailor warned me that the ship has a Persian cat. I didn't consider it important to understand that we had a cat on board the ship. As we reached the deck and turned around, I saw the Wardroom Mess written on the door facing us on the alleyway. An alleyway is a narrow path between the compartments on both sides of a warship.
An alleyway is less than a meter wide. Just enough to walk for one man. It is filled with fire extinguishers, bundles of cables running on the ceiling, light switches, and many other things fitted on the bulkhead on either side. If one is not careful, one can hit something and injure oneself. The metal walls on a ship are referred to as bulkheads.
I saw the Persian Cat
On the foot mat in front of the wardroom mess, a Persian cat was lying majestically. She looked like a lion resting in her den. The sailor looked at me to check if I now understood what he told me earlier about the cat on the ship. I nodded in acknowledgement. The Persian cat was very understanding and ignored me even though I was a new family member.
I entered the wardroom and the sailor left. I got introduced to many officers relaxing in the wardroom. Days passed. I had cats at my home. So started observing this cat, which was always found lazing on the foot mat in front of the wardroom door. I realized that even when officers and sailors went in and out of the wardroom, the cat never dared to enter the wardroom.
I later found out that even though the cat lay there, the civilian bearers on the ship used to feed them food from the sailors' galley. In front of the sailors' galley door, there were always people walking, and she might get stepped on. The area in front of the officer's wardroom was comparatively secluded, and only a few officers would go in and out. So she found it more secure, and the foot mat outside the wardroom was very cozy too.
Persian Cat Leaves The Ship
A month later, our ship had to sail out to a foreign port. We were at the foreign port for 3 days. The moment we reached the foreign port, sailors and officers went out of the ship on a sightseeing trip in the morning and would be back by sunset.
On the second day at the foreign port, I was at the gangway on duty. While I was returning to the gangway after a tea in the wardroom, I saw our Persian cat climb up the ladder to the upper deck. I followed the cat out of curiosity. I had never seen this cat move off from the foot mat for long. But that day she came to the upper deck, waited for the gangway to get clear of people, and she walked out of the gangway gracefully without any hurry. I kept looking as she faded away into the far end of the jetty.
I felt worried and anxious seeing the cat walk away. I didn't want to lose the cat and wanted to go and get her back by force. But then I thought she should have her freedom. Ship life is tough. I used to get seasick every time the ship sailed out to rough seas. I could not eat because of the puking sensation. I survived only on cold water. The better the smell of food, the worse my vomiting sensation.
I used to lose at least 4 kg of bodyweight after just two weeks of sailing thanks to seasickness. Then I thought of a poor cat which could not tell anyone what it was going through during sailing in rough seas. I stood there watching the cat go away, leaving 300 officers and sailors who loved her so much.
In a month of living on that warship, I had realized that the cat was a stress buster for every sailor and Officer on that ship. Whoever passed by the wardroom door would sit down for a few seconds to pat this Persian cat. She seemed to enjoy the attention, being the only female on that ship. And that day she had walked out on all of us.
Persian Cat Came Back Pregnant
I slept that night with a very heavy heart. I woke up the next morning when the hands to tea was announced in the ship's broadcast system. The civilian bearer gave me the tea. After finishing my tea and doing my morning routine, I went down to the wardroom for breakfast. I was surprised to see the Persian cat majestically lying on the foot mat. I couldn't believe my eyes.
A month passed after the foreign port visit. I noticed that the Persian cat had developed a larger stomach. I called the civilian bearer and asked if he was feeding the cat too much food. I told him to give the cat less food from that day. The bearer kept looking at me. After a few seconds, he said, "Sir, this Cat is pregnant."
I was shocked. Where on earth did she get a mate? We were sailing all this while. Then I remembered seeing her walk off the foreign port for one day and one whole night. That cleared my doubt. I told the civilian bearer, "I take back my words. Please feed her nutritious food from now onwards."
I saw our cat's belly grow in size over the next few weeks. One day she vanished. I called the civilian bearer back and asked if he had seen the cat. He told me that the cat and her 5 kitten are safe in his cabin. He took me to his cabin and showed me how he had kept the cat and her kitten in a cardboard box with a large turkey towel nicely folded for her comfort. I was very happy at the happenings and came back satisfied.
The Kittens Ventured into CO's Cabin
A few weeks passed. The kittens were always found playing around their mother cat, venturing not very far. Every sailor and officer passing by the Wardroom, however busy and time-bound the task they were doing, would stop for a few seconds, just to watch the kittens play. The mother cat would keep a watchful eye whenever someone approached the kittens. After all, she was a mother now.
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