(Photo: www.hkcls.com)
朋友F給我說了段與他家中寵物貓有關的童年往事。
貓貓叫Kicki，披一身亮麗的花皮毛，跟一般家貓不同，她有可人的圓面蛋，目光如炬。F從不知她屬什麼品種，但就肯定她不是「凡貓俗子」。年幼的F從大人口中知道，Kicki是只「油爪貓」。「油爪貓」百中無一，是鼠輩的天敵，牠們的腳掌經常保持油潤，據民間傳說，牠們在地上留下的油印數日不消，所到之處鼠輩絕跡。
Kicki如何成為F家一份子說來有點曲折：Kicki本來屬於一個旅居香港的英國人家庭，當她的主人預備搬回老家，因為檢疫程序出了問題，唯有把Kicki留下。臨行前英國主人把她送到防止虐畜會（現稱愛護動物協會），並寫了封給Kicki未來主人的信，交待Kicki的背景資料，寄語她可找到戶好人家。
Kicki後來在防止虐畜會被F爸爸的當差朋友看中，屬意把她送到F家。當這個差人朋友正幫F家辦理領養手續，已返回英倫的英國主人對Kicki始終不捨不棄，來個回心轉意，聯絡防止虐畜會，想把Kicki送回英倫與他團聚。差人朋友有他的一套（可能利用他當差的影響力），最終把Kicki送到F家。
作為一只「油爪貓」，Kicki並不是虛有其名：她閒來行beat，當「專業殺手」，永遠都不會讓人看見她落手的過程，鼠輩的屍首永遠保持完整無缺，至於她如何辦到還是個謎。每次捕獲鼠輩，她都靜靜守候著屍首，直至F或他的家人注意到，她才自豪地「喵」一聲，施然踏著她的油爪走開，讓F家善後。
雖然Kicki自小跟第一任主人分開，但她在F家總算健康快樂地成長。F家待她不薄，F媽媽總買新鮮魚給她作繕。Kicki在F家延享天年，亦給F留下美好的回憶。
My friend F tells me his childhood story revolving around his family’s pet cat.
The cat was called Kicki. Wearing a shiny stripy fur, Kicki had a round face dotted with a pair of eyes blazing like torches. F does not know what breed it was but is certain that it was not a commoner in the cat family. As a kid, F was told that this cat was an “oily-pawed cat”. “Oily-pawed cat” is a natural born enemy of mice. Its paws are always pleasantly moist and oily. Folklore has it that the oily footprints it leaves remain indelible for days, which keep mouse away.
There was orchestration, not mere coincidence, in the events leading to Kicki’s arrival in F’s family. Kicki’s was born to a British expatriate family in Hong Kong. But as the British family were making their way back to their home country, they had to leave little Kicki behind because of the complicated quarantine procedures. When Kicki’s British owner reluctantly put Kicki under the care of the RSPCA, she wrote a letter to Kicki’s future owner, laying out Kicki’s background and spelling out her wishes for Kicki’s finding a safe and sweet home.
It was F’s father’s policeman buddy who spotted Kicki at RSPCA. As this policeman family friend was completing the adoption procedures for F’s family, Kicki’s British ex-owner had a change of heart back in England and made an attempt to have Kicki reunited with her. Using his tactful maneuvering skills, and perhaps his professional authority as well, this policeman friend managed to arrange Kicki to live under the roof of F’s family.
Kicki did live up to people’s expectations of an “oily-pawed cat”. She did her patrols at her own pleasure. As a professional mouse catcher, she kept all her killings behind the scenes and always managed to keep her catches’ dead bodies intact. As to how she managed to do all this, it remains to be a mystery. She did not see her duty completed until F or his family noticed her catch. When she realised F’s family’s notice of her catch, she miaowed and strolled away on her oily paws gracefully, leaving the relatively indecent scene for F’s family to tidy up.
Although she was separated from her first owner as a kitten, Kicki grew up healthily and happily in F’s family. F’s family treated Kicki well and provided her with a nice and warm home. F’s mother fed her fresh fish because after all a pedigree like Kicki deserves something better than just cat food from the tin. Kicki lived a long life in F’s family and left fond memories to F to recollect.
