Meet the meow kid on the block

It all started one day when I found a stray cat outside my house, it was by all itself not in a very healthy condition.

There was nobody taking care of it, so as a kid I believed it was my duty to take care of it. From that day cats have been a big part of my family. Once the cats get used to you, the kind of pampering and affection they provide, it's the best feeling in the world. I believe having pets at home is an amazing stressbuster, they're the type of stressbuster everyone needs.

Soon after I'd had adopted this cat, I also got my first Persian cat, it was a beautiful white Persian cat. This is the cat that started the never ending cycle at home, when we brought this cat home she was pregnant. This is how we ended up having a small cat family at home.

Now we have around 10 cats, we have build them a separate section in the basement of our house, that is where they all stay. But let me tell you, it is not an easy task to take care of so many cats.

Firstly, it is almost impossible to name each and every cat and even harder to remember their names. 

Secondly, we soon realised that we couldn't all take out time from our hectic lives to take care of them everyday - feeding, grooming, vet check-ups the list is never ending. So, we ended up hiring a caretaker for them, she takes care of all their requirements. I feel it's the duty of all pet owners to take care of their pets to the best of their ability. I've seen people easily give up on their pets, that's really not fair. It breaks my heart when I see homeless pets. One of the hardest time in my life was when my first cat passed away. 

It was very unexpected, she fell sick one day out of the blue and then her condition started getting worse everyday.

There wasn't much the doctors could do, she was so weak that we had to keep her on life support. I hope I never have to go through such an experience ever again. It is so important that the health of the pets is taken care of well, the doctors play a very important role in a pet's life.

I can't stress enough how important it is to adopt pets from animal shelters, instead of buying them from breeders. There are some amazing pet shelters in Bengaluru and there will always be tons of homeless pets waiting to get adopted.

(As told to Asra Mavad)