IT WAS a quiet Easter Sunday afternoon. Just three hours before that I was having Easter lunch with family and four hours before that I was checking out from my staycation.
There was nothing else to do and so I thought of cleaning the litter box of the one and only cat I have in a cage (because he has a very mean streak that saw him mauling to death a kitten I rescued). I have five other “free-range”, all fixed.
I opened the cage and hell broke loose. Just moments later, I was washing my bloodied hands under running water telling myself not to faint from the sight of blood.
An hour later I was at the hospital.
What happened on that quiet afternoon?
I opened the cage, looking only at the litter box, unaware of everything else. Unaware that Yosep, one of my male rescues was walking in.
Notmy, a giant, fierce male who hates other males, quickly pounced on the smaller and thinner Yosep.
Instinctively, I grabbed Notmy away. But just before I shoved him into the cage, he twisted around and bit me in the left hand, really hard and deep while his hind legs scratched both of my arms. I managed to lock him back in, but only after suffering major injuries.
Today, Notmy remains to be huge and healthy and caged. The 14-day watch is over, he’s not rabid. I’m P9,000 poorer for that, but still very lucky. I counted 15 injections all in all.
My takeaway from this? Mindfulness and presence of mind. I congratulate myself for having the presence of mind of washing the wounds under running water right away. But that would’ve been unnecessary had I practiced mindfulness.
I normally close the front door before I take out Notmy so my other cats are kept inside the house during the short duration. I didn’t. I should’ve not extricated Notmy by hand and just threw water on the two cats to stop the fight. I didn’t.
Mindfulness is being fully in the moment -- aware of everything around and what needs to be done while doing a particular task like making sure the door is closed and there are no other cats around before taking out the litter box.
That slip earned me two weeks of worries on whether Notmy is rabid, three weeks of going to the hospital for injections, 15 terrifying moments of being pricked (I’m afraid of needles), and one full month of not being able to enjoy a glass of wine.
It’s the deprivation of a quiet night with a glass of wine for one full month that I most resent. I have learned my lesson in mindfulness. Never again. On Tuesday, I celebrate with my first glass. The prohibition ends on that day,